Mills & Boon presents the Betty Neels collection. Timeless tales of heart–warming romance by one of the world's best–loved romance authors.

"My children need a mother, but I do not need a wife."

Dr Sarre van Diederijk did a lot to restore Alethea's damaged pride when Nick Penrose badly hurt and humiliated her, so when, after a short time her asked her to marry him and go to Holland to live, she accepted. Sarre was, after all, a very nice, kind man, and Alethea might have been happier with him than she would have been with Nick, even though there was no love on either side.

But all she found in Holland was a different kind of unhappiness – rejection by the children, and rejection by Sarre. That, she found, was what hurt the most...