FROM THIS NIGHT FORWARDAs a newcomer to Lord Bruton's scandalous house party, Hugh Drake was to choose first from the proffered female flesh. He would take the woman whose eyes and body excited him most, whose lips and tongue would do all of the things he had been told a true lady never did. He would select the woman who would need all he wanted to give—and less. He would choose she who showed him both strength and desperation, and who would be the answer to his secret mission. He would choose an angel and a temptress, a protégé and a partner. He would choose his future wife.