When the Honorable Deborah Kringle receives an unsigned love letter, she can't wait to share the news with her best friend, George Anson. George might not be the most educated of her set — no one would ever ask him to parse Greek or debate politics — but she no longer believes he's the good-natured buffoon everyone else says he is. Deborah knows he's the perfect person to help her uncover the mystery of who wrote her delicious letter... if she can just figure out why he's so reluctant to help.

George Anson fell in love with Deborah at last year's Christmas Eve ball, when she wore a scandalous red gown and let him open the dancing with her as his partner. Now they're friends and he can't bear to risk that by trying to court her. Unfortunately, he already knows who wrote that stupid love letter, and if she finds out, with or without his help, everything will change between them... and she might turn her back and walk away.

Nothing is as it seems when the Scoundrel of Mayfair, the Duke of Cumberland (and some say a foreign prince) tries a clever matchmaking scheme between the two friends. How can he change their friendship into something more tender... without entangling himself in the process?