A Knowing One
Book 4 of the Branwell Chronicles. Available at these fine booksellers!
Tom Breckinridge has been falling in love with Diana Marshall for the past year, but just as he has decided to come to the point, a rival has come out of the woodwork: Reginald Popplewell, a childhood playmate of Diana’s, and now heir to a viscountcy! Diana’s father much prefers Reginald, but Tom believes there is something Reginald is hiding.
When Mrs. Marshall invites Tom to a house party at their home near Brighton, Tom finds even more to dislike about “dear Reggie,” but Diana won’t hear a word against him and goes so far as to wring a pledge from Tom that he will make a friend of Reginald. When he sets out to fulfill his promise, Tom discovers just how risky it can be to befriend a con man, and to exactly what lengths he is willing to go to win Diana.