‘If Guy finds out … he’ll do his very best to kill him and, in the process, Guy might get badly hurt, or worse. And then he will go to prison. Or hospital. Or to a cemetery. And I’d rather there wasn’t a risk of that happening.’ The Louboutins are quivering. They are terrified. Their nemesis – mud – is everywhere. Ever since D’Artagnan spirited Nicole away from London to become mistress of the Duchess, his seventeenth-century château in rural France, they’ve refused to come out of hiding. Mud, manure and the Duchess’s capricious behaviour aside, Nicole has a lot on her mind, most of which she’s can’t share with her imperious, irritating but compellingly seductive French husband. An horrific experience from her past has caught up with her and, while she's determined to get justice, it must be without D'Artagnan's knowledge… Meanwhile, there's a wedding to plan, a wedding planner from hell to keep in check, a temperamental castle to placate – and a couple of spirited horses who have taken up residence. And then there is Nina, the foster daughter of neighbours, who stirs up feelings that Nicole cannot ignore...