"Lionel Cantrell has all but given up hope of finding his missing wife and child. He left them in the care of his parents and older brother while he went abroad to fight the French, only to return to a marriage in shambles, a daughter who cannot possibly be his, and his wife and son fled to parts unknown. Until now. At a former comrade's house party, Lion comes face to face with the object of his five-year search. Emma, whose cold reception is keenly edged with barely concealed panic. When Emma's perfect marriage to her childhood sweetheart crumbled into an unendurable year of humiliation and torment, she had no choice but to take their son--and her sanity--to build a new life under an assumed name. Her chance meeting with Lion threatens to expose long-buried emotional scars. And physical ones, the origins of which he must never know. Emma's stubborn refusal to explain why she won't return home only fuels Lion's relentless curiosity. So does their undeniable passion. Time is on his side, and his well of patience is deep. But Emma's trauma runs far deeper... perhaps too deep for love to reach.--P. [4] of cover.