For Marie-Laure Vernet, serving as a scullery maid to a bored, aristocratic family isn't without its dangers. Trying to avoid the unwelcome predations of the men and their guests is one. Keeping the china in one piece is another - especially when she finds herself serving Viscount Joseph d'Auvers-Raimond. Only Marie-Laure knows that Joseph is also a smuggler of forbidden books who'd once fallen ill in her late father's bookshop. That fateful meeting led to an innocent flirtation, fuelled by a shared passion for books and ideas, but it had awakened desire that changed Marie-Laure forever. Joseph hasn't forgotten the encounter either. His papers are littered with drafts of an erotic story about a girl who bears a distinct resemblance to the servant spilling his tea.
