The Bolingbroke Chit

Earning the nickname Lady Agony was no minor achievement for Lady Agatha Bolingbroke. It required a great deal of effort to make herself so disagreeable, but she did it for a good cause: The fewer invitations she receives, the more time she has to paint. Her mother, refusing to accept an unpopular daughter-or, worse, a talented one-insists on dragging her to every event of the season. To thwart her parents and to vent her frustration, Agatha creates a wicked alter ego: a caricaturist whose mocking illustrations take ruthless aim at the ridiculousness of the ton. Her most recent target is Viscount Addleson, whom she dubs Viscount Addlewit for his handsome but empty head. Then one of Agatha's drawings goes too far and a villain threatens to reveal her true identity if she doesn't comply with his demands. Now she has an impossible choice-ruin herself or an innocent young lady-and to her utter amazement the only person who can help her is Lord Addlewit, whose handsome head, upon closer inspection, isn't empty at all and whose eyes are full of mischief. Suddenly, she finds it very difficult to be disagreeable to him.