HE BOUGHT HER SOUL WITH SILK AND LACE. Wynonna Danvers is a ghost in the Great Hall. She is a creature of soot and lye, trapped in a canvas cage of discipline. Her life is defined by quiet obedience and the sting of the head housemaid's lacing. Then the Duke of Somerset arrives. George Lynn is a man of royal blood and predatory hunger. He sees the queen hidden beneath the grime. He shatters every social rule to claim her. He drags her from the scullery and installs her in his private wing. The transformation is a ritual of ownership. George discards her rough rags for French silk and bone-crushing lace. He pulls the strings himself. He forces her into a posture of extreme vulnerability. Wynonna finds a dark sanctuary in his shadow. She is no longer a drudge. She is his kept treasure. But the Duke's enemies are watching. They want to use her to spark a scandal that will ruin him. They see a tool for his destruction. George sees a woman who belongs to him alone. The rivals strike at the heart of the manor. They expect to find shame. They find a man who thrives on the edge of ruin. George shields her from their prying eyes and promises total annihilation for those who dare cross him. The threat of exposure breaks the final barrier. Wynonna has no path back to her old life. She is ruined in the eyes of the world and claimed in the eyes of her master. She is his property forevermore, bound by an unbreakable chain of silk and iron.