First novel in the Past Venus Historical series - stories set in a bygone age written by contemporary authors. At first Kate Spencer's new job seems perfect for a young spinster with ambitions of matrimony: governess to a young girl in the large country house of rich aristocrats. Appearances are deceptive, however: she is caught in a fast tightening net of sexual exploitation and physical humiliation at the hands of her ruthless employers. Kate realises that she must outwit the decadent Sir Bradley Fordham and his wife if she is not to be sold as a sex slave.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872.