As an abandoned child in a turn-of-the-

century English mill town, Lally had a

bleak future. She was too young, too

distraught, too hungry even, to dream

of the simple comforts of a warm hearth,

let alone entertain visions of becoming

the mistress of a grand manor, the wife

of a dashing war hero, and eventually

the titled hostess of a glittering salon

in London. Yet all this was to be so-- by

the grace of a stranger... Black Jack

Pollock knew that by taking in this "bit

of filth" and raising her as his child he

would once again he scorned for an ill-

bred parvenu. But he recognized on!y

one aristocracy, that of the noble spirit

and the steadfastly passionate heart,

and these things shone in the dark and

troubled eyes of the little foundling he

adopted. The nobility would accept

her; as they did his other children. Black

Jack knew ways of getting around so-

ciety s gilded barricade.