Mary Winters and Nick Stanton contract a secret marriage just before he leaves for Waterloo. Seven years later we find Mary acting as governess to Nick's son, having given him away when Nick doesn't come to find her after the war. There's a LOT that happens before they reach their HEA (no spoilers).
I was surprised at some of the reviews as I thought the hero and heroine behaved appropriately after their separation. They had a lot to overcome and it took a while, so I didn't think either was particularly out of character. My biggest problem is that there were plenty of various events crammed into this story, and it became a bit much for me. There's smuggling, kidnappings, attempted rape, attempted murder, shootings, and so on. A small matter, but I really didn't understand why everyone, including Nick, calls her Mary Winters even after their marriage. It bugged me after a while.
All in all, an okay and quick read. ( )

Nick Stanton and Mary Winters had one magical night together, when they made beautiful beautiful love and exchanged their own marriage vows, before he went off to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, leaving Mary, unbeknownst to Nick, enceinte. Due to mysterious reasons that he keeps to himself for seven years, he never comes to get her after he comes back from the war, a famous war hero, and inherits the ducal title. On her own, Mary gives the child to another husband and wife to rear as their own, but she gets to stay on as governess.

Now, Gayle Wilson writes incredibly well - at least I really like the way she writes and tells a story. We have a truly horrifying villain that gives me the creeps just thinking of him. We have a secret baby story that, amazingly, doesn't drive me up the wall because Mary doesn't try to hide the existence of their love child from Vail. When their paths cross, she instead intelligently asks for his assistance in getting the child back - but I get ahead of myself.

Mary and Vail's paths cross again seven years later when Mary is accused of trying to murder her employer, Marcus Traywick, the man who claimed her child as his own. He's the really really bad guy. He's a sadist who tried to rape her. She defended herself and is brought to trial on charges of attempted murder. Vail finds out she's in trouble and rushes to the rescue. He saves Mary from Traywick, but Traywick still has their son, and so the rest of the book is about Mary and Vail trying to get the child back. Traywick, because he's evil, isn't about to cooperate and simply hand him over.

There were some things that marred my enjoyment of His Secret Duchess - the attempted rape is disturbing and Mary's attempt to trade herself for her son in an excess of martyrdom is, arguably, very stupid, if understandable (it is her son on the line after all). Either way, still not fun to read about. Despite these objections, the story is a beautiful one. It just wasn't quite to my taste because the characters are in love even before the book starts. There's no development in this sense, and personally, I like romances that are more about characters falling in love rather than accepting that it’s a given from the start.

Of course, Mary isn't too happy with Vail when he does finally show up - she's very angry and bitter and thinks that he abandoned and betrayed her. I liked that she stood up for herself in this regard, and didn’t let Vail walk all over her or moan on and on about how it’s all her fault. Vail is tortured by the knowledge that he’s failed Mary, and because I like him, I’m prepared to forgive him for keeping his Big Secret for so long. Mary and Vail have to overcome these misunderstandings and the wounds they've engendered, and fight the demons from Vail's past that got in the way of his coming back to Mary immediately after he returned from the war. So misunderstandings are a big part of their relationship, but again I'm surprised that I don't mind because the reasons for those misunderstandings are understandable and compellingly represented. I feel sympathy for both Mary and Vail as they work to recover their son and become a whole family at last. His Secret Duchess is tender and moving, I admit, but it just didn’t grab me as powerfully as it could have because, again, the kind of romance it tells just wasn’t to my taste – but I think it would be a great read for someone who likes this kind of story. ( )