Book excerpt: After trading his tranquil Staten Island existence for a flat in the city and an editorial position at the New York Herald, William Nesmith anticipates as easy and uneventful a transition from bachelorhood to marriage-as soon as he's prepared to ask the vivacious Violet Chapin for her hand. Though Violet longs to climb the social ladder Will scorns, she seems willing to wait for him-and wait she must, for Will intends to make his way without the assistance of Violet's well-to-do connections.Whether that's a vow he can keep comes into question when he runs afoul of Charlie Kohlbeck, a capricious reporter with a keen eye for a story and the flexible ethics to dig up any secret, whether hidden in Manhattan's darkest corners or the grand marble halls of its social elite. When Will is ordered to work with him so they'll come to better appreciate each other's talents, Charlie takes him along on the hunt for an interview with the elusive Lord Belcourt. It's a meeting every reporter in town is after, but Charlie gains an audience by introducing Will as one of the wealthy California Nesmiths-a lie that sets Will on a path up the social ladder at a speed no respectable gentleman could stomach.Offered his own society column if he prolongs the charade, Will wants nothing more than to escape the bevy of eager debutantes on his trail and make peace with a very vexed Violet. But when he helps a shy heiress menaced by swindlers, he's caught in a tangled web turned dangerous and must put his faith in Charlie Kohlbeck-who may possibly prove the one road to ruin Will is defenseless to resist.