Reluctant Widow

 This is one of Heyer's more adventure style novels.  It is set in the countryside, during the Napoleonic Wars.
Elinor Rochdale is a young woman of 26 who has lost her parents and has no money, so she has been working as  a governess.  She takes up an appointment with a lady, and when she arrives by Stage coach to start her new job, she finds a carriage has been sent for her. She travels to the house and finds that it is rather shabby, and that a man of about 30 seems to be in charge. 

He tells her that her new charge is very difficult, and after a long conversation, she realises that she is at the wrong house.  Lord Carlyon, who has welcomed her, thought that she was a woman who had been hired from an advertisement in the papers, to marry  his wayward cousin, Eustace.  Evidently the woman hired did not turn up. 

Elinor is shaken to find that she's at a strange man's house, miles away from where her new employer is.  She tells Lord Carlyon that her father lost his fortune and shot himself, leaving her almost penniless.  Carlyon who has an estate nearby tells her that he is the eldest of a large family, and that he has always had the role of looking after his siblings. She adds that she ended up becoming a governess because her family treated her badly, as a poor relation, and she preferred to be independent, though the life of a governess is far from easy.

He tells her that if Eustace dies without a wife, his estate will pass to him, Carlyon, and he does not want the estate.  He and his cousin dont get on, and Eustace has done his reputation harm, by accusing him of bad behaviour.  He would rather not inherit the estate as it would look like he had deliberately schemed to get it. 

Carlyon then suggests that as Elinor is alone in the world and badly off, she could marry Eustace, and become heir to his estate, and while the estate is almost worthless due to mismanagement, he would provide for her.  Elinor refuses.