The Mad Earl's Bride by Loretta Chase

A lot of my love for this novella may be nostalgia. It was my favorite in an anthology that I let go somewhere along the way so I was excited to read it again. 

Dorian Rawnsley, Early of Camoys, knows he is going to die. He'll probably go mad first (like his mother), but he's definitely heading for death. He has some recently discovered relatives and one of them has decided that Dorian should marry before his imminent demise. In a fog of laudanum, he agrees to the marriage.

Gwendolyn Adams isn't afraid to marry a man who is dying. She's studied to be a doctor (though no one has really taken her seriously.) If she marries an earl, she'll be titled and rich and able to do what she wants, including build her own hospital. It's just too bad this is a romance and the two may be starting to fall in love.

Four stars

Scoundrels #3.5

This novella came out in 1995

Follows Lord of Scoundrels

Followed by the Last He
llion