Seduction

TEN

Julian sprawled heavily across the soft, slender body of his wife, conscious of being more relaxed than he could remember feeling in years. He knew he would have to move soon, if only to put out the candles. But for the moment all he wanted to do was lie there and savor the splendid satisfaction that enveloped him.

The scent of the recent lovemaking still hovered in the air filling him with a primitive satisfaction as did the echo of Sophy's words, / love you, Julian.

She had not been fully aware of what she was saying, he reminded himself. She was a woman discovering her own sensual potential for the first time and she had been grateful to the man who had taught her to enjoy the pleasures of sexual release. He would not read too much into words of love spoken under such circumstances, but they had sounded good, nevertheless, and a part of him had gloried in them.

He had sensed the first time he had kissed her that Sophy would learn to respond to him but he had never dreamed that her response would affect him so intensely.

He felt all-powerful, a conquering hero who had just claimed the fruits of victory and was content. But he was equally aware of a violent need to protect his sweet treasure. Sophy had finally given herself to him completely and he would take care of her.

Just as that thought flashed through his head, Sophy stirred beneath him, her lashes lifting languidly. Julian braced his weight on his elbows and looked down into her dazed and wondering gaze.

"Julian?"

He brushed his mouth across hers, reassuring her wordlessly. "That is the way it is supposed to be between a husband and his wife. And that is the way it will be between us from now on. Did you enjoy yourself, little one?"

She smiled ruefully and linked her arms around his neck. "You know very well that I did."

"I know, but I find I like to hear you say it."

"You gave me great pleasure," she whispered. The amusement faded from her eyes. "It was unlike anything I have ever known."

He kissed the tip of her nose, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. "Then we are even, you and I. You gave me the same degree of pleasure."

"Is that really true?" She searched his face intently.

"It's true." Nothing had ever been more true or certain in his life he thought.

"I am glad. Try to remember that in the future, no matter what happens, will you, Julian?"

The unexpected anxiety in her words sent a faint shaft of alarm through him. Mentally he brushed aside the uneasiness her words triggered and smiled instead. "I am hardly likely to forget it."

"I wish I could believe that." She smiled too, rather wistfully.

Julian frowned slightly, uncertain of her new mood. There was something different about Sophy tonight. He had never seen her quite like this and it began to worry him. "What troubles you, Sophy? Are you afraid that the next time you do something to annoy me I will promptly forget how good things are between us in bed? Or don't you like the fact that I can make you want me, even when you are angry at me?"

"I do not know," she said slowly. "This seduction business is very odd, is it not?"

Hearing what had just transpired between them labeled as mere seduction bothered him. For the first time he realized he did not want Sophy using that word to describe what he did to her in bed. Seduction was what had happened to her younger sister. He did not want Sophy putting his lovemaking into that category.

"Do not think of it as seduction," he ordered softly. "We made love, you and I."

"Did we?" Her eyes blazed with sudden intensity. "Do you love me, Julian?"

The uneasiness he had been feeling crystallized into anger as he finally began to perceive what she was doing. What a fool he had been. Women were so damned good at this kind of thing. Did she think that just because she had responded to him—told him she loved him—that she could now wrap him around her little finger? Julian felt the familiar trap start to close around him and instinctively prepared to fight.

He was not certain what he would have said but as he lay there on top of her, alarms sounding in his brain, Sophy smiled her strange, wistful smile and put her fingertips against her lips.

"No," she said. "You do not need to say anything. It's all right, I understand."

"Understand what? Sophy, listen to me—"

"I think it would be better if we did not discuss this further. I spoke too quickly, without thinking." Her head shifted restlessly on the pillow. "It must be very late."

He groaned but accepted the reprieve eagerly. "Yes, very late." He rolled reluctantly off of her onto his back, letting his hand slide possessively along the curve of her hip.

"Julian?"

"What is it, Sophy?"

"Should you not be going back to your own room?"

That startled him. "I had not planned on it," he said roughly.

"I'd rather you did," Sophy said very quietly.

"Why is that?" Irritation brought him up on his elbow. He had been intending to spend the night in her bed.

"You did the last time."

Only because he had known that if he had stayed with her that first time he would have made love to her a second time and she had been sore and he had not wanted her to think him a rutting bull. He had wanted to show some consideration for the discomfort she had experienced that first night. "That does not mean I intend to return to my own room every time we make love."

"Oh." In the candlelight she looked strangely disconcerted. "I would prefer some privacy tonight, Julian. Please. I must insist."

"Ah, I believe I am beginning to understand," Julian said grimly as he shoved back the covers. "You are insisting on your privacy because you did not like my lack of response to your question a moment ago. I would not let you manipulate me into giving you endless pledges of undying love so you have decided to punish me in your own womanly way."

"No, Julian, that is not true."

He paid no attention to the entreaty in her voice. Stalking across the room, he snatched up his dressing gown and went to the connecting door. Then he stopped and swung around to glower at her. "While you are lying there in your lonely bed enjoying your privacy, think about the pleasure we could be giving each other. There is no law that states a man and a woman can only do it once a night, my dear."

He went through the door and closed it behind himself with a loud crack that emphasized his frustration and annoyance. Damn the little chit. Who did she think she was trying to force his hand that way? And what made her think she could get away with it? He'd had experience dealing with manipulative females who had far more talent in that direction than Sophy ever would.

Sophy's paltry attempts to control him with sex made him want to laugh. If he had not been so damnably furious with her, he would have laughed.

She was a silly, green girl in such matters even if she was twenty-three years old. Elizabeth had been older and wiser in the ways of manipulating a man when she had emerged from the schoolroom than Sophy would be when she was fifty.

Julian tossed the dressing gown across a chair and threw himself down onto the bed. Arms folded behind his head, he lay staring up at the darkened ceiling, hoping Sophy was already regretting her hasty action. If she thought she could punish him and thus bring him to heel with such simple tactics, she was sadly mistaken. He had fought far more subtle, far more strategically complex battles.

But Sophy was not Elizabeth and never would be. And Sophy had a reason to fear seduction. He also suspected that his new wife had a streak of the romantic in her soul.

Julian groaned and massaged his eyes as his temper began to cool. Perhaps he owed his wife the benefit of a doubt. It was true she had tried to coax him into vowing his love for her but it was equally true that she had a valid reason for fearing a passion that was not labeled love.

In Sophy's limited experience the only alternative to love was the sort of cruel, heartless seduction that had gotten her sister pregnant. Sophy would naturally want some assurance she was not being subjected to the latter. She would want to believe she was loved so she would not have to fear following in her sister's footsteps.

But she was a married woman sharing a bed with her lawful husband, Julian reminded himself angrily. She had no reason to fear being abandoned in her sister's condition. Hell, he wanted an heir—needed one. The last thing he was likely to do was cast her off if she got herself pregnant with his child.

Sophy had both the protection of the law and the Earl of Ravenwood's personal vow to protect and care for her. To go about in terror of her sister's fate was to indulge in a great deal of feminine nonsense and Julian decided he would not tolerate it. He must make her see there was no parallel between her sister's fate and her own.

Because he definitely did not want to spend many more nights alone in his own bed.

Julian did not know how long he lay there plotting how best to teach his wife the lesson he wanted her to learn but at some point he finally dozed off. His sleep was restless, however, and hours later the sound of Sophy's door closing softly in the hall jarred him from a light slumber.

He stirred, wondering if it was already time to rise. But when he opened one eye and glared balefully at the window he could tell it was still dark behind the curtains.

Nobody, not even Sophy, rose to ride at dawn in London. Julian turned over and told himself to go back to sleep. But some instinct kept him from dozing off again. He wondered who had opened Sophy's door at this ungodly hour.

Finally, unable to withstand the curiosity that was growing quickly within him, Julian climbed out of bed and went to the connecting door. He opened it quietly.

It took him a few seconds to realize that Sophy's bed was empty. Even as he was reaching that conclusion he heard the faint rattle of carriage wheels in the street outside the window. As he listened, the vehicle came to a halt.

A jolt of irrational but violent fear went through him.

Julian leapt for the window, tearing aside the curtains just in time to see a familiar slender figure dressed in a pair of men's breeches and a shirt jump into the closed carriage. Sophy's tawny hair was bound up in a severe coil under a veiled hat. She was carrying a wooden case in one hand. The driver, a slim, red-haired lad dressed in black, clucked to the horses and the carriage moved swiftly away down the street.

"Damn you, Sophy." Julian's fingers clenched so fiercely into the curtains that he nearly ripped them from the rod. "God damn you to hell, you bitch."

I love you. Do you love me, Julian?

Sweet, lying bitch. "You're mine," he hissed through his teeth. "You are mine and I will see you in hell before I let you go to another."

Julian dropped the curtains and raced into his own room, snatching up a shirt and pulling on a pair of breeches. He grabbed his boots and ran out into the hall. At the foot of the staircase he paused long enough to pull on the tight leather riding boots and then he started for the servants' entrance. He would have to get a horse from the stables and he would have to hurry if he was not to lose sight of the carriage.

At the last moment he swung around and dashed back toward the library. He would need a weapon. He intended to kill whoever had taken Sophy away. And after that he would consider well what to do with his lying, deceitful wife. If she thought he would tolerate from her what he had tolerated from Elizabeth she was in for a great revelation.

The pistols were gone from the wall.

Julian barely had time to register that fact when he heard the sound of a horse's hooves in the street. He ran for the front door, throwing it open just as a woman dressed in black and wearing a black veil started to alight from a tall, gray gelding. He saw that she had ridden astride, not sidesaddle.

"Oh, thank God, " the woman said, clearly startled at the sight of him in the doorway. "I was afraid I would have to awaken the entire household to get to you. Much better this way. Perhaps a scandal can be avoided after all. They have gone to Leighton Field."

"Leighton Field?" That made no sense. Only cattle and duelists had any use for Leighton Field.

"Do hurry, for heaven's sake. You can take my horse. As you can see, I am not using a lady's saddle."

Julian did not hesitate. He seized the gray's bridle and vaulted into the saddle. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded of the woman in the veil. "His wife?"

"No, you do not understand, but you will soon enough. Just hurry."

"Go into the house," Julian ordered as the gray danced under him. "You can wait inside. If one of the staff finds you there, say nothing except that I have invited you to be there."

Julian put the big horse into a gallop without waiting for a response. Why in God's name would Sophy and her lover run off to Leighton Field, Julian wondered furiously. But he soon stopped asking himself that question and began trying to figure out which male of the ton had sealed his own doom by taking Sophy away that morning.

Leighton Field was cold and damp in the dim, predawn light. A cluster of sullen trees, their heavy branches drooping moisture, crouched beneath a still-dark sky. Mist rose from the ground and hung, thick and gray, at knee level. Anne's small, closed carriage, the yellow curricle a short distance away, and the horses all looked as if they were floating in midair.

When Sophy stepped out into the mist, her legs disappeared beneath her into the fog. She looked at Anne, who was securing the carriage horse. The masculine disguise was astonishingly clever. If she had not known who it was, Sophy would have been certain the smudge-faced, red-haired figure was a young man.

"Sophy, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Anne asked anxiously as she came forward.

Sophy turned to gaze at the curricle stopped a few yards away. The veiled figure dressed in black had not yet alighted from the other vehicle. Charlotte Featherstone appeared to be alone. "I do not have any choice, Anne."

"I wonder where Jane is? She said that if you were determined to be a fool, she would feel obliged to witness it."

"Perhaps she changed her mind."

Anne shook her head. "Not like her."

"Well," Sophy said, straightening her shoulders, "we had best get on with it. It will be dawn soon. I understand this sort of thing is always done at dawn. She started toward the mist-bound curricle.

The lone figure in the curricle stirred as Sophy approached. Charlotte Featherstone, dressed in a handsome black riding habit, stepped down. Although the courtesan was veiled, Sophy could see her hair had been carefully coiffed for the occasion and that Charlotte was wearing a pair of dazzling pearl earrings. One glance at the other woman's fashionable attire made Sophy feel gauche. It was obvious the Grand Featherstone knew all there was to know about style. She even dressed perfectly for a duel at dawn.

Anne went forward to secure the curricle horse.

"Do you know, madam," Charlotte said, lifting her veil to smile coolly at Sophy, "I do not believe any man is worth the discomfort of rising at such an early hour."

"Then why did you bother?" Sophy retorted. Feeling challenged, she, too, lifted her veil.

"I am not sure," Charlotte admitted. "But it is not because of the Earl of Ravenwood, charming though he was to me at one time. Perhaps it is the novelty of the whole thing."

"I can well imagine that after your rather adventurous career, novelties are now few and far between."

Charlotte's eyes fixed steadily on Sophy's face. Her voice lost much of its mocking quality and grew serious. "I can assure you that having a Countess find me an opponent worthy of an honorable challenge is, indeed, a rare event. One might say a unique event. You must realize, of course, that no woman from your level of Society has ever spoken to me, let alone accorded me such respect."

Sophy's head tilted slightly as she studied her opponent. "You may be assured that I have great respect for you, Miss Featherstone. I have read your Memoirs and I think I can guess something of what it must have cost you to rise to your present position."

"Can you really?" Charlotte murmured. "How very imaginative of you."

Sophy flushed, momentarily embarrassed at the thought of how naive she must seem to this sophisticated woman of the world. "Forgive me," she apologized quietly, "I am certain that I cannot begin to understand what you have been through in your life. But that does not mean I cannot respect the fact that you have made your own way in the world and have done so on your own terms."

"I see. And because of this boundless respect you hold for me, you propose to put a bullet through my heart this morning?"

Sophy's mouth tightened. "I can understand why you chose to write the Memoirs. I can even understand your offering past lovers the opportunity to buy their way out of print. But when you selected my husband as your next victim, you went too far. I will not have those love letters in print for all the world to see and mock."

"It would have been far simpler to pay me off, madam, than to go to all this trouble."

"I cannot do that. Paying blackmail is a wretched, dishonorable recourse. I will not stoop to it. We will settle this matter between us here this morning and that will be the end of it."

"Will it? What makes you think that, assuming I am fortunate enough to survive, I will not go ahead and print whatever I wish?"

"You have accepted my challenge. By meeting me this way, you have agreed to settle the issues between us with pistols."

"You think I will abide by that agreement? You think this will be the end of the matter, regardless of the outcome of this duel?"

"You would not have bothered to show up this morning had you not intended to end things here."

Charlotte inclined her head. "You are quite right. That is the way this silly male code of honor works, is it not? We settle everything here with pistols."

"Yes. Then it will be over."

Charlotte shook her head in wry amusement. "Poor Ravenwood. I wonder if he has any notion yet of the sort of wife he has obtained for himself. You must be coming as quite a shock to him after Elizabeth."

"We are not here to discuss my husband or his previous wife," Sophy said through her teeth. The dawn air was cold but she was suddenly aware that she was perspiring. Her nerves were stretched to the breaking point. She wanted to get this business over and done.

"No, we are here because your sense of honor demands satisfaction and because you think I share your concept of honor. An interesting proposition. I wonder, do you comprehend that this definition of honor we are employing this morning is a man's definition?"

"There does not appear to be any other definition of honor that commands respect," Sophy said.

Charlotte's eyes gleamed. "I see," she said softly. "And you would have Ravenwood's respect, if nothing else, is that it, madam?"

"I believe we have discussed this matter sufficiently," Sophy said.

"Respect is all well and good, madam," Charlotte continued thoughtfully, "but I would advise you not to waste much time in an effort to get Ravenwood to love you. Everyone knows that after his experience with Elizabeth he will never risk love again. And, in any event, I must take leave to tell you that just as no man's honor is worth rising at this hour, no man's love is worth taking any great risk over, either."

"We are not dealing with a man's honor or a man's love here," Sophy stated coldly.

"No, I can see that. The issues involved are your honor and your love." Charlotte smiled slightly. "I can accept that those are not trifling matters. They might, indeed, be worth a little blood."

"Shall we get on with it, then?" Fear surged through Sophy as she turned to Anne who was hovering nearby with the case of dueling pistols. "We are ready. There is no point waiting any longer."

Anne looked from Sophy to Charlotte. "I have made some inquiries into the business of settling arguments in this fashion. There are certain steps we must go through before I load the pistols. First, it is my duty to tell you that there is an honorable alternative to going through with the challenge. I ask that you both consider it."

Sophy frowned. "What alternative?"

"You, Lady Ravenwood, have issued the challenge. If, however, Miss Featherstone will apologize for the actions that precipitated your challenge, the matter will be at an end without a shot being fired."

Sophy blinked. "This whole thing can be ended with a simple apology?"

"I must stress that it is an honorable alternative for both of you." Anne looked at Charlotte Featherstone.

"How fascinating," Charlotte murmured. "Just think, we can both get out of this without getting any blood stains on our clothing. But I am not at all certain I feel compelled to apologize."

"It is up to you, of course," Sophy said stiffly.

"Well, it is rather early for such violent sport, don't you think? And I am a firm believer in taking the sensible course when it is available." Charlotte smiled slowly at Sophy. "You are quite certain your honor would be satisfied if I simply apologized?"

"You would have to promise to leave the love letters out of print," Sophy reminded her hurriedly. Before Charlotte could respond, hoof beats sounded in the fog.

"It must be Jane," Anne said in a very relieved tone. "I knew she would come. We must wait for her. She is one of the seconds."

Sophy glanced around just as a big gray horse materialized out of the mist that clung to the trees. The animal thundered toward them at full gallop, looking like an apparition as it churned through the low fog. A ghost horse, Sophy thought fleetingly, and it carried the devil himself.

"Julian," she whispered.

"Somehow this does not surprise me," Charlotte remarked. "Our little drama grows more amusing by the moment."

"What's he doing with Jane's horse?" Anne demanded angrily.

The big gray was brought to a shuddering halt in front of the three women. Julian's glittering eyes went first to Sophy and then to Charlotte and Anne. He saw the box of pistols in her hand.

"What the devil is going on here?"

Sophy refused to give into a sudden, fierce desire to flee. "You are interrupting a private matter, my lord."

Julian looked at her as if she had lost her mind. He swung down from the horse and tossed the reins to Anne who automatically caught them in her free hand.

"A private matter, madam? How dare you call it such?" Julian's face was a mask of controlled fury. "You are my wife. What the hell is this all about?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ravenwood?" Of the three women present, it was clear only Charlotte was not feeling particularly intimidated. Her fine eyes were more cynically amused than ever. "Your wife has called me out on a point of honor." She waved a hand at the pistol case. "As you can see, we were just about to settle matters in the traditional, honorable, masculine way."

"I don't believe any of this." Julian swung around to stare at Sophy. "You called Charlotte out? You challenged her to a duel?"

Sophy nodded once, refusing to speak.

"Why, for God's sake?"

Charlotte smiled grimly. "Surely you can guess the answer to that question, Ravenwood."

Julian took a step toward her. "Bloody hell. You sent her one of your goddamned blackmail threats, didn't you?"

"I do not look upon them as blackmail threats," Charlotte said calmly. "I see them as mere business opportunities. Your wife, however, chose to view my little offer in a different light. She feels it would be dishonorable to pay me off, you see. On the other hand, she cannot bear to see your name in my memoirs. So she took what she felt was the only alternative left to an honorable woman. She challenged me to pistols for two at dawn."

"Pistols at dawn," Julian repeated as if he still could not believe the evidence of his own eyes. He took another step toward Charlotte. "Get out of here. Leave at once. Go back to town and say nothing of any of this. If I hear one word of gossip concerning this day's events I will see to it that you never get the little cottage in Bath you used to talk about. I will make certain you lose the lease on your town house. I will bring so much pressure to bear on your creditors that they will hound you out of the city. Do you understand me, Charlotte?"

"Julian, you go too far," Sophy interrupted angrily.

Charlotte drew herself up, but most of the cool mockery had disappeared from her expression. She did not look fearful, merely resigned. "I understand you, Ravenwood. You were always quite good at making yourself very clear."

"One word of any of this and I will find a way to ruin all you have worked for, Charlotte, I swear it. You know I can do it."

"There is no need to issue threats, Ravenwood. As it happens, I have no intention of gossiping about any of this." She turned to Sophy. "It was a personal matter of honor between your wife and myself. It does not concern anyone else."

"I quite agree," Sophy said firmly.

"I would have you know, madam," Charlotte said softly, "that as far as I am concerned, it is finished, even though no pistols were fired. You need have no fear of what will appear in the Memoirs."

Sophy took a deep breath. "Thank you."

Charlotte smiled slightly and gave Sophy a small, graceful bow. "No, madam, it is I who should thank you. I have had a most entertaining time of it. My world is filled with men of your class who talk about honor a great deal. But their understanding of the subject is very limited. Those same men cannot be bothered to behave honorably toward a female or anyone else weaker than themselves. It is a great pleasure to meet at last someone who does comprehend the meaning of the word. It comes as no great surprise to discover that this remarkably intelligent someone is a woman. Adieu."

"Good-bye," Sophy said, returning the small bow with equal grace.

Charlotte stepped lightly into the curricle, took up the reins and gave the horse the signal. The small vehicle vanished into the mist.

Julian watched Charlotte leave and then he turned around to pin Anne with a grim glare. He took the pistol box from her hand. "Who are you, boy?"

Anne coughed and pulled her cap down lower over her eyes. She rubbed the back of her hand across her nose and snuffled. "The lady wanted a horse and carriage brought round early this mornin', sir. I borrowed my father's nag and thought I'd make a bit on the side if you know what I mean."

"I will give you a very large bit on the side if you will guarantee to keep your mouth closed about what happened here this morning. But if I hear of this I will see to it that your father loses the horse and the carriage and anything else he owns. Furthermore, he will know that it is your fault he has lost everything. Do you comprehend me, boy?"

"Uh, yes, m'lord. Very clearly m'lord."

"Very well. You will drive my wife home in the carriage. I will be right behind you. When we reach the house you will pick up a woman who will be waiting there and you will escort her wherever she wishes to go. Then you will disappear from my sight forever."

"Yes sir."

"Now, Julian," Sophy began earnestly, "there is no need to threaten everyone in sight."

Julian cut her off with a frozen look. "Not one word out of you, madam. I do not yet trust myself to be able to speak to you about this with any semblance of calm." He walked over to the carriage and opened the door. "Get in."

She got into the carriage without another word. Her veiled hat slipped down over one ear as she did so. When she was seated, Julian leaned into the carriage to adjust the hat with an annoyed movement of his hand. Then he thrust the pistol case onto Sophy's lap. Without a word he removed himself from the carriage and slammed the door.

It was undoubtedly the longest ride of her life, Sophy decided as she sat sunk in gloom in the swaying carriage. Julian was beyond outrage. He was coldly, dangerously furious. She could only hope that Anne and Jane were spared the worst of it.

The household had just begun to stir when Anne halted the carriage at the front door. Jane, still wearing her black veil, was waiting anxiously in the library when Julian strode through the door with Sophy in tow. Jane glanced quickly at her friend.

"You are all right?" she demanded in a whisper.

"I am fine, as you can see. Everyone is all right, in fact. Matters would have been even better, however, if you had not felt obliged to intervene."

"I am sorry, Sophy, but I could not allow—"

"That will be enough," Julian interrupted as Guppy, hastily adjusting his jacket, emerged from the door behind the stairs. He looked perplexed at the sight of Sophy in breeches.

"Is all in order, my lord?"

"Certain plans that were made for this morning have been canceled unexpectedly, Guppy, but you may rest assured that I have everything under control."

"Of course, my lord," Guppy said with grand dignity.

It would be worth his job to say a word about this dawn's bizarre hall scene and Guppy knew it. It was obvious the master was in one of his dangerous, quiet rages. It was, however, equally obvious that Lord Ravenwood was in command of the situation. With a quick, worried glance at Sophy, Guppy discreetly disappeared into the kitchens.

Julian turned to confront Jane.

"I do not know who you are, madam, and I assume from your veil that you do not wish to make your identity known. But whoever you are, please be aware that I shall be eternally indebted to you. You appear to be the only one who showed any common sense in this entire affair."

"I am known for my common sense, my lord," Jane said sadly. "Indeed, I fear many of my friends find me quite dull because of it."

"If your friends had any sense, themselves, they would cherish you for that quality. Good day, madam. There is a boy with a closed carriage outside who will escort you home. Your horse is tied to the carriage. Do you wish additional company? I can send one of the footmen along with you."

"No. The carriage and lad will be sufficient." Jane glanced in confusion at Sophy who shrugged faintly. "Thank you, my lord. I do hope this is the end of the entire affair."

"You may rest assured it mostly certainly is. And I hope I can rely upon you not to breathe a word of the matter."

"You may depend upon it, my lord."

Julian walked her to the door and saw her into the small carriage. Then he stalked back up the steps and into the hall. The huge door closed very softly behind him. He stood looking at Sophy for a long moment.

Sophy held her breath, waiting for the stroke of doom.

"Go upstairs and change your clothing, madam. You have played enough at men's games today. We will discuss this matter at ten in the library."

"There is nothing to discuss, my lord," she said swiftly. "You already know everything."

Julian's emerald eyes were brilliant with his anger and another emotion that Sophy realized with a start was relief. "You are wrong, madam. There is a great deal to discuss. If you are not down here promptly at ten, I shall come to fetch you."