backstage of pleasure

will make it much easier for us to make our come-outs properly. We’re now ti

outs on h

the other two, “there’s the fact you need to sire an heir, or els

” Gervase

nod. “Revert to that disgustingly fat,

gaze. “And no one

her, then glanced

acts of his life—familial or social—to

, as Annabel put it, right lady to be

’t just the action, but the look in their narrowing eyes, and th

derstand our position, you must see that we can’t allow y

bel prophesied, “y

er claws into you, and we won’

oping to see that she was joking, or to at least detect so

ctonic, especially in such an arena. Instead, all he saw w

ey, too, saw her words as a

he no longer recognized. He really couldn’t believe he was

“But”—he seemed

go to London and find a bride there, w

be my co

ged look that suggested he wa

und here, of course,”

d and nearby towns,”

show her the castle, and us,” Ja

stood—or rather, h

ect had deduced. “You

nked at him; S

course!” Be

ion set like

not one more word and stalked from the room. Should have r

had grown even mor

r the three of

ings around a phil

re as a covert agent operating primarily on foreign soil,

charm; it owed nothing to a smile or a glib tongue. It was

connections in such a way that they seemed plausible,

sion, in the art of framing

sides. At once. He knew where he stood, knew the rational

ldn’t seem to def

a slippery slope that he suddenly real

pressing the urge to clutch the close curls, he ignored t

central point. “Regardless of anything and everything, as

don to make

Belinda

” Annabel bellige

,” Jane warned, “you’ll force us to do

s, each brim ming with a determination equa

as his life

ing frustration of not being able

emed, because o

ied beyond bearing, qui

well,”

er, ever, seen him lose his temper, but k

to you, I’ll make a bargain with you. I won’t return to London for the next three months, not until the Little Season commences. And I swear on all that’s holy

held their gazes, his own as hard as stone. “And you will

y life, in any

, “That’s the bargain

t immediate

asked, “What if you don’t meet a suit

en the Little Season starts and I retu

e the risk; the wariness

so sure that a suitable lady lies wait