Fascinated

And there he was, tricked out for a morning visit, doing the Proper with the requisite bowing and scraping and every attempt to curb his natural cynicism as she introduced him to Ancilla and he seated himself in the wing chair opposite the tea table.

'I hope our sojourn at the card table last night was agreeable to you,' he murmured.

'Indeed.' She motioned to Nellie to set down the teapot and tray, after which she poured him a cup and handed it over. 'I'm very fond of cards, and a whole night at it would barely tire me.'

'Ah… a woman with stamina-good to know.' He sipped as she stared at him, appalled.

Even that innocent comment, he turned into something salacious?

She slanted a look at Ancilla, feeling as if she were drowning. She wasn't half awake even, and she must deal with him? Ancilla shook her head, so no help there. All Ancilla wanted to do was observe him like an insect under a magnifying glass. How comfortable it must be to remain so detached from everything. She could resent it if she did not care for Ancilla so much.

'Does not any woman need a certain amount of stamina just to cope with the rigors of the Season?' she asked lightly, seeking to put a less sexual connotation on his words.

'But you're a woman of experience,' he came back instantly, 'and familiar with all the ins and outs. Are you not?'

What was this conversation about? Her head was spinning. She was not used to speaking in double entendres. And for some reason, he assumed she was.

'Am I not which? A woman of experience, or familiar? In both cases, Mr. Raulton, I am not.'

'But you are very clever with words, Miss Olney.' He rose then and took her hand. 'I look forward to seeing more of you.' He bowed to Ancilla and withdrew.

What?

Ancilla was fanning herself. 'My dear Regina-he is quick off the mark. Complete to a shade. And not too bracket-faced for one of his experience.'

Regina bridled. 'Do you think so? Well, put yourself on the line for his experience, Ancilla, because he will in no way ever see more of me.'

Chapter Six

And that was not the end of it. Ancilla left just as her father came home fresh from his rounds of the clubs, fresh with the news, and a fresh rage over her lack of propriety.

'Everyone is talking about the Book,' he fumed, 'and the worst of it is, all but one of you were booked at Heeton's this past week as well. The wagering is astronomical, but to hear my daughter talked about like a piece of prime flesh is beyond anything a father should have to bear. And it is too late now to dump the broth, my girl. Why could you not be as restrained and proper as Ancilla? There is someone who keeps her counsel, speaks not an ill-advised word to anyone, and is universally loved by everyone.'

'Except a man,' Regina muttered, and immediately hated herself for even voicing such an ill-mannered self- serving comment. 'Then, by all means, I shall certainly try to emulate our saintly Ancilla.'

'You may mock me, but there is something to be said for a woman of taste and restraint, Regina. And you have proved you have neither…'

Oh, if only he knew…

'And that you cannot be trusted to know your own mind.'

That stopped her. 'I beg your pardon?'

'Your thoughtlessness, your cavalier dismissal of my wishes and my concerns-well, I had thought that all the product of a high-spirited, but at bottom, properly raised daughter. And here instead is the bottom line: she is the talk of the Town, named on the line in two of the most notorious betting Books in London, and is pursued right into her home by the most debauched man in England, a man she professed she wanted to marry, and who now apparently may not be averse to marrying her, especially if he can line his pockets in the process. Heaven help me, does everything you wish for come true? And yet you denied the whole straight up and down last night. So what is a father to make of that? I ought to lock you in the cellars at Sherburne until this stink blows over.'

Was there anything more humiliating than this? Her father's anger, his assumption she had been carrying on secretly somehow with Raulton to cause all this furor with the betting Books… what would he do if he knew she was living a secret life as Jeremy's mistress?

He would die. He would just die. He looked about ready to pop right now, and on the cusp of meting out some kind of punishment that would surely involve her banishment from London.

She didn't know how to make him believe that she had never had a moment's interest in Raulton. It was past doing: the betting line said it all.

And her father would believe that, sooner than her.

And it was all her fault to begin with. Blast it.

She was so tired. 'Just don't send me back to Hertfordshire,' she murmured.

'It is exactly where I wish you would go, my girl. You understand all the ramifications of this, do you not? Your name associated with Raulton? Bets being placed on our good name as to whether he will offer for you. Who in conscience after his decision is made would even want to marry you after this debacle? This is your third go-round with no reliable offers. After this Season, you will rusticate until you die, an unwed spinster. There is no other redemption for actions as careless as yours. And perhaps that is the best punishment of all.'

Jeremy came later, and Reginald met him at the door. 'So you've heard the news?' 'The news?' 'The Book.' White's had it then, and Reginald was aware of the whole, damn it. He hadn't been in time to shield him from the worst. 'I just heard.'

'So our little scheme didn't work,' Reginald said snappishly.

'My dear Reginald-we barely had any time. It's been three weeks or so since she declared. A week and a half since we made the decision, and this week did I begin to implement it. Events were out of our control. The card party last night. Everyone was talking about the repartee between them.'

'You should have come,' Reginald said sourly. 'You could have taken her away and prevented this.'

He could have prevented nothing, least of all his own wanton secret life with Regina. 'No. This was booked at Heeton's last week. There was no way to avoid it after that, Reginald.'

'Well, let me tell you-Mr. Jack Smart came to her here in her own home. What do you make of that?'

'The bastard was here? She let him in?' Damn and blast to hell. If he even breathed the same air, he would kill him. He would.

'Ancilla was here; she had no choice in good manners. But still and all-talk to her, Jeremy. I am at wit's end.'

You are not the only one, Reginald.

Reginald stalked out, and Jeremy settled himself in the wing chair to wait for her. He rose restlessly when the thought occurred to him that Raulton might have been in this room, sat in this very chair. Damn damn damn. Why hadn't Ancilla stopped her? But what did Ancilla know? Plenty, probably, knowing Ancilla. Damn and hell.

And where was Regina anyway?

'Ah, and here is my lord to ring another peal over me.' And suddenly she was there, standing defiantly on the threshold gowned in virtue and bile. 'Father wasn't content to beat me to snuff; he had to summon his great good friend to put me further down-pin. Well, go ahead, Jeremy. I'm all to pieces already anyway.'

'He was here.'

That brought her up short. 'He?'

'Raulton-here, in this room…'

'So was Ancilla. It was all perfectly proper.'

'He was in this room. With you. Which chair?'

'Jeremy…'

He wasn't angry. Well, yes, he was. He was furious, fairly simmering under all that impassivity, and she