Definitely Not Mr. Darcy

“Nothing happened, as you al wel know.” There was no proof—of anything.

Grace laughed. “Perhaps Miss Parker has designs on your younger brother,” she said to Sebastian. “Perhaps she means to use the item found in her reticule after al .”

Heat rose to Chloe’s cheeks as an inevitable image surfaced in her mind’s eye, of herself and Henry writhing together naked. She raged at Grace. “You’re absolutely wrong, Lady Grace. I have no intention of the kind with Henry!”

Mrs. Crescent buried her head in her hands. Fifi whimpered.

Sebastian’s brows came together. He glared at Chloe and Henry.

Sebastian oozed testosterone, and Chloe realized that he could probably beat the crap out of Henry should he wish to.

Henry paced the floor. “I think Miss Parker has made it quite clear that she has no designs on me whatsoever.”

Chloe leaned against the tea table. She felt light-headed.

Sebastian crossed the room and glowered into the fireplace. If she didn’t convince him that the condom had been planted in her reticule and that she felt no attraction to Henry, she’d be sent home knowing she hadn’t given it her best shot. She fol owed Sebastian. “What I did for Henry during the foxhunt, I would’ve done for anyone here, including you, Grace.”

Fifi barked in agreement. Mrs. Crescent rubbed her bel y.

Henry buttoned his coat.

The cameras surrounded Chloe and Sebastian. The glow of the fire made his tanned face look even darker. Chloe plopped down in the settee near him, but springs hadn’t been invented in 1812, and it didn’t give, hurting her butt, already tender from the morning’s horse ride. She was losing him, she saw it in his smoky eyes. Him, the man who had chosen her from so many thousands of other women, who had given her the gift of paints and paper, a poem even. Wel , the closest thing to a poem any man had ever written for her. She gulped. “I hope you’l give me a chance. Get to know me a bit more.”

Sebastian’s eyes went glassy. “I believe I have gotten to know you more.” He stared into the fire. He seemed to have made his decision.

“But you don’t understand. If this is about Henry, you have to realize, I talk to him mainly to find out more about you. To get to know you better.

He’s a doorway to you.” This was, of course, only partly true, and Chloe knew it.

“Speaking of doorways . . . if you wil excuse me.” Henry bowed and left before the ladies even had a moment to curtsy.

Chloe felt the emptiness he left behind.

“Time for the Invitation Ceremony,” the butler announced.

Chloe stepped back toward the door, her bare shoulders cold.

The butler opened the doors. “Ladies.”

Chloe had failed to get through to Sebastian. She hadn’t gotten a chance to eat any of the delicious confections she’d made either. The bul et pudding had gone untouched, a symbol of the fiasco this supposedly festive occasion had turned into. And to top it off, she’d lost Henry.

The butler tapped the condom in his pocket. “After you, Miss Parker.”

She was the last member of the party to leave. She needed a drink, and not just a lame two-hundred-year-old lemony-watery punch with a splash of champagne. What she needed was a massive modern martini.

N o drinks and only a few minutes later, Gil ian, Chloe, Julia,

Kate, and Grace stood poised in front of the pianoforte, al Kate, and Grace stood poised in front of the pianoforte, al cleaned up and smoothed over. While the cameras rol ed, Sebastian paced on the far side of the room, and everyone tried to ignore the three cream-colored invitations on a silver tray.

In Chloe’s imagination, Sebastian would see her innocence on al fronts, fling two invitations into the fireplace, waltz right up to her, and present her with the remaining envelope. “It’s you,” he would declare. “It’s always been you. Take this invitation. Take me! ” He would sweep her up off her feet and—But that wasn’t going to happen. Not by a long shot.

Instead Sebastian cleared his throat. “Let me begin by saying . . .” He paused for the camera and lifted one of the invitations. “This was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.” He shifted from one side to the other in his Hessian boots. “You are al very attractive women, with equal y—interesting personalities.” He looked right at Chloe.

Zing. Chloe felt that one. Interesting was never good in guy language, whether Regency or contemporary. She also became acutely aware of her pungent body odor. That was what no showers, horseback riding, and sweating bul ets at tea-party debacles did to a girl.

Sebastian looked down at the invitation in his hand, his long, thick eyelashes practical y brushing against his aristocratic cheekbones. The room was completely stil , the flames of the fire providing the only semblance of movement, and it was so quiet you could hear a nineteenth-century needle drop. He looked up. “Lady Grace.”

Voom. One video cam swung to shoot Grace sauntering up to Sebastian while another recorded the expressions on the other girls’ faces.

Chloe clenched her gloved fists. In the corner of the room, her sewing box sat unlatched, the fireplace screen she had only just started seeming to mock her. She would leave so much unfinished here if she had to go now. It wasn’t just about the money anymore, she realized that. She was wil ing to gamble it al —her business, her precious time with Abigail, and even her friendship with Henry—for this, for Sebastian, and al the possibility of him. His quiet dignity, his perseverance throughout this process, his romantic gestures with riddles and silhouettes and packages wrapped in gold in a castle keep.