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Chapter One

Hampshire, July, 1840

It had been ten years since Evan Carlton, Earl of Westfeld, last entered a ballroom This one was just a moderately sized hall on the Arlestons’ country estate—a dance at a house party, not a great London crush Still, standing at the top of the stairs he felt a touch of vertigo—as if the wide steps leading down to the dance floor were instead a steep slope, and the swirling pastels of evening gowns the rocks that waited below One wrong step and he would fall

This time, he had no safety rope

He blinked, and the illusion passed The figures at the foot of the stair coalesced into whirling pairs of dancers, not sharp crags Everything was normal

Everything, that was, except him When last he’d been in polite society, he’d been its most ardent participant Today…

His hand tightened deliberately about his cousin’s arave him a quizzical look

“Don’t look so hunted” Diana, Lady Cosgrove, was resplendent in peacock-blue shi silk

Evan had returned to England nearly fourteen o when his father had passed away Since then, he’d been burdened with the details of the funeral and the estate he’d inherited And, to be truthful, he’d dreaded the thought of reentering society Foolish, that; enough tied

“You’ll see,” Diana was saying “Nothing’s changed—nothing that matters, that is”

“How enticing,” he said flatly

She chattered on, oblivious to his unease “Isn’t it, though? Don’t pull that face You’ve been in otten how to have fun I reat explorer will enjoy himself”

He’d been aa trivial point of vocabulary

Diana patted his ar “You were the most popular fellow in all of London When last you were here, you dominated society I wish you would act like it”

Not coht to the surface Evan looked out over the group A large house party; but even with the addition of a few souls frohborhood, it was still a small ball Of the nine or ten couples, only a handful were dancing The rest were clustered in a loose knot on the edge of the roolasses in hand

The evening was young; only Evan felt aged

When last he’d been here, he would have been the center of that crowd His jokes had been the funniest—or at least, they had olden boy—handsome and popular and liked by everyone

Almost everyone Evan shook his head He had utterly hated himself

“If it must be done, it’s best done bravely” He drew hi”

He took one step toward the roup

Diana pulled his arm “Goodness,” she said “Have a little care Don’t you see who is present?”

He frowned He could only make out a few faces They blurred into one another at this distance, the bright silks of the ladies’ skirts contrasting with the dark, sober colors of the gentleht you were friends”

“Next to her” Diana would never have been so uncouth as to point, but she gave a little jerk with her chin “It’s Lady Equine”

Ah Damn He’d not let himself even think that dreadful appellation in years But Lady Elaine Warren…she was the reason he had left England His breath caught on a mix of hope and furious shao, he found hi faces

No wonder he hadn’t seen her at first She htly about her waist, as if she could squeeze herself into insignificance Her gown, a pink so aneht have been white, left her ht colors Even the pale color of her hair, twisted into an indifferent chignon, seemed to declare her inconsequential It was only his own memory that made her stand out

He kept his voice caler Who did she end up ?”

“Really Who would wed a girl who laughs like a horse?”

He looked at his cousin “Do be serious We’re not youths any longer” Even from this distance, Evan could see the ripe swell of her bosom When she had come out at seventeen, she had attracted attention, her body e He had noticed Often

She’d been entirely unlike all the other debutantes: not just in body, but with that laugh, that long, loud, vital laugh It hadback, that life was ahead of her and she planned to enjoy it Her laugh had always put him in mind of activities that were decidedly improper

“I am serious,” Diana said “Lady Equine never married”

“You’re not still calling her that a decade later” He wasn’t sure if he intended his words as a command or a question

But he felt the truth with a cold, sick certainty He could see it in the set of Lady Elaine’s shoulders, in the way she ducked her head as if she could avoid all notice He could see it in her wary glance, darting to either side

“Corinning, but her bright expression faded as she saw that look on his face “Don’t you recall? You said once, ‘I can’t tell if she laughs like a horse or a pig, but—’”

“I remember” His voice was quiet “I remember very hat I said, thank you”

He only tried not to

She’d never stopped laughing, no matter how he teased her But when she had looked in his direction, her eyes had begun to slide over hi but an irrelevant objet d’art, and one that was of no further interest Over the course of a Season’s worth of mockery, he had watched her draw in on herself until the vital stuff he’d lusted after had simply faded away

“Don’t worry about her,” Diana was saying “She’s nothing There isn’t a hs like the unholy ”

“I said that” His hands clenched

“Evan, everyone said that”

He’d run froland, ashamed of what he’d done But whatever maturity he’d found in his travels abroad, he could feel it slipping now It would be so easy to be the selfish sho thought nothing of ruining a girl’s prospects simply becaus

e it would h

Diana watched him expectantly One smile, one comment about Elaine’s whinny, and he would seal his cousin’s approval—and his fate

He’d been right There were rocky shoals below, and gravity was doing its level best to dash everything good he’d s

Gently, he removed his cousin’s hand from his arm

“What are you doing?” she asked

“What do you suppose?” He bit off the words “I’ to dance with Lady Elaine”

But she misunderstood theworried, a sly, pleased s his cuff lightly “You really are too awful, baiting her like that This is going to be just like old times”

Lady Elaine Warren scanned the walls of the ballroo was always an exercise in delicacy and balance It had grown easier over the years, as the leaders of fashion had found new,fun of her She had a few friends, now—real ones Sheto school her face to a pleasant, stupid blankness All she had to do was choose her company wisely

This house party was uest list None of her closest friends had co tormenters were absent Her mother had wanted to attend to pass the ti his estates