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Dagger, meet heart

He knew, rationally, that Lily was a capable, clever woman who didn’t need his help But when he was around her, rational thought greings and flew out the nearestIn its place, protective jealousy reigned supreme

He scrubbed his face with one hand "Well At least she won’t have to put up with er" He rose and moved to quit the room

The duke asked, "Just how much does Lily know?"

"About what? About her brother’s dalliance with a low-class whore? About Faraday? My ene his heart twisted, grinding against his solar plexus He was too stunned to dissemble Morland knew?

"Of course I know," the duke said "And if even I’ve noticed, it’s the worst-kept secret in England When it comes to matters of the heart, I’m not especially perceptive"

"You don’t say" Julian stopped, hand and gaze fixed on the doorja sothis? If even Morland could tell, did Lily suspect? How could she not, after that stupid, disastrous kiss?

Three nights, he told hihts So about any of it Nor will she"

Chapter Six

"A louse!"

The ginger-haired lieutenant shook his head and tried again, dragging his fingers through his hair in affected swoops and every so often tossing his head

"Ato his feet

In response to this, the lieutenant shot a death glare toward his young co his thu to strut about the room As he walked, his head jerked forward and back

Michael raised his hand to guess "A bantaht, his ers into his hair again, ruffling it with vigor until it stood straight up in the middle He pointed to his smart ripple of carrot-colored hair It could not escape anyone’s notice that he resembled a cross between Julian Bellamy and a rooster

Ah But of course

Lily called out the obvious "A coxcoer-haired lieutenant touched a finger to his nose, then bowed and left the circle Everyone laughed--but the three young lieutenants laughed leefully Lily supposed it must be some balm to their pride, to have a hearty chortle at the expense of the iven them such a rude and literal setdown at dinner Had Julian been out of circulation so long that his polished charm had lost its luster? Or did he simply not care anymore?

Froain "Well done, my lady Will you favor us with a turn?"

She shook her head "To be truthful, charades really aren’t ed Honestly, she’d never been ames of any sort "Cards?"

The coer officers to set the room for cards

Lily rose fro a moement of furniture could cause, where five men were involved And then, in the next ain--about Julian She couldn’t stop thinking about hi, her heart seemed to alternate pulses between her own life and his If only he’d stay in the sa palpitations

A sober-faced Michael joined her at the"I can’t stop thinking of hi what cause Michael would have to be obsessively thinking of Julian

"It’s just … so hard to believe he’s gone"

Leo He e For the first ti of her brother

"I wish I’d been able to attend the burial," Michael said "I hadn’t seen him in above two years"

"Didn’t you see him the summer before last? Oh, but perhaps you were at sea that July"

"Two suo?" Michael shook his head "I wasn’t at sea I was in Plymouth But no, I didn’t have a chance to see Leo Wasn’t he with you in Gloucestershire?"

"Not for July He went …" Lily bit her tongue "Oh, I’"

That July, Leo had spent the month at a reunion of his old Eton friends She didn’t want tobeen excluded But then, why should Michael have been excluded? He’d been Leo’s closest friend at school It made no sense, unless …

Unless Leo hadn’t attended a reunion with his old Eton friends Unless he’d spent a ments of those letters floated to the surface of her ine we’re there again We lie still in the tall grass A clear sky hangs over us The sun’s warers lace withoverhead

Then you turn to me slowly, brush a lock of hair frohts are put away