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He stilled and stared at her as if dumbstruck
"Don’t you understand?" Lucy whispered "Even if one were ain in the next instant, one would ever after remember and knoas missed What could be"
"So you won’t marry me," he said quietly
"No" Lucy let her hands drop, deflated and weary "I won’t marry you"
"DAMMIT!" EDWARD DE RAAF, the fifth Earl of Swar-tingham, roared as yet another boy whizzed past The boy so arh He sat in his favorite London coffeehouse, his feet--shod in new red-heeled pu his o
"D’you think the service is getting worse?" his coain The boyDe Raaf stood a solid six feet and soht black hair worn in a h to curdle cream He didn’t exactly blend into a crowd
"No" Sihtfully He’d arrived earlier than the other man and was thus already set up "It’s always been this awful"
"Then why do we come here?"
"Well, I colanced around the dingy, low-ceilinged coffeehouse The Agrarian Society, an eclectic, loose-knit club, met here The only terms of riculture "And, of course, the sophisticated ated look
A fight broke out in the corner between a , and a country squire wearing ain--de Raaf didn’t even get a chance to raise his hand this time--and Harry Pye stole into the coffeehouse Pye racefully and without any sound Add to that his nondescript appearance--he was of average height and looks and favored a dull broardrobe--and it was a wonder anyone noticed him at all Simon narrowed his eyes With his physical control, Pye would have made a formidable swordsman But since he was a commoner, no doubt he had never held a sword; only nobility could wear one Which didn’t stop Pye fro a wicked little blade in his left boot
"My lords" Pye sat in the re chair at their table
De Raaf let out a long-suffering sigh "How many times have I told you to call me Edward or de Raaf?"
Pye half sment at the falad to see you well, my lord We had news of your near ed easily "A trifle, I assure you"
De Raaf frowned "That’s not what I heard"
The boy sla of coffee down beside Pye
De Raaf’s jaw dropped "How did you do that?"
"What?" Pye’s gaze lowered to the e a cup today?"
"I--"
"He’s decided to give up coffee," Siood for the libido Huntington wrote a treatise on it recently, didn’t you hear? It especially affects those nearing their middle years"
"Really" Pye blinked
De Raaf’s pale, pockmarked face crimsoned "What a lot of rot--"
"Can’t say I’ve noticed it affecting ain, de Raaf is considerably older than I"
"You lying--"
"And he’s recently -down consequence, that"
"Now see here--"
Pye’s lips twitched If Si closely, he’d have missed it "But I’m newly married as well," Pye interrupted softly "And I can’t say I’ve noticed any, ah, proble as he realized he was the odd man out They turned in unison to the earl
Who sputtered, "Despicable, lying, caddish--"
The boy whirled by again De Raaf frantically waved his arm "Ahhh, damn!"
The lad disappeared into the kitchen without ever turning his head
"Good thing you’ve given up the sacred brew" Simon smirked
A crash came from the brawl in the corner Heads swiveled The country squire had the dandy, sans wig, on his back against a table Two chairs lay broken nearby
Pye frowned "Isn’t that Arlington?"
"Yes," Si, isn’t it? Can’t think why he chose pink No doubt that’s the reason the rural chap is pu"
"They were arguing over swine breeding" De Raaf shook his head "He’s always been a bit unreasonable about farrowing pens Runs in the family"
"Do you think we should help him?" Pye asked
"No" De Raaf looked around for the boy, an evil gleaht knock some sense into hiain, but then lowered it as he saw a slight, scruffy character hesitating in the doorway
The man scanned the room and spotted him He started toward them
"Da et you a coffee?" Pye asked
"No I’"
The man stopped before Simon "Took me most of the day, Guv, but I’ve found him" He proffered a dirty scrap of paper