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He held her, his right hand precisely against her shoulder blade, his left hand securing hers Even through the layers of their gloves, she felt the thrill of contact

The dance began

In the waltz, the , the pace, the sequence of steps And Leo left Catherine no opportunity to falter It was easy to follow hiotiable There wereinto another series of turns TheCatherine was silent, afraid to break the spell, focusing only on the blue eyes above hers And for the first time in her life, she holly happy

The dance lasted three minutes, perhaps four Catherine tried to collect every second and commit it to me it all back As the waltz ended on a sweet, high note, she found herself holding her breath, wishing it would go on just a little longer

Leo bowed and offered her his arm

"Thank you, ain?"

"I’uest, after all"

"You’re part of the family," Leo said

"You are very kind, my lord, but you know that’s not true I am a paid companion, which means--"

She broke off as she beca in his direction, she saw a face that had haunted her in nighture fro, extorted every bit of calrip on Leo’s ar over as if she’d been kicked in the stomach She tried to take a breath, and could only wheeze

"Marks?" Leo stopped and turned her to face hi down at her bleached face in concern "What is it?"

"A touch of the vapors," she ed to say "It must have been the exertion of the dance"

"Letat her, recognition dawning on his features She had to get away before he approached her She sed hard against the biting pressure of tears welling in her eyes and throat

What ht of Catherine’s life had abruptly becorief Her life with the Hathaways had come to an end She wanted to die

"What can I do?" Leo asked quietly

"Please, will you see to Beatrix … tell her…"

She couldn’t finish Shaking her head blindly, she walked out of the drawing room as quickly as possible

The exertions of the dance, ht darkly This was a woman who had moved a pile of rocks so that he could cli Catherine, it had nothing to do with the vapors Glancing around the roo crowd

Guy, Lord Lati Catherine Marks as intently as Leo was And as she left the drawing rooan to make his way to the open doorway as well

Leo scoith the irritable awareness that the next ti to personally inspect the guest list Had he known that Latih the nae of approxie of life at which a er be called a rake, which implied a certain youthful immaturity, but instead a roué, which had the flavor of ed unseemliness

As next in line to an earldom, Latimer had little to occupy him, other than to wait for his father to die In the meantime he had dedicated himself to the pursuit of vice and perversion He expected others to clean up his messes, and he cared for no one’s comfort but his own The place in his chest where a heart should have been was as e, all in service of satisfying his own boundless needs

And Leo, in the depths of his despair over Laura Dillard, had tried his best to e the escapades he had been involved in with Latimer and his cadre of dissipated aristocrats, Leo felt distinctly unclean Since his return from France, he had scrupulously avoided Lati county of Wiltshire, and it would have been i Beatrix approaching the side of the drawing room, Leo reached her in a few i for now, Bea," he murmured close to her ear "Marks isn’t available to watch over you"

"Why not?"

"I intend to find out In the et into trouble"

"What should I do?"

"I don’t know Go to the refreshry" Beatrix heaved a sigh "But I suppose one doesn’t need to be hungry to eat"

"Good girl," he muttered, and left the rooht there, I say!"

Catherine ignored the su a hallway toward the servants’ stairwell She was drowning in sha how monstrously unfair it was that this oneher life, over and over She had known this would happen soh Latimer and the Hathaways moved in different circles, they would inevitably meet But it had been worth the risk to be with the Hathaways, to feel that just for a little while, she had been part of a fa force Catherine whirled to face hi

It surprised her to see the extent to which he had aged, his features blighted by coarse living He was heavier, thick around the , his face had acquired the wizened look of habitual self-indulgence

"I don’t know you, sir," she said coolly "You are i gaze otten you I looked for years You went to another protector, didn’t you?" His tongue eed to swipe moistly over his lips, and his jaorked as if he were preparing to unhook it and s her whole "I wanted to be your first I paid a bloody fortune for it"

Catherine took a shivering breath "Releasehere, dressed in a spinster’s garb?"

She looked away fro tears "I am employed by the Hathaway family By Lord Ramsay"

"That I can believe Tell o of me" Her voice was low and strained

"Not on your life" Lati in her face "Revenge," he said softly, "is the act of a despicable and petty character Which is no doubt why I’ve always enjoyed it so e for?" Catherine asked, despising hi because of ment of pride, which you could easily afford"

Latimer smiled "There’s where you’re mistaken Pride is all I have I’m quite sensitive about it, really And I won’t be satisfied until it’s returned with interest Eight years of compounded pride is a tidy sum, wouldn’t you say?"

Catherine stared at him coldly The last tiirl with no resources, and no one to protect her But Latie was her brother Nor did it seeht be other men ould dare to stand between hi lecher," she said "I suppose the only way you can have a woman is to purchase one Except that I’m not for sale"

"You were once, weren’t you?" Latimer asked idly "You were a costly piece, and I was assured that you orth it Obviously you’re no virgin, being in service to Ramsay, but I’d still like a sa! Leave , his face softening "Come now, you do enerous What does Raa woman"