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"If she’s forced tohis wife’s sers to curl around his "No one will force her to do anything Come what may, she and Cassandra can always rely on my protection"

His wife’s brown eyes were tender and radiant as she smiled at him "You dear man You didn’t even have to think about it, did you?"

"Of course not"

Gabriel was disconcerted--no, baffled--by the way they discussed the situation as if there were a choice to beto have to explain that the disgrace would cast a shadow over the entire family? That the Ravenels’ friendships and connections would be severed? That Pandora’s tould have no chance of finding a decentin his confounded expression, she said carefully, "My lord, I should explain that Pandora is no ordinary girl She has a free spirit, and an original mind Andwell, obviously, she’s a bit impulsive"

The description was so contrary to the ideal of a proper English bride that Gabriel felt his stomach sink like a millstone

"she and her sisters," Lady Trenear was saying, "were raised in extreme seclusion at the family’s country estate They were all educated, but very unworldly The first time I met them was the day I married their brother Theo They seemed like a trio offorest sprites, or wood ny out of a fairy story Helen, the oldest, was quiet and shy, but the twins had been left to run wild on the estate, unattended, for most of their lives"

"Why would their parents allow that?" Gabriel asked

The earl answered quietly "They had no use for daughters The only child they valued was their son"

"What we’re trying to convey," Lady Trenear said earnestly, "is that Pandora would never thrive with a husband who expected her to bewell, conventional She needs someone ill appreciate her unique qualities"

After swirling the brandy in his glass, Gabriel finished it in two expedient gulps, hoping it would ease the chill of dread in his gut

It didn’t

Nothing was going to make him feel better about the disastrous turn his life had just taken