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Chetwyn rolled his eyes "With your brothers--the worst gossips in all of England--about? I rather doubt that"

She laughed It felt good to laugh beneath flickering chandeliers while an orchestra wooed the dancers with gentle strains of harmony

"I should like to see Jameson married this Season," she said

"He should like to see the same of you"

She couldn’t miss the speculation and interest in Chetwyn’s eyes It wasn’t that he was an awful fellow, but he didn’t make her heart speed up or her body yearn for nearness But then she suspected fewto ask if you knew of any prospects ho down the aisle," she said, hoping to direct them off a path she wasn’t ready to travel Her own possibility of ht she simply had to survive her reentry into Society

"Perhaps I could come to call later this week and provide a list at that ti out of the flirtation gah she’d maneuvered herself into a trap "Do you not worry that your brother would always be between us?"

"No He and I were very different I daresay, my mother often quipped that if she wasn’t present at the birthing, she’d have not believed ere brothers"

She felt the heat suffuse her face Not exactly a proper topic, and she wondered briefly if he was slightly nervous about being in her company It couldn’t be easy to be with a woman who had a past with his brother "Well, then, I suppose a call later this ould be lovely"

The music wafted into silence and without another word he escorted her to her aunt, her father’s sister, as serving as her chaperone this evening In spite of Sarah’s offer to take on that role, her father thought she needed a more seasoned lady Especially as he wasn’t here, but had elected to spend the evening at his club

"He is such a handsome devil," her aunt Penelope said after the marquess had wandered away

"Yes, he is"

"I’ve heard he’s set his cap on you"

"So I’ve been told"

"You could do far worse,endorsement"

All the wrinkles in her aunt’s face shifted around until she looked rather like a dried prune "Whatever do you mean by that?"

"It just seeher than si on the shelf You can’t be particularly picky You had your love, which is more than most women have Now you must settle in and do your duty"

"Is one allowed love only once?"

"I daresay, if at all, once is all that one can hope for"