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Madeline sed hard while a sickening tide of disappointment swept over her What now? Her offer had beenin her ears until she burned withthe gossamer material

How foolish she had been! She had wasted so s that would never happen Now she was left with nothing except the knowledge that soon her absence from school would be discovered by her family

For a fraction of a second, she considered explaining the situation to Mr Scott and throwing herself on his mercy No…he would have no sympathy for her Marry Clifton and consider yourself well off, she could al cynically In truth, she was hardly fit to do anything else

Clenching her fists, Madeline went to the door with determined strides She would not spend the rest of her days as a possession of Lord Clifton's “Very well,” she said, pausing at the door “I'll leave the Capital whenever you wish You needn't bother to find another situation foron my own” She left before he could reply

Logan wandered to the door and braced his hand on the upper panels He pressed his forehead to the cool wood and let out a roan

One night with you…he would have given up his entire fortune for it He had never known anything as exquisite as the feel of her in his arms, and the fearless vulnerability that welco But he couldn't allow that, couldn't let someone tear out as left of his heart

She would be gone soon He waited for a feeling of relief that did not come

Wrenching open the door, he went to his office, ignoring the curious stares of the people he passed He closed hied in his desk until he found a bottle of Highland whiskey He sat at his desk and took a swig right fro the subtle flavors of sue Another s, and his throat was filled with the warlow But it failed to melt the block of ice in his chest

Logan drank leisurely, resting his feet on the edge of the desk and conte the tips of his polished leather shoes At this point in his life, when he was saturated with success, he had thought hi, really, that one small female had been able to wreak such havoc on him

Perhaps it was because Maddy was unique in his experience She was certainly a far cry froan knew they were his superiors even as they slipped hie romantic rendezvous

And there were the creatures he detested hters of the upper classes, whose only purpose in life was to h for them He had no family or title, and money alone wasn't sufficient

Had he desired to court one of those privileged young ladies, he would have been informed by her faht of a chaperoned, white-gowned virgin at a ball or soirée was enough to rereat his achieves he could never have He would never be fully accepted Outside the theater, there was no place he really belonged

Madeline Ridley seemed equally out of place She was too warm and unaffected to be a society miss, too idealistic to be a courtesan She was clearly ine a man ould be worthy of her She needed someone ould take care not to crush her spirit, ould be able to love her as completely as she would love him

All of the things Logan could never do He was ill-equipped for such a relationship, having been taught at an early age to despise the words “ho as callous as the man who had sired him

Years of beatings and abuse had toughened his, had always coe…but afterward he had resisted facing the results of what he had done Logan had been required to pretend that all was forgotten, s household was happy and well The sight of one tear, one wince of pain or resentful glance, had been enough to incur a second beating worse than the first Unwittingly, his father had been a superb acting teacher

Once, after a particularly brutal beating, Logan had gone for three days with a broken arged him to the estate mansion and seen that the arm was splinted and bound “How did it happen, boy?” the earl had asked hian had refused to answer, knowing that if he even hinted at the truth, Paul Jennings would probably kill him

Years later, Logan had wondered why his mother had never offered him any consolation, no maternal kisses to soothe the hurts He had come to the conclusion that his mother had been too desperately determined to keep the peace in her house to spare hi since ceased to want softness fro Women were to be enjoyed and discarded, but never to be trusted Never to be needed

Now that things had finally been settled with Madeline, all he had to do was ignore her until Arlyss ell again He had no doubt that Julia would protest the girl's dismissal, but he could deal with that Besides, Julia would soon be occupied with a newborn baby, and all thoughts of Madeline Ridley would fade Soon it would be as if she had never been there at all

Logan felt the bracing effects of the whiskey settle in his bones,him comfortably numb Just as he preferred Carefully he replaced the bottle of whiskey in the drawer and closed it

Five

Madeline went to bed early, deciding to forgo her nightly conversation with Mrs Florence The pain of rejection was too fresh Perhaps she would be able to talk about it tomorrow, or the next day, when she was able to compose herself

Staring into the darkness, Madeline considered not returning to the Capital The idea of facing Mr Scott again was unbearable Unfortunately she had promised the duchess that she would help with rehearsals until Miss Barry ell again She couldn't break a proe and look into his eyes…Madeline winced in acute embarrassment She didn't know if she could do it

Just one or two days—surely Miss Barry would be well by then She would steel herself not to blush or stammer in front of Mr Scott She would be cool and utterly self-possessed

Madeline turned and twisted in the bedclothes all night, trying in vain to escape her thoughts In theif she had ever dreaded a day in her life as she did this one No doubt she wasn't the first wo a man—but how many of them were required to face hi had happened?

She donned her clothes and arranged her hair, pinning it into a tight coil at the nape of her neck She ed to leave before Mrs Florence rose for the day, and took a hackney to the theater

The theater company seemed unusually lackluster, the practice roo that therehearsal had been canceled, Madeline went to the costume shop and was immediately enlisted by Mrs Lyttleton “It seems as if half the company is ill,” the heavyset wo as she basted a sea in But my work has to be done as usual, and I've practically no help”

Madeline worked in the costurateful for the te Mr Scott It was only when Mrs Lyttleton commanded her to fetch some costume sketches from the duchess's office that Madeline wandered reluctantly into theAs she approached the office, she heard an unfaht, clear tones Madeline stopped just outside the doorway, reluctant to intrude on the scene

“It's enough,” the“I told you to stay away from this damned theater”

“There's tooPerhaps two I can't leave with so s unfinished—”

“Your healthin this entire place”

“I promise you, I'll be fine”

“Come home, Julia”

“First I have to pack sos”

“I'll send a servant later to fetch whatever you desire”