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‘A young person, my lord’

‘A boy? I aames just at the moment, Griffin’

‘As you say, my lord It appears to be a youth Beyond that I am not prepared to commit myself’

Appears? Does Griffin mean what I think he means? ‘Well, where is it Him?’ Her? ‘Below stairs?’

‘In the so down to the tradesman’s entrance and said it was certain your lordship would wish to see it’

Rhys blinked at the decanter How ot back froined that faint hint of desperation in Griffin’s voice Thea hair, whether it was pilfering foot the china

A faint trickle of unease ran down his spine Mistresses Had Georgina failed to take her congé as calmly as she had appeared to do yesterday? Surely she was satisfied with a very nice diamond necklace and the lease on her little house for a further year? Rhys got to his feet and tugged off his already loosened neckcloth, leaving his coat where it was on the sofa Ridiculous He lement, but he was no Lord Byron with hysterical fe his footsteps He was careful to stick to professionals and fast le ladies and certainly not unstable cross-dressing ones

‘Very well, let us see thishi the way the furniture swayed as Griffin preceded hiover of monumental proportions

Griffin opened the door to the roo standards for adure seated on a hard chair against the far wall ca dark suit of clothes that said ‘junior clerk’ to Rhys’s unfocused eye, it had a pair of portmanteaux at its feet and a battered beaver hat on the chair by its side

Rhys blinked He wasn’t that drunk ‘Griffin, if that is male, then you and I are eunuchs in the Great Chan’s court’

The girl in the youth’s clothes gave an exasperated sigh, set her fists on the curving hips that betrayed her sex and said, ‘Rhys Denha on you to be reliable’

Thea? Lady Althea Curtiss, daughter of the Earl of Wellingstone by his scandalous first wife, the plain little brat who had dogged his heels throughout his boyhood, the loyal friend he had scarcely seen since the day his world fell apart Here, in the early hours of thescandal waiting to explode like a s

Rhys was bigger than she had remembered More solid Moremale as he loomed in the doorway in his shirtsleeves, his chin darkened by hisbeard, the black hair that caaze blurred by drink and lack of sleep A dangerous stranger And then she blinked and remembered that it was six years since she had seen hied

‘Thea?’ He stalked across the room and took her by the shoulders, his focus sharp now, despite the s here? And dressed like that’ He reached round and pulled the plait of mouse-brown hair out of the back of her coat ‘Who were you atte to fool, you little idiot? Have you run away from home?’

Rhys was thin lipped with anger Thea stepped back out of his grip, whichfor her knocking knees ‘I aecoach in the dark it is enough to deceive lecherous men I aood light And I have left ho away’

Rhys’s lipsup to ten in Welsh, she could tell When he had been a boy he would say it out loud and she had learned the numbers Un, dau, tri ‘Griffin More brandy Tea and so to eat for Lady Althea Who is not, of course, here’

Thea allowed herself to be shepherded into the study Rhys duer cat off one of the chairs that flanked the fire ‘Sit The cat hairs can’t make that suit any worse than it is’ The cat swore at both of them, battered ears flat to its skull

When she clicked her fingers, it curled its tail into a question mark and stalked off Hopefully this was not an o to be ‘Is it your pet?’

Rhys narrowed his eyes at her ‘It is the kitchen cat and appears to think it owns the place’ He dropped into the opposite chair and ran his hands through his hair ‘Tellfor Dover at seven o’clock and I would prefer not to postpone it in order to fight a duel with some scoundrel you fancy yourself in love with’