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"Suckling pig," he mumbled, hiding a smile as he made his way over to one of the basins and reached for a bronze tap.
    Her eyes sparkling with mischief, Kendra turned to Colin. "Have you and Lady Priscilla Snobs set the date?"
    "Lady Priscilla Hobbs and I have yet to decide." Colin scanned the shelves, looking for something he could use to clean up. "She won't move to Greystone in its present condition."
    "Gravity," Ford declared, opening the tap, then shutting it again. With obvious glee, he repeated the motion. "Definitely gravity."
    Kendra nodded absently and turned back to Colin. "Priscilla could live at Cainewood with us."
    "Not likely. This family is a bit too, uh, high-spirited for Priscilla." He dropped a wad of rags on the biggest puddle of pig blood, poking at it with one booted foot. "She's an only child, you know—used to peace and quiet."
    "She's a snob, you mean. Otherwise—"
    "Kendra!" Jason's leaf-green eyes glared into his sister's lighter ones. "Lady Priscilla is a perfectly nice woman. More important to Colin, though, she's pretty, titled, and the only heir to an enormous fortune. If it takes her a while to get used to us, we'll just have to put up with it." He turned to Colin. "How are the rest of the renovations coming along?"
    "Slowly." Colin looked up from where he crouched on the floor, mopping the last of the bloody trail. "My study and one bedchamber are finished, enough for Benchley and me to stay here and work. But for Priscilla…"
    Raising a hand to his narrow black mustache, Jason stroked one side then the other. "I imagine Priscilla requires a small army of servants, as well as a proper suite and a couple of receiving rooms, at the very least." He shot Kendra a warning glance. "On the other hand, she's not going to wait for the entire castle to be remodeled, is she?"
    Colin shook his head vehemently. "God's blood, no." An incredible amount of work lay ahead; the castle had stood vacant since '43 when the Roundheads laid the great hall in ruins. "I'll warrant we'll see another quarter century before it's fully restored."
    "See this lead pipe?" Ford gestured at the stone wall. "I'd lay odds there's a cistern on the roof. This second tap controls outflow—the River Caine lies downhill from here, yes?" He grinned, his deep blue eyes flashing with satisfaction. "Gravity."
    "Fascinating," Jason said dryly.
    Standing up slowly, Colin twisted the new gold ring on his finger, considering the enormity of the task ahead of him. "Priscilla wishes to wed and start a family soon. Just a few more rooms…" He sighed. "Everything's so damned expensive, and I'm spending more on farm equipment and livestock than renovations. Until the estate is in shape, it cannot generate a decent income."
    "Poor Colin." Kendra walked around the kitchen, reaching up a hand to trail along the mantels of the three immense fireplaces. "I suppose I cannot fault you for wanting Priscilla and her enormous fortune , but why not hurry it along a bit?" She stepped in front of Colin, who was busy lighting candles to ward off the encroaching dark. "Can't you manage to compromise her or something?"
    "Kendra!" Jason scolded.
    Ford snorted, his attention finally diverted from the pipes. " Compromise her? At King Charles's court? Just what would that entail, do you suppose?" He wandered over to break off a piece of the fresh-baked manchet that Benchley had left on the table. "I'm afraid compromising went out with knights in shining armor—or Cromwell, at the very least."
    He sank his teeth into the fine white bread, talking around a mouthful. "Colin could ravish her on the hazard table at Whitehall Palace, and I doubt anyone would take notice—other than to push them out of the way so they could get on with the game."
    When he reached for more bread, Kendra slapped his hand away. "I'm not a half-wit." She often claimed that, due to her three brothers' exasperating diligence, she must be the only virgin at court. "I was trying to put it