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Such words were natural, falling from those lush, exquisite lips. Her mouth was almost heart-shaped, a poetic, erotic Valentine. A mouth well-practiced in the most wicked acts, he was sure. In his mind’s eye, he saw her thick, wavy red-gold hair, falling loose about her shoulders, just the way it would after a night of impassioned lovemaking.
    “William, why are you staring like that?” his sister demanded. “You look a bit daft.”
    “He must still be dreadfully tired,” their mother said. “Are you, darling?”
    “No, I am quite well, Mother. Why don’t you both sit down and have some tea? Babbage, do not forget the sugar for Katy.”
    “Very good, sir.” The butler glided away. Although rather short, the dignity of his bearing made him appear taller.
    “So what is your first social engagement?” Will asked his mother as she sat down.
    “Oh, first we shall pay a visit to Laura, naturally,” she replied, referring to her youngest cousin who lived in Town with her husband almost year-round. “I haven’t seen her since her misfortune—not that we shall speak of that.”
    Of course not. Babbage had, in euphemistic terms, told him the news about his relative’s stillborn baby, but it was not the kind of thing his family discussed. As far as the Creightons were concerned, discussing unpleasant topics was tantamount to bad manners.
    Maybe that’s why he’d been a little charmed when Genevieve asked about his hand, and denounced the deplorable conditions of the British army. Not that she treated him as an object of pity—that he couldn’t bear—but she expressed an understanding of what he’d gone through. That touched Will more than he expected, or was even willing to admit.
    Babbage brought the tea-tray.
    “By the by, William, I don’t use quite so much sugar as before,” Katy said. “I am quite grown-up these days.”
    “But it’s Stuart who has truly grown up,” their mother said. “Do you know, for a while he talked of joining the Army, like you. But I said I would not stand for it, not while you were still over there.”
    “He cannot,” Will said, angry suddenly. “He’d likely be killed if he did.”
    “Now, William, don’t let’s talk about such matters in front of Katy.”
    Will grew exasperated. Katy was a bright girl; he suspected she understood that men sometimes died in wars. His mother didn’t want to hear anything unpleasant, and therefore it seemed impossible for Will to tell her how stupid he’d been to volunteer...and how fortunate to have made it back alive.
    If he had it to do over again, Will would have studied medicine and volunteered as a doctor. Army doctors faced as much danger as anyone else, and did a hell of a lot more good. The army never had enough doctors, not by half. Not enough medicine, blankets, or anything else, either, but still...with more doctors, perhaps more soldiers like Bennet could have survived.
    “At any rate, Stuart no longer has any interest in it,” his mother said with a shrug. “I suppose it was just a passing fancy.”
    “Good. Better for him to keep his mind to his studies.”
    “Yes. And your father has been thinking that perhaps Stuart ought to go into Parliament someday. I believe it would suit him very well. Mightn’t you nudge him in that direction? He looks up to you so, William. Naturally he does.”
    As far as Will was concerned, his younger brother could do whatever he damn well pleased, as long as he stayed clear of the army. “If Stuart finds himself in need of my advice, I have no doubt he shall let me know.”
    ****
    Genevieve stood back from the canvas and scrutinized her work. The morning’s results didn’t please her at all.
    She’d been so interested in the touching, tragic subject of the drowned Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet . But somehow, her Ophelia simply refused to look dead. Genevieve sighed and cleaned the paint from her brush with a rag soaked in turpentine.
    “There you are, Miss Genny,” Flory