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she would never have the opportunity to use? Ridiculous.
    But she thought about that fan all the way to work.

Chapter 3
    A true lady always behaves with restraint. She is cheerful, understanding, and sensible. She does not give way to displays of emotion, lose her temper, or make a scene.
    Mrs. Lydia Worthington’s advice
to her niece, 1880
    N ewspapers were not only a significant part of Harry’s livelihood, they had other uses as well, refuge being the most important this morning.
    It was terribly rude, he supposed, to hold up a newspaper as a wall between oneself and one’s house guests, but he didn’t care. There were limits to what a man could endure, and with four additional women at his breakfast table, women his sisters considered marriage prospects for him, aman had to hide somewhere. The morning after his return from Berkshire, Harry chose to hide behind a copy of Barringer’s Social Gazette .
    Fortunately, breakfast in his house hold was a casual affair of warming dishes on the sideboard and everyone helping themselves at their leisure. Even though it was becoming more acceptable to conduct the first meal of the day in this manner, his house hold had been doing it this way for years. His mother had long ago given up any hope he would keep to a regular house hold routine. Today, the casual atmosphere enabled Harry to both ignore his guests and get work done at the same time.
    It was really no wonder the Gazette and its owner were in financial trouble, he thought as he munched on a slice of bacon. For such staid, dull stuff as this, one might just as well read the Times .
    A single feminine voice rose just enough to be heard above the rest. “What is your opinion, Lord Marlowe?”
    The room fell silent, and Harry pulled down the newspaper just far enough to meet the melting dark gaze of Lady Felicity. She was beautiful, no denying it, but then, Diana knew his tastes well enough. If Felicity were not a young lady, his interest might be sparked, but young ladies were dangerous creatures. They expected marriage.
    He gave her a polite smile. “My apologies, but I was not paying attention to the conversation.” He rustled the Gazette . “I am engaged in a most important task at present.”
    “An important task?” She gestured to the paper in his hands. “Is the day’s news so important, then?”
    “To Harry it is,” Vivian told her, laughing. “He’s always reading the papers of his competitors.”
    “Though not usually at breakfast,” his grandmother pointed out, her voice heavy with disapproval which Harry chose to ignore.
    He took another look at Felicity over the top of the Gazette . “You see, Lady Felicity,” he explained, “reading the newspapers of my competitors is crucial to my financial success. Staying one step ahead and that sort of thing. I am a man of business, and I enjoy it.”
    “Enjoy it?” Felicity began to laugh. “You tease me, Lord Marlowe.”
    “Indeed, I do not. I enjoy it far more than my estate. Collecting land rents is a bore. And very unprofitable. I prefer business.”
    She knew she’d made a blunder, and she attempted to smooth it over. “You prefer your business affairs to your estate? How…” She paused, floundering for a moment. “How very modern.”
    Harry saw Diana wince, and he lifted his newspaper again, grinning. So she’d thought Lady Felicity the perfect wife for him? He was really going to enjoy ragging Di about this later. “Yes, well, I am a very modern sort of fellow,” he murmured in his best self-deprecating fashion.
    Ignoring his grandmother’s sound of exasperation, he glanced at the clock on the mantel and gave an exclamation of mock surprise. “Half past nine already?” He folded the paper andstood up, doing his best to look apologetic. “Forgive me, ladies, but I must go earn my living.”
    “Don’t be late this evening, dear,” his mother said as he gathered the stack of newspapers and the morning post the butler had placed