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William’s voice echoed from somewhere down the hallway. “Magpie, you have some mail.”
    “I’ll be right there,” she called back, rising. As she crossed behind Phineas she touched his shoulder. “Please stay,” she continued almost soundlessly.
    That settled that. The devil himself couldn’t drag him out of East Sussex now. The next step was to gauge the lay of the land—and then prepare for battle, whether he knew what he was about to come up against or not.

    “Alyse, carry my reticule.”
    Alyse closed the small distance to her aunt and took the older woman’s bag from her drooping fingers. It felt nearly empty; undoubtedly Aunt Ernesta was more interested in having someone tote her things than in relieving herself of a burden.
    She shook the reticule a little. A few coins, but she would wait to see whether she could lighten it by a shilling or two. Heaven knew she’d learned to be patient, at about the same time she’d realized that she felt perfectly content to slowly gather funds that, if her cousin had had any heart at all, would have been hers to begin with. Her father had tried to provide for her, but he’d been forced to leave it to his heir’s discretion. And Richard had declined to abide by the former viscount’s wishes.
    “And stay close by,” Ernesta continued. “You know I detest when you wander off.”
    “Yes, Aunt.”
    They waited for a milk cart to pass by and then crossed the street to Daisy Duvall’s Dress Shop. The shop was practically a decade behind the current fashion, and seemed much more popular with the grand dames of Lewes than with the younger set. Alyse had never purchased a stitch there, had never even crossed the threshold until a year ago. Not that she had any ready money to spend at the establishment, but she meant never to do so regardless.
    They spent nearly an hour inside, Mrs. Duvall and her shopgirls hovering and fluttering around Aunt Ernesta and Lady Hestley once the baroness joined them. Alyse sat to one side, pasted an interested look on her face, and let her mind wander.
    Her mind wandered a great deal these days, since her shoes were unable to do so. Left to her own amusements she would, for example, have begun the day with a visit to the sweet shop. She loved hard candy, and Mr. Styles had always used to keep some aside on Tuesdays, the day she and her friends usually ventured into Lewes for shopping and luncheon. Aunt Ernesta disliked candy, though she would go so far as to dance for biscuits. The closest Alyse had come to any sweets lately was the strawberries she’d hidden from Richard.
    “Alyse!”
    She blinked. “Yes, Aunt?”
    “I said, please go to the bakery and fetch me a half dozen biscuits. And you would do well to pay better attention. For heaven’s sake.”
    The viscount’s mother handed her a shilling. Alyse stood and walked outside, ignoring the muttering and giggling going on in the shop behind her as she left. Her aunt didn’t need to remind her that her life had irrevocably altered; all she had to do was open her eyes in the morning to know that. How unfortunate that Aunt Ernesta wouldn’t be receiving any change for the biscuits. She hadn’t in nearly a year.
    “Good morning, Miss Donnelly.”
    She looked up as a gray-muzzled chestnut mare crossed in front of her and stopped. Her heart skittered as she recognized the low drawl of the rider. “Colonel. Good morning.”
    He dismounted smoothly, taking the reins in one hand and reaching for her fingers with the other. Alyse studied him as he bowed over her knuckles. The tall, thin boy had become a lean, hard, and well-muscled man. And so, so handsome, with that dark, wild hair and half-smiling, sensuous mouth, and that blue and scarlet uniform. Hazel eyes lifted to gaze at her face as he straightened. He seemed pleased to see her, and he wasn’t laughing.
    She took a quick breath as she withdrew her fingers from his. “What brings you into town this morning?”
    “What if I