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fine young woman,"
Christopher could not stop himself saying.
    "Indeed she is. Do you know her?"
    "I am a . . . friend . . . of the
family."
    " Reee -ly?" Templeton was all that was
happy interest. "I had no idea. Miss Ardmore has never mentioned a
Mr. Raine, but then, I have not known her or her family long."
    "I've been away," Christopher said.
    "Quite a surprise when she accepted me, I can
assure you. I never dreamed a lady like her would favor me so.
Mother was tickled something fierce. She has become very fond of
Miss Ardmore, has Mother. My mother is a stickler for propriety,
but Miss Ardmore is all that is right and proper, of course."
    "Of course."
    Proper Honoria had been kissing Christopher,
her secret husband, in her bedchamber not an hour or more ago, and
would have done more had Diana not come in on them. Poor Templeton.
Christopher supposed he should breeze out of Honoria's life again
and leave her to Templeton, quietly annul their marriage, let her
get on with things.
    Something tightened inside him. No, Honoria
would not rid herself of Christopher that easily. She belonged to
him, even if Templeton was proving to be a likable rube.
    Christopher opened his mouth to continue the
interesting conversation, but Templeton's face took on a look of
delight. "I say, is that not Lord Stoke?"
    Christopher turned to see that, sure enough,
Finley had entered the tavern. Templeton went on happily, "I
thought I saw him at the Nines. I had the great honor of being
introduced to him once. He too is a friend of Miss Ardmore's
family."
    "I know," Christopher answered. He'd once had
the great honor of moving Finley's nose to another part of his face
in a fight long ago about who knew what.
    Finley began making his way across the room
to them as though he'd noticed Templeton and was coming to greet
him. Men moved aside for him, as per usual. Finley towered over
lesser beings, and the hardness in his eyes generally sent
gentlemen scrambling for cover.
    Women, on the other hand, found him handsome,
so Christopher had been told. Except Honoria. She'd never had
anything polite to say about Finley, another thing Christopher
liked about her.
    Finley's hair was a light smudge in the smoky
darkness of the tavern. He stopped at the end of their table, and
Templeton leapt to his feet. "My lord, how excellent to see you.
Would you join us? Unless, that is, you came to meet someone else?"
He was a friendly dog, begging for a pat.
    "I'd be glad to join you," Finley said. He
glanced at Christopher, his expression neutral.
    Christopher gave him a nod. "Your
lordship."
    Finley's face did not change. A stool vacated
itself magically, and Finley drew it to the table and sat. The
barmaid, responding to Finley's blue eyes, slid a tankard in front
of him, and blushed when he smiled at her.
    "Mr. Raine had just been telling me he is
acquainted with my betrothed's family," Templeton said as Finley
took a long draught of his ale. "Funny how one encounters people by
chance, and they prove to have a connection after all."
    Finley stopped drinking for a split second,
and then swallowed and carefully set his tankard on the table. "I
am always encountering Mr. Raine by chance."
    "Are you? How interesting."
    It must have been Templeton's happiest
evening ever. He had the attention of a viscount, though he seemed
equally pleased to have met Christopher. Templeton and Finley
talked like old friends, while Christopher sat back and drank ale,
assessing Finley, whom he'd not seen in many years.
    Finley's marriage had given him a new
stillness. Grayson Finley the pirate had always been recklessly
brave, as though he'd not cared whether he lived or died. Now he
seemed to have found a reason to live.
    Christopher also noted that, while Finley
seemed to drink quite a lot as Mr. Templeton talked on, in truth,
he took in very little.
    At long last, Templeton professed that he
must return home, although Mother would be that tickled to
know he'd spent his evening with a