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useful.”
    “I’m not at all certain I can afford another tutor,” Olympia said slowly.
    “You need not concern yourself with my fee,” Chillhurst said gently. “It has been paid in advance.”
    “I see,” Olympia said. She did not know what to say.
    Chillhurst turned to the three boys who were watching him with acute dismay and apprehension. “Robert, you will go back out the way you came. You will takethose fine-looking fish around to the kitchens and clean them.”
    “Mrs. Bird always cleans ’em,” Robert said quickly.
    “You caught them, you will clean them,” Chillhurst replied calmly. “Ethan, Hugh, you two will remove all dogs from the premises immediately.”
    “But the dogs always come into the house,” Ethan said. “Leastways Minotaur does. The spaniels belong to one of the neighbors.”
    “Henceforth no dogs except Minotaur will be allowed inside and Minotaur may only enter the house if he is clean and dry. See that the spaniels are sent home and then take care of your own dog.”
    “But, Mr. Chillhurst,” Ethan began in his new high-pitched, grating tone of voice.
    “There will be no whining,” Chillhurst said. “Whining annoys me.” He removed a gold watch from his pocket and checked the time. “Now, then, you have half an hour to get yourselves bathed and into clean clothes.”
    “I don’t need a bath,” Robert grumbled.
    “You will take one and you will be quick about it.” Chillhurst slipped his watch back into his pocket. “When you are all three finished we shall meet together and I will outline the course of studies that you will be following while in my charge. Is that understood?”
    “Bloody hell,” Robert whispered. “He’s a raving madman, he is.”
    Ethan and Hugh continued to stare at Chillhurst with stricken expressions.
    “I said, is that understood?” Chillhurst repeated in a dangerously soft tone.
    Ethan’s and Hugh’s eyes went to the knife that was strapped to Chillhurst’s thigh.
    “Yes, sir,” Ethan said quickly.
    Hugh swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
    Robert gave Chillhurst a sullen look but he did not argue. “Yes, sir.”
    “You are dismissed,” Chillhurst said.
    All three boys turned and bolted for the door. The dogs followed in a concerted rush. There was a temporary crush in the doorway but it was soon cleared.
    In a moment the library was quiet once more.
    Olympia stared at the empty doorway, awed. “That was absolutely incredible, Mr. Chillhurst. You may consider yourself hired.”
    “Thank you, Miss Wingfield. I shall endeavor to earn my keep.”

Chapter 2
    “I must be completely honest with you, Mr. Chillhurst.” Olympia folded her hands on top of her desk and peered at Jared. “I have hired three tutors in the past six months. None of them stayed longer than a fortnight.”
    “I assure you I shall stay as long as is necessary, Miss Wingfield.” Jared sat back in his chair, propped his elbows on the upholstered arms, and regarded Olympia over his steepled fingers.
    Bloody hell
, he thought. He could not take his gaze off her. She had fascinated him from the moment he had walked into her library.
    No, he realized, his fascination hadbegun the other night in that grimy French port tavern when Artemis Wingfield had described his unusual niece. Jared had spent the entire trip across the channel speculating about the woman who had managed to locate the Lightbourne diary. Various members of his own family had spent years attempting to discover it and had failed. What sort of female had beaten them all to it, he wondered.
    Even allowing for his curiosity, however, he still did not understand the strange shock of awareness that had gone through him when he had seen Draycott seize Olympia. The sensation that had washed through Jared in that moment had been deep and disturbing, almost savage in its intensity.
    It was as if he had walked into the room and discovered his woman being mauled by another man. He had wanted to strangle Draycott. At