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You know I never know what to call my little gatherings until someone tells me the next day what they were.”
    “I thought Julia advised going slowly. Surely a formal dinner party will put Elena uncomfortably in the center of attention.”
    “But I would not invite anyone with whom she has not become acquainted—and so she would be among friends.”
    “Or at least acquaintances.”
    “I shall introduce her to my friends before that, and so they will be her friends as well.”
    “Do not exhaust yourself in the cause, my love.”
    “You always say that, and I never do. You know I enjoy it. Anyway, I shall save my ambitious plans for the wedding.”
    “You have made up your mind to approve of this match, then?”
    “Wholeheartedly—don’t you?”
    “I bow to your genius in these matters, my love.”
    She sighed and wondered briefly if her vaunted genius was as dependable as he thought. “Well, I must approve, as my only wish is to see Carey as happy as I am.”
    He squeezed her hand and reached over in the darkness to kiss her. “Are you happy, Antonia?”
    She frowned, then quickly erased it, hoping he had not seen it in the dark. “Of course I am. Do you doubt it?”
    He made no reply, but kissed her again, and then again, languidly but relentlessly. Very soon she felt all thought leave her mind, until only sensation remained, and she succumbed again to the wonder of her husband’s touch.
     

Chapter 4
     
    Dissatisfied with the mere representations of Lord Elgin’s marbles which were on display at the Drummonds’ reception, the Kedringtons resolved to visit the real thing as soon as possible. This proved to be several days after the reception, during which time Mr. Fairfax had brought Miss Melville to the house several times, and Lady Kedrington was encouraged to believe that she was becoming comfortable in their company.
    “I thought you’d seen them,” the viscount remarked as he waited for his wife to choose between a green-and-white striped walking dress that she confessed was perhaps a little young for her, and an amber crepe afternoon dress that made her, she feared, look perhaps a trifle matronly.
    “You are a young matron,” Kedrington pointed out, “so either should be suitable, if unoriginal. Why don’t you wear that Prussian blue dazzler I saw being delivered the other day? It looked delightfully unsuitable.”
    “I’d forgotten that!” Antonia exclaimed, tossing the crepe onto the bed. When Duncan was on hand to assist her to dress, she dismissed her maid, although Betty knew that it would be her duty later to gather up the remains. “And it will be just the thing for our drive in the park afterward.” She pulled out the blue dress and held it up in front of her.
    “I trust that Miss Melville has been informed of that part of today’s treat,” Kedrington said.
    Antonia looked offended. “You don’t think I would really spring something disagreeable on her without warning, do you? Besides, it won’t be disagreeable, and it’s a lovely day for it, and she will be with us the whole time. She need not even speak to anyone else, but it will give her an opportunity to see people we might talk about but whom she does not know.”
    Kedrington muttered something about people he would rather not know, but Antonia ignored him.
    “It’s been an age since I saw the marbles,” she said instead, from within the blue silk dress as she dropped it over her head. “You remember, you took me to them when they were still in Park Lane.”
    Kedrington rose and helped her arrange herself, then did up the fastenings in the back of her gown. “Did I? Then perhaps you will be good enough to explain why we are going again.”
    “Elena has not seen them.”
    “Oh.”
    Antonia paused in her contemplation of her own reflection in her mirror to assess her husband’s. “What did you really think of her, Duncan? I vow, when you wish to keep your opinions hidden, you are remarkably adept at it. Even I