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you?”
    She frowned, shook her head. “Of course not. I merely want you to pretend you are going to marry me. At least until he loses interest in me as a prospect.”
    “What would this charade entail?” he asked.
    “Nothing more than me being able to tell him about our pending nuptials. Perhaps he could meet you, too. You are formidable. I suspect if he saw you, he would lose interest in me rather quickly.”
    “Formidable.” He nodded. “And these are your conditions for allowing me access to the maps?”
    “Yes.”
    “Very well.”
    She stood to leave, clutching her bag against her stomach.
    “Leaving so soon? You could join me for tea,” he suggested. He picked up the bell to ring it.
    “That won’t be necessary.”
    He moved closer to her. “I can’t help but notice that you seem nervous around me.”
    She swallowed. “Of course not. Why would I be nervous?” But before he could answer, she continued, “I merely have another appointment. Please let me know as soon as you have made arrangements with Mr. Bellford.”
    He nodded. But he knew that Winifred was, indeed, anxious about something, and it bothered him. Normally he found no interest in the emotions of others, as most people seemed to advance from one feeling to the next rather rapidly. Winifred was different, though, and that in and of itself was a problem.

Chapter Four
    The following day, Alistair was waiting for her in her study just as she assumed he would be. The man was nothing if not prompt. Not to mention persistent. She’d already received notice from Mr. Bellford that he’d be by to meet her son tomorrow at three. She was relieved and thrilled that the man had finally agreed to meet with Oliver. But she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t also equally annoyed. She had sent the man no fewer than ten requests and all it had taken was one from Alistair. But that was the way things were with men.
    Though he did not require her assistance with the maps, she’d already decided she would stay with him while he worked. It would ensure he stayed away from Oliver and perhaps clue her into what he was working on. She couldn’t deny her own curiosity.
    She walked past the looking glass in the second floor corridor, then backed up to stand before it. She took a look at herself, then rolled her eyes at her frivolity and walked away. It mattered not what she looked like. This was a business agreement and nothing more. Besides, she knew she looked differently than she had six years ago. Her body was fuller from having Oliver, and some of the extra weight still clung to her curves. She had changed in other ways since becoming a mother. She was no longer that impulsive, carefree girl Alistair had rescued. In many ways, he knew her as no one else ever had, not simply because she’d given him her body, but because she had been free with him in a way she’d never been with anyone else.
    She caught herself before she patted her hair, then she stepped into Reggie’s former study.
    “Alistair,” she said. Why was it that the room felt twice as large when she had to cross it in front of him? The back of her neck warmed as if she could feel his eyes on her. But it would do no good to allow him to see his affect on her.
    “Now then, do you know precisely which maps you need?” she asked once she stood behind Reggie’s old desk.
    “All of them,” he said, his voice deep and sensual, which was ridiculous because nothing he had said was in the least bit sensual.
    “All of them? I’m certain you can be more specific.”
    “I need to see them to know precisely which ones I need. They are named, no?”
    He was bound and determined to be difficult about the matter. But he’d done her a substantial favor and secured a tutor she’d been trying to contact for the better part of a year. She would have to grant him some concessions. “Yes, they are named. Very well, come this way.”
    “To where, precisely?”
    “The map room, of course.”
    “Of