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very much about you, Claudia. I want to—”
    “And I care for you, Tony,” Claudia interrupted. “And I also find you impossibly attractive. But may we leave it there just for now?”
    “As long as you know that my intentions are honorable.”
    “I know they are, my lord,” Claudia replied softly. She had stopped what was surely a proposal because she was afraid she would have said yes before he even finished. She wanted him that much. But although she was quite desperately in love with him, she wasn’t ready to give her life over into his hands. Not until she found out how hopelessly he was entangled in his gaming.
     

Chapter 6
     
    Mark Halesworth had seen them go out onto the balcony and had completely ignored his dance partner as he watched over her shoulder. When Tony pulled the doors partly closed, his hand tightened convulsively around his partner’s and she winced with pain. “I apologize, Miss Hall, I was distracted.” And when Claudia and Tony emerged, looking no cooler than when they had sought the fresh air, Mark knew that the time had come to take some action.
    * * * *
    The next evening, Mark left his office when it closed, a very unusual thing for him to do. Although he had hired someone to take his place as manager when he’d inherited the title, he found it hard to give up control. He visited two or three times a week, often not leaving until eight or nine. In fact, he had even had a small dressing room and wardrobe set up in his office so that he could dress and go directly to a ball or the theatre without having to return home.
    What was even more unusual was that he headed for the Crown, a small pub a few blocks away. When he got there, he took a seat in the darkest corner and surveyed the bar. When the barmaid approached him, he ordered an ale and also bought a drink for one of the young men at the bar.
    When the young man turned to thank him, Mark waved him over to the table.
    “Why, your lordship, it is you! Thank you for the drink, my lord.”
    “Come, sit down, Jim.”
    Jim looked flustered. “Oh, no, I couldn’t do that, my lord.”
    “I insist,” said Mark in a voice that no one who was in his employ ignored.
    “Thank you, sir,” said Jim, and sat.
    “How long have you been with the business, Jim?”
    Jim’s heart sank. As a relatively new clerk and lowest on the totem pole, he felt quite vulnerable. He had made his share of mistakes. Perhaps Lord Fairhaven had only bought him a drink to make a dismissal less painful.
    “Only seven months, my lord.”
    “And you are happy with your position?”
    “Oh, yes, my lord.”
    “Although an assistant clerk is unlikely to get rich.”
    “No, my lord. I mean yes, my lord, I do like it. And I hadn’t intended to stay an assistant forever,” Jim added boldly.
    “Your parents were in service, I understand?”
    Jim was surprised. He hadn’t thought Lord Fairhaven the type to care where his lesser employees came from.
    “Why, yes, my lord. They worked for Lord and Lady Summers.”
    “A very refined household. And they sent you to school?”
    “They didn’t want me to follow them into service, my lord. They wanted me to get on further than they had.”
    “And here you are, at Halesworth Limited.”
    “Yes, my lord. And hoping to be there for a long time.” Why not say it, thought Jim. If he was going to be dismissed anyway, it couldn’t hurt. Maybe it would help.
    “I certainly hope so. In fact, I have a proposition to make to you that would ensure you a promotion.”
    Jim took a great swallow of ale. He wasn’t going to be dismissed? He was going to be promoted? But so soon?
    “I would be happy to do anything I could for you, my lord.”
    “Good lad,” said Mark, smiling over at him.
    The ale and the relief combined to make Jim very relaxed. Until now, Lord Fairhaven had seemed a hard man of business. Maybe they had all misjudged him, however. Maybe his harsh exterior was only—
    “I want you to leave the