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position as a paid companion would possess the sort of gowns needed
    for this charade.”
    “Yes, well, in addition to the clothes, there is the matter of my age.” This was proving to be an extremely
    embarrassing interview, she thought. Most of the other potential employers had considered her a bit
    young for the positions they were offering. However, in this instance, she was definitely too old.
    “What is wrong with your age?” He frowned. “I had assumed that you are somewhere in your late
    twenties. I trust you are not about to tell me that you are considerably younger than you appear? I am
    most definitely not in the market for a green chit fresh out of the schoolroom.”
    She set her back teeth and reminded herself that this morning when she had dressed for her interviews,
    she had deliberately made herself up in what she hoped was the very image of a typical paid companion.
    Nevertheless, she was somewhat irritated to learn that he had erred on the high side when he had
    calculated her age.
    “I am six and twenty,” she said, striving to keep her words entirely neutral.
    He nodded once, evidently satisfied. “Excellent. Old enough to have acquired some common sense and
    knowledge of the world. You’ll do.”
    “Thank you,” she retorted caustically. “But we both know that gentlemen of your rank and fortune are
    expected to marry very young, extremely sheltered ladies straight out of the schoolroom.”
    “Hell’s teeth, madam, we are discussing a paid post, not a genuine betrothal.” He scowled. “You know
    perfectly well that it would be impossible for me to employ a seventeen-year-old girl for this position.
    Not only would she be highly unlikely to possess the skills and self-confidence required to carry it off, she
    would no doubt expect me to go through with the damn wedding at the end.”
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    For some reason that remark sent a chill through her. She did not understand why, however. Logic told
    her that of course the Earl of St. Merryn would not even consider marriage to the woman who played the
    role of his fiancée for a few weeks. Why, such a woman would be no better than an actress. Wealthy,
    powerful gentlemen of the ton had affairs with actresses; they certainly did not marry them.
    “Speaking of which,” Elenora made herself say briskly, “just how do you intend to end this fictitious
    engagement when you have concluded your business here in town?”
    “There will be no problem with terminating it,” he said. He shrugged. “You will simply disappear from
    Society. It will be put about that you cried off and returned to your family’s estates somewhere in the far
    North.”
    You will simply disappear.
    Alarm slithered across her nerves. That sounded decidedly ominous. On the other hand, he was right.
    Vanishing from exclusive circles would not be so very difficult. The rich and the powerful lived in a very
    small, self-contained world, after all. They rarely strayed outside the borders of that glittering sphere, nor
    did they notice those who existed beyond it.
    “Yes, I suppose that will work,” she said, thinking it through carefully. “Few, if any, of my future
    employers are likely to move in the same exalted circles of Society that you and your acquaintances
    inhabit. Even if they do go into the Polite World and even if I were to come into contact with some of
    their elevated friends, I doubt that anyone would take any notice. Once I revert to my role as a paid
    companion, no one will pay any attention to me.”
    “People see what they expect to see,” he agreed.
    A thought struck her. “Perhaps I should use another name while I play this role, to help ensure that no
    one recognizes me while I am in the part.”
    He chuckled. “I can see that the notion of taking a stage name appeals to you, but I do not think it
    necessary, and it will only complicate matters in the event that someone from your