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rather long, his high cheekbones and square chin combined to be more dashing and striking than classically handsome.
    After discreetly watching him for some minutes, Mariah decided that the earl represented exactly the kind of man her mama wanted her to marry—titled and with loads of cachet among the beau monde. The fact that he was in need of money did not make him less desirable in her mother’s eyes.
    Thank goodness social standing did not obsess her the way it did her mother, Mariah mused. Of late, Mama would often become pettish and frustrated as a result of her fixation with the aristocracy.
    The thought of marrying a man for social status utterly repulsed Mariah. Nonetheless, she knew her mama would not give up her hope of the earl showing an interest in her only daughter—or, more accurately, in her only daughter’s dowry.
    By the opulent luxury evident around every corner, the earl’s money troubles had not yet become evident. Mariah knew little about gambling or the managing of money, but she knew that the loss of seventeen thousand pounds would ruin even a wealthy man.
    Disguising her actions while sipping her wine, Mariah watched the earl for another moment.
    Plainly, he had never known anything but privilege and extravagance. She also knew that many men of his rank felt they had a duty to marry a fortune. Papa said that was how the rich got richer—fortunes combining with fortunes. She also knew that breeding and family name were held in even higher esteem among the
ton.
    Mariah watched the widows on either side of the earl shower him with their laughter and praise. They vied for his attention in such an obvious way that she wondered how they fared in the running for his coronet.
    With her splendid gown and jewelry, Lady Charlotte was obviously not only gorgeous but also wealthy. Mariah admired her cool blond beauty, which complimented the earl’s dark good looks.
    Mariah’s attention shifted to the redheaded lady to the earl’s left. Mrs. Ingram, although not as bejeweled as Lady Charlotte, was also exquisitely garbed. Mariah found her flashing, intelligent gaze more attractive than Lady Charlotte’s somewhat overblown splendor.
    Setting her glass down, Mariah shifted her gaze to the earl again. Even though it first appeared that he gave the widows his full attention, she now noticed his interest seemed elsewhere.
    Occasionally he would throw out a witty comment in response to something said across the table, sending his adoring ladies into transports of mirth, but Mariah sensed that there was something missing in his enjoyment of the dinner.
    Watching his face during one of these exchanges, Mariah saw that he did not appear to be the least bit flattered by the fawning praise lavished upon him by the lovely blonde and redhead.
    Mariah again thought him quite handsome, particularly his lean, chiseled features and dark hair. She wondered why dark hair and blue eyes gave some men such a devilish appearance.
    Once or twice, she noticed his lips tightening ever so slightly in what she interpreted as irritation.
Goodness, I seem to be making a study of him,
she thought with an inward smile.
    Her impression that the earl had grown irritated solidified into certainty as dinner stretched through the evening. As each course appeared, the earl’s expression grew increasingly bored. Mrs. Ingram seemed to sense something amiss and became less talkative. Lady Charlotte, however, became even more effusive as the earl grew more distant.
    Laughing to herself, Mariah thought it rather ironic that the earl found himself the hunted, instead of the hunter.
    At that moment he turned from the blonde and his clear blue gaze locked with hers.
    Against her best efforts, the laughter bubbling inside must have shown upon her face, for his eyes held hers as his brows went up in query. Trying to school her features to reveal nothing of her inner struggle, Mariah found herself unable to look away. Suddenly, the urge to laugh died,