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man angling in the Serpentine—and then she saw him.
    Oh, no. It could not be. It simply could not be.
    Their eyes tangled. He stopped short—or was it she?
    Anne had the oddest sense he didn’t know what to do as well, or what to say. But it appeared there was no help for it.
    “Well, well, my lady, I see your dilemma. You are uncertain whether to acknowledge me or ignore me.”
    His bluntness took her aback, but only for an instant. “And I see you’re as eager to see me as I am to see you.”
    He accorded her a faint bow. “I trust you’ve quite recovered from your headache?”
    His tone was politeness itself. He knew, damn him, he knew it had been a lie!
    But Anne was ever one to take up the gaunt-let. “And I trust that your dashing rescue has left you none the worse for wear?”
    They eyed each other. The oddest thought shot through Anne’s mind. He was dressed entirely in severe black. No one would ever accuse him of being a peacock, that was for certain. And just as she had last night, she sensed power and strength beneath the clothing.
    Her heart was pounding oddly as well. Anne swallowed. “There is no one present,” she said. “We need not stand on pretense as we did last night.”
    “Pretense? Is that what it was?”
    His gaze had sharpened along with his tone.
    “The truth is, I didn’t expect that you would come to supper last night.” The confession emerged before she could stop it.
    “My dear Lady Anne, I was invited.”
    “So you were.”
    “And if I hadn’t come, would that have made me a coward in your eyes?”
    “Of course not,” she stated shortly. “It would simply indicate that you’ve a mind of your own.”
    There was a sudden glint in his eye. “Some might take that as a challenge, my lady. But perhaps we should adopt the facade of good manners now. For the benefit of those around us, of course. Shall we walk?”
    His tone was utterly pleasant, but Anne wasnot of a mind to trust him. “Must we?” she muttered.
    “I beg your pardon?” Now there was a faint edge to his tone.
    Anne lifted her chin and said nothing.
    He offered his elbow. “Shall we?”
    If it hadn’t been for the presence of a young couple passing not three feet away, Anne might have refused. No, she would have refused. Instead she smiled and laid her fingertips on his sleeve.
    “I gather,” he remarked, “that you’re a rather outspoken young woman.”
    “I suppose I am. Do you criticize or do you commend?”
    “Neither. I merely wonder what I’ve done that you malign me so.”
    Anne compressed her lips.
    “You need not hide it, you know. You don’t like me, do you?”
    God rot it, did he have to sound so reasonable? And why did she feel so suddenly un reasonable?
    “Lady Anne,” he said gently, “why don’t you simply admit it? You don’t like me.”
    Anne pondered her dilemma. If she agreed, it would be most impolite. If she disagreed, well, it would be a lie, yet another one!
    Her chin rose a notch. “I do not know you, sir. Nothing but the little I learned last night,” she said stiffly. “What I do know is that uponour first encounter, you were not particularly polite to me. If you recall, you gave me quite the dressing-down…why, almost in this very spot!” Their stroll across the grass had brought them nearly to the track of Rotten Row.
    He stopped short. “Ah, so that’s it. And now you seek to even the score, is that it? You wish me to grovel.”
    “Somehow,” she retorted tartly, “I don’t believe you’re the groveling sort.”
    “That’s quite a statement for a woman who says she does not know me. And I suspect that’s not all, which leads me to ask what other grievous misdeed I’ve performed.”
    What approach should she take to that ? “Are we inclined to be frank?” she asked sweetly.
    He inclined his head. Beneath the brim of his hat, his eyes were a dark pewter. “By all means.”
    “Despite your gallant rescue of Jack yesterday, I am given to wonder why