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defend Charlotte’s feminine appeal. “Any discussion of Miss Livingston’s age is highly inappropriate.”
    “Highly inappropriate,” echoed Sebastian, “as is riding without a groom.”
    Basil chuckled and moved his knight. “There, I’ve stopped you.” He twisted around in his seat to look at Cam. “You rode alone with a lady. Of course, Saint Sebastian does not approve. He can do no wrong.”
    Sebastian’s hooded gaze moved back to the chessboard, a victor’s smile curving his lip. “Certainly not today. Check and mate,” he said moving his queen in for the kill.
    “Damnation, there is no beating you,” Basil said good-naturedly.
    Willa appeared on the threshold. “Charlotte has suffered a commotion of the brain,” she announced. “The doctor says she is to remain abed for a fortnight.”
    Relief loosened Cam’s muscles. “Will she be all right then?”
    “Yes, provided she rests and sleeps.” Willa went toward him. “She’ll remain here under Hartwell’s protection until she is recovered.”
    “I suppose I cannot see her.”
    “Why would you want to?” asked Basil.
    Ignoring Basil, Willa gave Cam a reproving tap on the arm. “Charlotte is confined to the sickroom. She can hardly accept gentleman callers.”
    “I am hardly a gentleman caller.”
    “What were the two of you doing out riding together?” she asked.
    “I found Miss Livingston having a mount readied for her. Since there are poachers afoot, I offered to accompany her. There was nothing inappropriate or untoward about it.”
    “Nor did I say there was, cousin,” she said, examining his face. “I was simply curious.”
    “My brother seems to have forgotten to take a groom with them.” Sebastian reached for the newspaper on a nearby side table. “Whether you intended it or not, you have helped make Miss Livingston the subject of unsavory gossip.”
    Willa regarded her dark cousin with fondness. “Oh, Sebastian, I fear none of your brothers can live up to your impeccable standards.”
    Cam snorted. “Yes, thank goodness we have the moral compass that is Sebastian Stanhope to make certain we are not led astray.”
    “It is only when compared to my wayward brothers that I appear virtuous. I assure you, I am but an ordinary gentleman.” Sebastian regarded his brother with cool green eyes. “One, for example, who would never forget Miss Livingston is a lady who should be treated in a most honorable way.”
    “I went riding with the lady.” Cam scowled at his brother. “I didn’t ravish her.”
    Chuckling, Basil bottomed out his glass. “Besides, if Cam was of the mind to ravish someone, I doubt it would be Miss Livingston, of all people.”
    “I’m of the mind to thrash you.” Grinding his teeth, Cam resisted the urge to pummel his youngest brother. “We are speaking of a lady. I’ll remind you to keep a civil tongue.”
    Sebastian’s mouth quirked. “ Now you worry about protecting Miss Livingston’s reputation?”
    “What do you know about anything? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you so much as look at a lady.”
    Even though Sebastian’s inscrutable expression didn’t alter, Cam regretted the words as soon as he uttered them. Everyone present knew precisely why his brother showed no overt interest in females.
    “That is outside of enough.” Willa tilted a stern look at him. “What in the world is wrong with you?”
    Basil nodded. “You are behaving most unusually.”
    “Perhaps my brother’s intentions toward Miss Livingston are not as honorable as they should be,” Sebastian said, with only his dark curls visible from behind the newspaper.
    Blatant disbelief stamped Basil’s face. “Surely not.”
    “I don’t think Cam has any intentions, honorable or otherwise, towards her,” Willa said. “He seems to find Charlotte rather uninteresting.”
    “To the contrary.” Sebastian’s dark-lashed gaze peered at her from above the top of the newspaper. “His actions suggest my brother finds Miss