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the few
    things Sophy had deduced for certain was that the man had been one of Lady
    Ravenwood's lovers.
    The other thing of which Sophy was almost certain was that her sister and the
    unknown man had used the ruins of an old Norman castle on Ravenwood land for
    their secret rendezvous. Sophy had been fond of sketching the ancient pile of
    stone until she had found one of Amelia's handkerchiefs there. She had
    discovered it a few weeks after her sister's death. After that fateful day,
    Sophy had never returned to the scenic ruin.
    What better way to find out the identity of the man who had caused Amelia to
    kill herself than to become the new Lady Ravenwood?
    Sophy's hand clenched around the ring for a moment and then she dropped it back
    into the jewelry chest. It was just as well she had a rational, sensible,
    realistic reason for marrying the Earl of Ravenwood because her other reason for
    marrying him was likely to prove a wild, fruitless quest.
    For she intended to try to teach the devil to love again.
    Julian sprawled with negligent grace in the well-sprung traveling coach and
    regarded his new Countess with a critical eye. He had seen very little of Sophy
    during the past few weeks. He had told himself there had been no need to make an
    excessive number of trips from London to Hampshire. He had business to attend to
    in town. Now he took the opportunity to scrutinize more closely the woman he had
    chosen to provide him with an heir.
    He regarded his bride, who had been a countess for only a few hours with some
    surprise. As usual, however, there was a certain chaotic look about her person.
    Several ringlets of tawny brown hair had escaped the confines of her new straw
    bonnet. A feather on the bonnet was sticking out at an odd angle. Julian looked
    closer and saw that the shaft had been broken. His gaze slipped downward and he
    discovered a small piece of ribbon trim on Sophy's reticule was loose.
    The hem of her traveling dress had a grass stain on it. He thought Sophy had
    undoubtedly accomplished that feat when she had bent down to receive the fistful
    of flowers from a rather grubby little farm lad. Everyone in the village had
    turned out to wave farewell to Sophy as she had prepared to step into the
    traveling coach. Julian had not realized his wife was such a popular figure in
    the local neighborhood.
    He was vastly relieved his new bride had made no complaint when he had informed
    her that he intended a working honeymoon. He had recently acquired a new estate
    in Norfolk and the obligatory month-long wedding trip was the perfect
    opportunity to examine his newest holdings.
    He was also obliged to admit Lady Dorring had done a creditable job
    orchestrating the wedding. Most of the gentry in the surrounding countryside had
    been invited. Julian had not bothered to invite any of his acquaintances from
    London, however. The thought of going through a second wedding ceremony in front
    of the same sea of faces that had been present as the first debacle was more
    than he could stomach.
    When the announcement of his forthcoming marriage had appeared in the Morning
    Post he had been plagued with questions, but he had handled most of the
    impertinent inquiries the way he usually handled such annoyances: he had ignored
    them.
    With one or two exceptions, his policy had worked. His mouth tightened now as he
    recalled one of the exceptions.
    A certain lady in Trevor Square had not been particularly pleased to learn of
    Julian's marriage. But Marianne Harwood had been too shrewd and too pragmatic to
    make more than a small scene. There were other fish in the sea. The earrings
    Julian had left behind on the occasion of that last visit had gone a long way
    toward soothing the ruffled features of La Belle Harwood.
    "Is something wrong, my lord?" Sophy calmly broke into Julian's reverie.
    Julian jerked his thoughts back to the present. "Not in the least. I was merely
    recalling a small business matter I had to attend to last