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that mouth, betrayed him in nuanced ways.
    They rode along another hundred feet before he spoke again. “Then you did receive them from your aunt?”
    His persistence made her ill ease increase. Her grip tightened on her reins. “You are too boring with your questions.”
    He laughed. “Forgive me. I will try to entertain you with different ones. For example, how long were you up on that rise, watching me disrobe?”
    He caught her off her guard completely. She flushed and stammered and acted just as she had scolded Lydia not to. “I am sure I do not know what you are talking about,” she finally choked out.
    His blue eyes twinkled. He enjoyed her disadvantage too obviously. “It was very naughty of you, but I do not mind. It relieves me of a difficult decision I was facing.”
    She was afraid to ask, but of course she had to. “What decision?”
    “Whether to add you to my conquests. The plain evidence that you are indeed a woman of the world absolves me ofsome irritating points of honor on the question that have made me hesitate.”
    She felt herself flush again. Thoroughly, down to her toes. “Do you always announce your intentions so boldly?”
    “Not usually. I thought it would save considerable time on this occasion.”
    She pulled herself together. The man was having too much fun at her expense. “Do you expect me to faint from anticipation, Ambury? Wait for your sly moves for weeks on end? You are not even serious. You are playing a game and trying to make a fool of me, as a way of expressing your disapproval and disdain.” She turned her horse. “Now I will take my leave of you. Perhaps you would be useful and see if you can find Lydia before it rains again. I will ride alone the rest of the way back.”
    He leaned and caught her horse’s bridle in his hand, keeping her in place. “I will call on you when I return to town.”
    “I prefer you not do that. Fighting off such a cynical seduction would be tedious.”
    “I will not call to seduce you. I do not announce my intentions
that
boldly. I need to settle about the earrings. Remember?”
    The earrings. Of course.
    “Perhaps your aunt will receive me too, for a short visit.”
    They were back to that now, were they? “She never receives now.”
    “I am sure that you can cajole her to make an exception for me.”
    “I can’t imagine why I would.” Indeed, she could think of several reasons why she would not. She jerked her horse free. “I have changed my mind. I will continue riding, and find Lydia myself. As for our business, I will expect to see you early next week in town.”

Chapter 3
     
    C assandra examined the garden, looking for the plain straw bonnet that her aunt wore when she tended the plants. She spied its deep brim bobbing up and down behind some high rosebushes.
    Both she and Aunt Sophie had modest incomes, but they could have a gardener if they chose. A man was hired in the spring and autumn to do the heavier work, but Aunt Sophie preferred to save his fees and devote herself to the daily maintenance. Since she no longer made morning calls or attended parties, she had plenty of time to do so.
    Cassandra made her way on the paths to that straw bonnet. As she drew closer, her aunt’s face showed with rhythmic regularity, framed by green leaves and red blooms. It was a handsome face still, despite its thinning skin and deepening lines. A little fuller now, just as Aunt Sophie’s body had thickened these last two years. The current styles did not hide that the way the corsets and stomachers of the past had done. Not that Cassandra expected to find her auntin a stylish column of muslin and a high waist. Sophie had not updated her wardrobe in ten years, but she no longer bothered with bone and lacing.
    Did she only imagine that Sophie’s eyes appeared distracted by thoughts far away from these plantings? She wondered if her aunt’s mind dwelled in the past more vividly than normal memories would explain. That was what Gerald had