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put myself to rights as best I could, and went downstairs to the taproom.
    * * * *
    Supper was not as unpleasant as I had feared it was going to be. Greystone had obviously resigned himself to the inevitable, and when I joined him at a small scarred wooden table set in the corner of the taproom, his smile was rueful. “I fear this is not what you are accustomed to, Kate.”
    Infact, I had eaten in dozens of places like The Luster Arms, but I did not say that. I picked up my napkin and shot him a nervous look. I was acutely aware of the fact that I was alone with him. “Are you going to stay with the vicar, my lord?” I asked bluntly.
    “You must remember to call me Adrian,” he said with the sort of kind smile he would probably bestow on a frightened child. “After all, I am your brother.”
    I nodded, a little disarmed by the smile but not entirely reassured.
    His eyebrows drew together. “I don’t want to leave you alone here, Kate. The landlord seems like a decent sort, but still...”
    I bit my lip.
    “You know, I actually do have a sister,” he told me. His eyes glinted with humor. “I promise that you can rely on me to behave.”
    He could charm the birds out of the trees when he wanted to, and I felt myself responding with a shy smile of my own.
    The fact of the matter is, I played my part to perfection that night. That I did so because I did not know that I had a part to play did not save either Adrian or me from the consequences of my uncle’s nefarious plot.
     

Chapter Three
     
    “You can have the floor,” I announced when finally we stood together in thesmall bedroom under the eaves. “You were a soldier. You must be accustomed to sleeping on the ground.”
    Adrian raised his eyebrows in amusement. “I was an officer, Kate. Officers do not sleep on the ground.”
    My face must have shown that I didn’t believe him, for he laughed. “At least let me have one of the pillows. Is it clean?”
    I inspected it closely, then lifted it to my nose and sniffed. In a lifetime spent largely in lodging houses, I had learned that smell is as important as appearance. “It is clean,” I pronounced with some surprise. “And you can even have a blanket,” I added generously. I stripped these articles from the bed and went to spread them out neatly on the floor for him. When I turned it was to find that he had followed me, and I was suddenly and acutely aware of how small I was beside him. I had to tilt my head way back to see his face. The eyes that looked down into mine were dark and unreadable. “Good night, Kate,” he said softly.
    “Good night... Adrian.”
    I took off my shoes, lined them up neatly beside the bed, and climbed into the bed in my dress. Silence descended. We had left the shutters open, and a line of moonlight slanted in through the window and fell upon the faded patchwork quilt at the bottom of the bed. I lay tensely awake, listening to his even breathing and thinking that I was never going to be able to fall asleep.
    The sound of boots pounding on the uncarpeted wooden stairs dragged me back to consciousness. Alarmed, I sat up in bed, and was startled to find myself beholding an extremely broad, white-cambric-covered back. Adrian had stationed himself between me and the door.
    Someone put a shoulder to the door and heaved. On the third push the lock gave, the door crashed open, and my uncle stood in the doorway, his face clearly visible in the bright moonlight that was now streaming in the unshuttered window. “Greystone,” he pronounced with every appearance of pleasure. Then, silkily: “What are you doing with my niece?”
    A shocked male face appeared at my uncle’s shoulder. “Damn,” it said. “Don’t look like we arrived in time after all, Charlwood.”
    Adrian slowly moved away from me to stand by the window. I felt the loss of his protection bitterly. I didn’t understand yet what was happening.
    “Come in, gentlemen,” Adrian said.. I could hear the anger that lay