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a chit of ten. It can lead only to tragedy.”
    “I quite agree, sir. I’ve always maintained that young females should be locked away, out of sight and hearing, until they have survived their formative years.”
    After swaying dangerously for a moment, James thumped the front legs of his chair back to the carpet. “Too many stray wenches running about the place, doing as they please, and somehow always underfoot. ’Tis a dangerous world out there, Grieves. How can a man turn a new leaf, amend his ways, with everything set against him? Not even my own grandmother has any faith in me that I’ll one day find the right woman.”
    “The right woman, sir? Meaning one sanctioned by her?”
    “Naturally.”
    “That explains why she is holding a New Year’s Eve ball for you at Hartley House, sir. And inviting all her eligible acquaintances.”
    “She’s what ?”
    “I’m sorry, sir.” Grieves bowed his graying head. “I thought you knew. Lady Hartley mentioned it to me when she was last in Town.”
    Dabbing hard at his lips with a napkin, James snapped, “Wonderful! A cattle market.”
    “It seems as if Lady Hartley has given up waiting for you to choose. She kept referring to your Great Mistake , sir. How you cannot be trusted not to make another similar.”
    James cooled his coffee with a hearty sigh. His grandmother was a meddling old woman, but he knew exactly what she referred to as his “Great Mistake.” Two years ago, he’d made a mortal fool of himself by proposing marriage, for the second time, to Miss Sophia Valentine, who finally rejected him in favor of another man. A humble farmer. The humiliation had wounded him to the core. But there were other mistakes he’d made, far more serious ones, of which his grandmother remained unaware.
    A decade ago, he’d lost an illegitimate son. A housemaid with whom he’d enjoyed a brief affair became pregnant, but having been dismissed from her post, she didn’t tell James until she was ready to deliver. At that time he was away from London. He returned as quickly as he could, but the woman had disappeared from her lodgings by then, and no one knew where she had gone. He’d searched for her family, but found none. Ten years later, when Sophia Valentine threw him over forever, she accused him of having deserted the pregnant housemaid, of deliberately leaving her and her newborn son to die alone. James had been shocked, horrified. If he’d known about the baby before it was too late, of course he would have helped in any way possible. But the fact remained that a woman and child had died. James must be accountable.
    He supposed, with hindsight, he should have known the truth when the maid was dismissed from her post—that there was more to it than the vague excuse he was given for her leaving. However, he was younger then, foolish and thoughtless, finding his pleasure where he could, turning a blind eye to the darker facts of life. And to the consequences of his sins. He’d never known the woman and her child had died until Sophia threw it in his face when she made her choice and left him forever. He’d opened his eyes that night and did not like what he saw in himself.
    Forced to look inward and question, where previously he’d always assumed he knew best about everything, James had made the tumultuous decision to turn a new leaf.
    Now, whenever he thought of that housemaid and her child—which was often—the cold heaviness of grief and regret settled in his stomach. A grievous mistake that he might have prevented, but it was too late to save them now. All he could do was make recompense in his own life.
    He groaned, and his coffee cup fell to the saucer with a rattle that set his teeth on edge. “I must find my Marie-Antoinette.”
    A low sigh slipped out between the valet’s lips. “The one from Brighton, sir?”
    “Yes.” He’d been searching for months, looking for her in every pretty face, every sad smile.
    “I thought we’d given up on that