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on her hip, and lifted one brow. “And this creature is upstairs? I wondered what was causing all the noise.”
    “No, no!” Signor Alessandri laughed. “It is a—how you say—a taxidermy. A wild boar.”
    Chesley looked almost embarrassed. “A sporting trophy from my youth,” he confessed. “I went out to Africa with a group of chaps to shoot at things. This one was old, I daresay, and simply died of shock upon seeing such a pack of silly fribbles. But I had him stuffed. I was quite proud of it for a time.”
    “We rode it, Mamma,” said the eldest girl.
    “Cerelia!”
    “She did,” said Felise. “I was afraid. It has big yellow teeth.”
    “Tusks, Felise,” said her sister, with an air of superiority. “They are not teeth.”
    Nicolo was squirming now. Viviana was straining to keep a safe grip on the boy.
    Lord Chesley caught her gaze, and grinned. “All fagged out, is he, Vivie?”
    Viviana put the boy down and looked at the earl with chagrin in her eyes. “I am so sorry,” she said. “The children are not used to being kept to the schoolroom. They will do better, I promise, when we reach Hill Court.”
    “Nonsense!” said Chesley. “Let them have the run of the house, I say.”
    Viviana threw up a staying hand. “Oh, Dio, I beg you!” she said. “My nerves will not bear it. You will have not so much as a decent bonbon dish remaining if you let Nicolo loose.”
    Chesley looked on at the children indulgently. “Well, another few days of business here in town, then we’ll be on our way,” he said. “We can all run loose in the country.”
    A noise drew Viviana’s eyes to the tea table. Nicolo had seen her cold tea and snatched up the fine Sèvres cup as if to drink it. “No!” she cried, prying it from his still-plump fingers. “Nicolo, no!”
    The boy screwed up his face and began wailing. At once, Lord Chesley went down on one knee. “Nicolo, do you like horses?” he asked. “Felise, Cerelia, what of you?”
    Nicolo closed his mouth. “Hor-zees,” he echoed, clearly not comprehending.
    “I like horses,” said Felise. “I’m to have a pony soon.”
    “Yes,” said her mother. “If you are good.”
    “I already know how to ride on a horse,” said Cerelia proudly.
    Lord Chesley made a face of amazement. “Yes, but can you ride standing up, Cerelia?” he asked. “With no saddle?”
    The girls’ eyes were wide now.
    From his position on the floor, Chesley flicked a glance up at Viviana. “My dear, I think I have finalized our plans for the evening,” he said apologetically. “Will you indulge me?”
    Viviana managed a smile. “Yes, of course.”
    Chesley pinched Nicolo’s nose. “Come here, young man,” he said in very bad Italian. “I have a little treat for you. Have you ever heard of a place called Astley’s Amphitheatre?

Two

In which Lord Wynwood makes a new Friend.
    Q uin dressed for his evening’s engagement with a measure of reluctance. His new life as a soon-to-be-reformed rake was not without its challenges, he thought, lifting his arms so that his valet might put on his shirt. He did not care for this business of being at the beck and call of a pack of females; specifically, his mother, and his fiancée’s aunt.
    As to his fiancée herself, Esmée seemed unaffected by all the uproar related to their engagement. Indeed, she did not seem to mind whether they sat quietly at home playing piquet or dressed up in their finest and trotted off to dine with the Queen. It was all the same to her, so far as he could tell.
    But his mother was in rapture over the whole affair and insisting on all manner of things which seemed unreasonable. Indeed, it was all he could do to restrain her from haring off to Lady Tatton’s to plan the wedding breakfast, as if the ceremony were to take place next week instead of next spring, as he and Esmée had agreed.
    In the past, he had simply ignored his mother’s imprecations to turn from his wicked ways and settle down. Indeed,