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black carriage halted beside them. The door opened and a powerful hand plucked Diana from the pavement and deposited her against the velvet squabs of the shadowed interior.
    Diana screamed.
    “Don’t be alarmed, we are acquainted, and before the night is over I daresay we shall be on even more intimate terms.”
    Diana recognized the voice, which only increased her fear. “How dare you accost me? What the devil do you want?”
    “I simply want my money’s worth,
chérie.”
He paused, then drawled, “And perhaps an apology for the champagne.”
    “Me apologize to you?” Diana demanded in outrage. “You are the one who should apologize for touching my leg!”
    “I’m sorry I touched your leg—I would have much preferred caressing your breast.”
    Diana gasped. She not only feared him, but was beginning to fear herself and her reaction to this dangerous man. She felt a magnetic attraction to him, yet knew she must repel him at all costs. Then she realized the carriage was moving and she gasped again. “Where are you taking me?”
    “My town house. It isn’t far.”
    “Sir, you can
not!
You have mistaken me for a … a cyprian. I am actually a lady in disguise,” Diana confessed.
    He laughed. The sound was rich and dark and enveloping. “I don’t think so.”
    “Why would you say such a thing?”
    He struck a match and lit a carriage light. His face was half shadowed, but hers was bathed in the glow of the lamp. “You are certainly lovely enough to be a lady and your voice is quite cultured, but it rather gave the game away when you were accompanied by Allegra. She runs one of the finest riding academies in London. She supplies half the aristocracy with mounts.”
    For a moment she wondered what he was talking about, but when it dawned upon her that he meant Allegra was a procurist, she blushed to her navel.
    He saw the color suffuse her face and knew a need to see the beauty he had only glimpsed beneath the mask. The carriage was drawing up at Jermyn Street, however, and hedecided to let her keep her mask in place until they were safely inside.
    When he offered her his hand, she said in outrage, “I cannot come into your town house!”
    “Ah, at last the light is beginning to dawn. You know who I am and are determined to get the highest possible price.”
    “No! Yes—that is, I do know who you are…”
    A cynical smile curved his lips. “Then come up while we negotiate.”
    A blazing wave of anger swept over her. She had never encountered such an arrogant male in her life. He needed a set-down and she intended to give him one. She began to hastily form a plan.
    Like a goddess, Diana gave him her hand and allowed him to assist her to alight. He unlocked the door and waved back the majordomo, who melted into the shadows when he saw the earl was not alone. Her abductor gestured toward the staircase and Diana swept up to the first floor as if she were ascending Olympus, giving the man behind her a full look at her shapely legs.
    While the earl lit the lamps in the magnificently appointed sitting room, Diana walked slowly around assessing the furnishings with a critical eye. She glanced at the linen-fold paneling, the rich leather wingbacks, the Van Dyke paintings, and declared, “Rather masculine.”
    “I should hope so,” he said in an amused tone. He went to a Sheraton wine table and poured them two glasses.
    “What a courageous man you are,” Diana said, eyeing the wine.
    “I am gambling that you won’t throw a second one.” He could no longer conceal his amusement, nor his anticipation.
    “You may lose that bet,” she warned lightly.
    She took a sip, eyeing him over the rim of her glass, then said, “So this is how it is done.” She lowered her lashes. “You may open negotiations.”
    He quirked a black brow. “Are you sure this is your first time?”
    “The first time I’ve been propositioned or the first time I’ve considered taking a paramour?” Diana was aghast at her own daring,