She walked to the window and looked out over the parkway that paralleled the embankment. She'd taken Ryan's old office at Donally & Bailey. If only temporarily.

"Why do you look as if I am suffering from a terminal illness, and you are trying your best to be cheerful?" She turned to confront Mr. Williams, who remained quiet. "Obviously, I'm not going to like what you are about to tell me. What did you find out?"

"Handfasting is similar to what used to take place in the Scottish border town of Gretna Green at the turn of the century," he said. "Marriage by declaration, another name for handfasting, still remains valid in much of the British Isles."

"But the British courts could not possibly recognize the tradition," she said, waiting for him to confirm this fact for her. Ryan had as much implied that to her.

"In your case, untying the knot will be more difficult than it was tying the knot."

Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why, dare I ask?"

"When Father Donally registered the marriage, it then became a civil union. You are legally bound to Mr.

Donally, whether you accept that possibility or not."

Rachel brought her fist to her chest and forced herself to breathe.

"Miss Bailey." Mr. Williams was at her side. "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right!" How else did one react to this kind of shock, she thought, except to have heart failure and die.

Returning to the door, she peered into the hallway. "This is utterly insane." But it explained Ryan's lack ofaction against her. She shut the door and closed the transom. "He's known all along."Had probably known since he'd left Ireland.

"Perhaps," Williams said. "But it doesn't change the facts."

Rachel walked to the window. Not a cloud marred the sky. "I could own a hundred percent of D&B, and it will make no difference. Ryan will have control of it all."

This is what came from lust and an overzealous priest thrown together beneath one roof. If she ever spoke to David again in this lifetime, it would be too damn soon.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"That is between you and Mr. Donally. You need to talk to him."

"Then he's finally back in London?"

"Since this morning," Mr. Williams said. "He attended the Regatta yesterday. He does seem to be the man of the moment."

Rachel folded her arms and pretended that she didn't care what Ryan did with his time-or with whom.

It went to the core of her pride that she remain impassive. Behind her, Mr. Williams approached.

"It would be unethical for me to counsel you to do anything illegal, but if you think about your problem from a business standpoint...Mr. Donally may not want this information known, and may choose to try to settle this matter as quietly as possible."

Otherwise, in layman's terms, blackmail went both ways.

Ryan would have to acknowledge her as his wife if he were to claim control of her shares. He would lose far more than she.

"I wish to begin buying company stock, Mr. Williams."

She and Lord Bathwick had just become official partners.

"I telled you she was pretty."

Reaching for the last fragment of sleep, Rachel settled into her pillow. Somewhere above the hiss and shush of conferring whispers, wind chimes sang with the ebb and flow of the evening breeze that moved over her.

"Wake her," a little girl rasped."You wake her."Rachel's eyes fluttered open.Mary Elizabeth stood beside the bed, her blue gaze patiently intent on Rachel's face. Beside her stood a younger male version of Lord Ravenspur, his mouth covered in a sticky cinnamon glom of what once had

been an apple pastry.

A glance at the clock on her bedside table told Rachel it was seven in the evening. She passed her gaze over the delicate floral chintz looped against the half-tester canopy and held in place by blue, tasseled cords. For a moment, she tried to remember where she was. She'd returned from D&B and promptly fell into bed exhausted.

"I gots a puppy," Mary Elizabeth proclaimed, while the creature in her arms wagged its nub of a tail.

Rachel rose on her elbow. The significance of Mary Elizabeth's presence suddenly alerted her. That Ryan had brought her to London surprised her. "Is your father here?"

The girl shook her head. "I rided the train with Miss Peapoo and Aunt Brea. Will Da let me keep my

puppy?"

Amused that Ryan would rather suffer thumbscrews than be associated with such a caricature of a dog, Rachel did not have to pretend interest. "Let me see."

As she studied the dog with its wrinkled face, Rachel sensed that the girl was studying her. Clearing her

throat, Rachel assumed the pose of a serious student as she looked at the puppy. "What is your puppy'sname?""Button," the young Ravenspur heir burst out. Brianna's son stood a few inches shorter than his cousin.

"He gots a broke tail. Do you want to see?"

Rachel pulled back her covers and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hair, uncombed and wild, fell around her shoulders to her waist. She'd removed her slippers and stockings. "That's not broken," Rachel said, as Mary Elizabeth set the puppy down on the bed for display. "Someone chopped it off."

Rachel's gaze shifted back to the little girl's horrified face. "Many puppies have their tails bobbed," she rushed to say. "I predict that your father will let you keep the dog."

Mary Elizabeth squeezed the puppy to her chest. "I want him."

Ryan was disagreeable and difficult about everything in life, but when it came to his daughter, he was as soft as a bunny rabbit, and she told his daughter so. "With big fluffy ears," Rachel added. "And a handsome tail, when he's not an ogre with pointy teeth."

Mary Elizabeth laughed. Brianna's son whispered something in her ear.

"Do you like cats?" his bolder cousin relayed the question.

"Yes."

The girl turned triumphantly to the little boy, and whispered, "I telled you she was nice." In a big-sister

fashion, she wrapped her arm around her cousin's shoulders. "Robert is almost three."

"Free." The dark-haired imp proudly held up five fingers.

"I'm older," she sagely announced. "I had a birthday, and now I'm four."

"There you two are." A gray-haired woman bustled into the room. "Off with the two of ye now." She shooed the children away with a playful wave of her hands. "Your father is looking for ye, Lord Robert," she said. "And you, young lady. Your father is expecting you home now. He's come to London just to fetch ye back."

"Thank you, Gracie." Brianna entered as the two children left, screaming in excitement.

Rachel met her halfway, and they fell into each other's arms. Brianna wore a bright cobalt blue dress and jacket that matched her laughing eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you when you arrived. I've been with the family out of town." She untied the bow beneath her chin and removed the wide straw hat shaking her long hair loose. "Michael said that you had tried to find a hotel. Don't ever do that again, Rachel."

"Your husband has been very gracious to me."

"Don't count on finding a decent house or flat anytime soon. A place to live in London is difficult to find anytime of the year. Impossible until the Season is over."

"You're very kind to let me stay here."

Brianna smiled a cheeky grin as a dinner tray arrived. She plucked off a crust of bread. "Most people start out feeling that way, but they soon change their minds when they realize how persistent and annoying I can be." Plucky, unpretentious, the young Duchess of Ravenspur had changed little in character from the youthful sprite of her past. "Johnny told everyone about the acquisition before he left," Brianna said, slathering jam on the bread. "I'm sorry."

Unfortunately, that didn't change the facts, Rachel thought as she turned away to open the glass doors.

"Ryan went to Ireland," Brianna said off handedly. "That was very unusual for him. Did he get to see David?"

"Why?"

Brianna's perfect brows arched. "David has been looking to take revenge on Ryan since our brother converted to the Anglican Church. The whole family was just curious...if they resolved their differences."

"You know David." Rachel sat. "He can be persuasive when he sets his mind to something. Did you hear from him?"

"Just the usual." Brianna licked the jam from her fingers. "You know David."

Bloody right, she knew that scallywag pirate. Rachel stirred the preserves and tried to look uninterested.

"Feel free to fatten yourself." Brianna gave Rachel another kiss. "I went through the entire strawberry jam stores when I was pregnant with my second. One would think James should have inherited a sweeter disposition."

"You have two beautiful sons."

"Alas, I've kept Ryan cooling his heels long enough." Brianna sighed. "I need to see Mary Elizabeth and Miss Peabody off safely before he comes storming to this house. He's in London, in case you didn't know. Shall I give him your regards?" No doubt his social calender was already full. "Ask him how he enjoys long betrothals."

"Da!"

Ryan lifted his gaze from behind a stack of papers on his desk. Blond curls bouncing, his daughter stood momentarily in the doorway. He'd barely set his pen down and stood before she bounded into his arms.

All pinafore and ruffles, Mary Elizabeth smelled of apple pastry. "I was beginning to think you'd forgottenabout me," he said into her baby-soft hair.His sister stood in the doorway."Aunt Brea taked me to the zoo, Da. I saw a tiger."He kissed her forehead, drawing back to look at the squirming bundle in her arms. "What is this?""Miss Peapoo won't let me keep him until I asked you," Mary Elizabeth said seriously. "He's a puppy.""I can see that.""Aunt Brea gived me a birthday party. Uncle Johnny was there and Uncle Michael, Chrissy and Megan and Rebecca and Robert"-she drew in a deep gulp of air-"and baby James, too. He stinked." She held her nose, her opinion of her newest cousin obvious. "But Uncle Michael gots me soldiers for my birthday! Lots of soldiers and cannons. Baby James tried to eat one. He cried when Aunt Brea took it away. And Uncle Colin, he gots me a saddle for my pony. And Uncle Christopher and Aunt Lexie gots me a puppy!"

"You've been busy, Mouse." Ryan lifted his gaze to Brianna.

"Christopher thought she might enjoy the puppy." Brianna smiled. "It's a very rare Shar Pei. We allagreed it would make a great addition to your household.""I saw my fairy godmother." His daughter smiled up at him. "She said you would let me keep the puppy.""Your fairy godmother?""She's pretty. I like her.""Did she have a magic wand?""No, but she gots red hair. Uncle Johnny said leprechauns have red hair."Ryan pulled back to look down at her. "Your godmother?" He looked at Brianna. "Rachel is staying with you?"

"It took her a day before she finally ended up on our doorstep."

"Robert waked her up." Mary Elizabeth said. "She was asleep."

"Is she all right?" Ryan asked his sister.

"She's fine.""Do you like my dog, Da?"With a wrinkled face and barely bigger than a rookery rat, dog was a term he'd use loosely to describe the strange creature in her arms. He'd never seen anything so ugly.Miss Peabody tilted her chin. "Unfortunately, I found the creature in her bed this morning."Mary Elizabeth's blue eyes narrowed mutinously. "He is afraid of the dark, Da. I has to sleep with him.