Dare lightly touched his sore jaw and grimaced. "Quite. Though I would not have blamed him if he had sent a press gang after me that night. He is your brother, and I had upset you. I deserved a ruthless beating for my conduct." The tears shining in her eyes hastened Dare to put on his shirt before he took her into his arms. "Now, now ... no more tears. It looks worse than it feels. Last night should be proof enough."

Regan blushed at the reminder. "Oh, I feel so embarrassed. I cannot believe Frost came into my bedchamber without knocking first."

Dare tucked the tails of his shirt into his trousers and fastened the buttons at his waist. "For what it's worth, Frost handled the news of our marriage better than I'd expected."

He had witnessed true fury in his friend, and the tap on the chin he had received was not it.

Regan frowned as she tied the tapes of her petticoat. "I have to agree. Something disturbed him enough that he felt the need to enter my bedchamber. It was not news of our marriage. I saw the shock on his face when he noticed the ring."

Dare shrugged. "We will know soon enough."

Despite his colorful bruises and his sore jaw, Dare was feeling very good. He had the lady standing beside him to thank for his high spirits. His wife. Regan sent him a grateful smile over her shoulder when he pulled her closer to tie the laces on her corset. He did not mind playing lady's maid for Regan as long as she allowed him to undress her later.

After their meeting with Frost, Dare had high hopes that he could lure the delectable lady back into bed.

When Dare and Regan strolled into the library, the tension in the room was oppressive. Instinctively, he stepped in front of Regan, using his body to shield her from the unknown danger that had inadvertently spared Dare from his friend's wrath about their sudden marriage.

"Dare, I do not know any kinder way to tell you," Frost said, smiling slightly as he took note of the man's protective stance. "So I shall be forthright and brief. Berus has brought news from Nox, and I confess it will be distressing to hear."

Regan threaded her fingers through his and squeezed, reminding him that he was not alone.

"My father?" he asked, his throat drying at the thought that his last words to his sire had been spoken in anger.

To Dare's relief, Frost shook his head. "No. As far as I know, your father is in good health. Dare, it is your brother, Charles."

Some of the stiffness in his shoulders eased. "So my father found him," Dare said grimly. "Where is he?"

Frost clapped his hand on Dare's shoulder. "You do not understand. Your brother Charles is dead."

Disbelief crossed his face. Dare released Regan's hand and staggered backward until his hand brushed against a reading chair. He sat down. "Are you certain?"

Frost poured a brandy and handed the glass to Dare. "Berus arrived about an hour ago with the news. Your father had sent two of his friends to Nox. They were ordered to find you, and to tell you that your family needs you."

Charles was dead. Dare nodded absently while he sipped the brandy. "Of course." He could not recall a time when his family did not need him.

Regan knelt beside his chair and gently stroked his hair. "Let me ride with you," she said, drawing both men's gazes.

The lines around Frost's mouth deepened as he scowled. "A generous offer, dear sister. However, this is a difficult time for the Mordare family."

"It is too much to ask," Dare said, his mind immediately dismissing the notion of dragging Regan into the state of confusion that always seemed to hover over his family like a dark cloud.

"It is not too much to ask of your wife," Regan said, letting her hand fall away as she stood. "Lest you both forget, I am a Mordare now."

Dare brought his hand to his brow. "Regan...," he said wearily. It was a tempting offer, but there was Allegra to contend with. The woman was unpredictable even on her best days.

"What of your mother and Louise?" she persisted. Dare noted that she had not mentioned her new sister-in-law. "Your father will need you to take care of the details he is unable to face. I can help, if you let me."

Dare had only been thinking of his own selfish needs when he had married her in Lady Netherley's drawing room. He had not considered that he was binding Regan to his family as well. It was enough to almost make him regret that he had given in to his reckless desire to claim her for himself.

When Regan moved beyond his reach, Dare realized that she had misunderstood his silence. He rose from the chair and clasped both of her hands. The topaz-and-pearl ring sparkled as the morning sunlight danced across the surface. "My mother has always been fond of you. Perhaps the news of our marriage will ease the grief in her heart."

The brilliant smile Regan gave him confirmed that he had done the right thing.

Dare just prayed that he would not live to regret it.

Regan sat beside him in the coach. Attired in a pelisse-robe, her long black hair pinned and tucked into a bonnet, she had managed to look untouchable and quite beautiful. After Regan had announced that she wanted to join him, she had insisted on changing her dress before they departed for his family's town house. He had seen no reason to deny her simple request. If his brother was dead, Dare's tardiness would not change Charles's grim circumstances.

Dare glanced down at Regan's clasped hands, which were resting on her lap. She had sheathed her slender hands in lemon kid, which complemented her jonquil gros de Naples skirt and matched her half boots. No one staring at Regan would have suspected that she had spent most of the night writhing naked beneath him. The heat of last evening's coupling warmed the ice that had congealed in his gut since Frost had told him that Charles was dead.

"It is kind of you to come."

She seemed surprised that he had acknowledged her presence at all. "Think nothing of it," she said gently, her gloved hand reaching for his.

Dare folded her fingers within his and longed for the sanctuary of her bed.

"I cannot fathom what you must be feeling."

No, she truly did not comprehend his private thoughts. Even now, he was hesitant to share them out loud for fear that she would see the cold, ruthless scoundrel she had married. "You think I am mourning my brother?"

Regan's free hand stroked the leather folds of her tortoiseshell reticule. "I realize that your relationship with your older brother has been something of a trial for you."

"I feel nothing," he said bluntly.

Her dark blue gaze flew up to his austere face. "Surely you do not mean-"

"You have not misunderstood me. I cannot recall a year when I did not detest my brother." He saw her appalled expression, and sighed. Perhaps she would understand better if he explained the defining moment of Charles's cruelty. "Do you want know why my brother was so fascinated with Allegra eleven years ago?"

Regan glanced out the window of the coach. "I have spoken to Lady Pashley on several occasions. She is articulate, educated, and very lovely."

Dare shot her an amused look. He highly doubted that his sister-in-law would be so generous toward Regan. "Allegra's refined virtues are not what caught my brother's eye," he said patiently, using his other hand to caress the top of her hand. "Her most appealing asset for Charles was that she was the woman I loved."

Dare was taken aback when Regan's dark blue eyes filled with tears. "My dear, I did not mean to distress."

"No, no ... I mean-" His gaze dropped to her breasts as she heaved an audible sigh. Regan glanced upward and hastily blinked away the moisture in her eyes. "What I mean to say is that you must have loved her very much."

He did not want to talk about Allegra. However, Regan was his wife, and she deserved the truth. Besides, his cunning sister-in-law might use the past to hurt Regan. Although she had not admitted it, Dare suspected there had been one or two occasions when Allegra had done exactly that.

"At sixteen, love is a difficult emotion to define. A young man's passions run hot. My love for Allegra was all-consuming. She was a fever in my blood, and I feared that I might die if I did not possess her heart and body."

"I see."

Her impassive response coaxed a faint smile from his lips. His wife was not pleased that another lady had once claimed his heart, but she was fair-minded and willing to hear him out.

"Charles had been away in London when I had declared my feelings for Allegra. She claimed to return my feelings wholeheartedly, and we dreamed of the day that we would marry."

"It sounds dreadfully romantic, like something out of a poem or romantic novel."

Dare gave her an assessing glance, wondering if Regan was mocking him. She did not seem particularly amused by his confession. In fact, Dare thought Regan looked a little pale. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine," she said politely. "Pray continue."

"Charles eventually returned to Rooks House. For a time, all seemed well. My brother had male friends and half a dozen local mistresses who demanded his time. I never suspected that he and Allegra were meeting in secret."

Regan turned her head, and her lips parted in surprise. "How did you learn of this?"

"I did not learn of their betrayal until months later." Dare removed his hat and smoothed back his hair. There had been no time to return to Nox, so he still wore his clothes from the previous evening. "For you see, I was blinded by my love for Allegra. While I made plans to approach her father, Lord Dyton, and offer for her hand, Allegra had been sharing my brother's bed."

"I do not know what to say."

"Neither did Allegra. She could have told me the truth about Charles. Instead, she began to make excuses about why she could not join me at our secret meeting place."

"Because she was meeting Charles," she deduced.

"Yes. It amused my brother to bed Allegra in the same spot that I considered hers and mine. Before long, she was carrying my brother's bastard."

Unconsciously, Regan's hand touched her stomach. Dare noted the telling action. Though he had deliberately lied to the vicar to gain the man's support, there was a chance his child was sleeping in her womb. He had not taken any measures to prevent such an outcome, nor was he inclined to now that she belonged to him. The notion of plunging into her clinging sheath, filling her with his seed over and over until she was heavy with their child, momentarily distracted him from his dark thoughts.

"Did Charles know?"

His delightful reverie burst like a fragile soap bubble at the mention of Charles's name. "Of course. My brother had planned it from the beginning. When he was quite certain Allegra was with child, Charles sent Allegra to me."

"Oh." Regan silently digested the information. "Did you?"

It was Dare's turn to glance away.

"Oh, I see."

"Allegra broke down almost immediately after we-we- I thought I had done something wrong. That I had hurt her without meaning to in my clumsiness."

Regan carefully separated her hand from his. "Dare, I would prefer that you spare me the details of your night of passion. I have heard enough of Allegra and your great, fervent love for her."

Dare frowned. "That was not the point of the tale."

"Then what is your point?" she snapped.

Dare scratched his head. He was trying to explain something important, but he was making a hash of it. "Weeks later, Lord Dyton dragged Allegra into the front hall of Rooks House and demanded to see my father, because he had learned of his daughter's delicate condition. I knew that I was being given an opportunity to do right by Allegra. I naturally told Lord Dyton that I was the sire of Allegra's child. My father was furious. Charles, of course, laughed when I offered to marry her. That's when I knew..."

"That Charles was the sire," Regan finished his statement.

Dare clasped his hands together and nodded. "I only had to look into Allegra's tearstained face to see the truth. It was why she had sobbed the night we had been together. Allegra had fallen in love with my brother, Regan. She had been devastated when Charles had sent her to seduce me."

Regan winced, recalling her grand confession to Frost when she admitted that she had deliberately set out to seduce Dare. She was beginning to understand why Dare had been wary of his feelings for her even when she had been so transparent with her own.

"So you accused Charles of seducing Allegra?"

Dare chuckled. "Fool that I was, I was still willing to marry her."

"But you-then how did she marry Charles?"

"When Allegra realized that I was prepared to forgive her, and offer her unborn child my name, she broke down and confessed that Charles was her lover. My brother vehemently denied it. However, Lord Dyton was not interested in the truth. With pressure from my father, Allegra's marriage to Charles would make her a marchioness, and later a duchess. He and my father were satisfied with the outcome."

"Did Charles ever tell you why he seduced Allegra?"

Dare grinned at Regan, pleased that she understood what he was trying to tell her. "Charles wanted to take the woman I worshiped and reduce her to the level of a whore. He understood my chivalrous nature better than I did. He knew that when I learned of the child, I would marry Allegra. The notion of me raising his bastard as my heir amused him."

"What a horrid, evil man!" Regan declared, her hands curling into fists as if she was prepared to fight Charles on Dare's behalf. "No wonder you feel nothing for the man."

Dare placed his hands on Regan's face and pulled her close so he could kiss her lightly. Her lips were sweet from the hot chocolate she favored each morning. "You are such a fierce creature when riled. Remind me never to cross you."

"Too late. I have been vexed with you for days."

"Hmmm. It is a good thing that I came to my senses and married you." He indulged himself, and stole another kiss. "Do not fret, mon coeur. Charles did get his comeuppance when my father forced him to marry Allegra."

"How?"

"My niece's birth was difficult. Allegra almost died, and it took her almost a year to recover. Through all these years, she has been unable to conceive an heir for Charles."

"Poor Allegra."

"Oh, how she would despise you for your compassion." Dare placed his finger against Regan's lips before she could respond. "No, listen to me. Allegra has made her bed. She might have fancied herself in love with my brother, but the truth is, she married Charles for his title and the power that comes with it. Unfortunately, she failed to provide him with the one thing that made her useful to him."

Regan kissed Dare's finger. "His heir."

Neither one of them spoke for several minutes.

Dare could sense that Regan had something on her mind. He had become quite familiar with her body, and noted the subtle clues tipping him off that she was working up the courage to ask him something important.

"When you left the town house, Frost told me that you still loved Allegra," she blurted out. "Was he telling the truth?"

"Regan, I risked incurring your brother's wrath and broke the law to marry you. Does that not tell you anything about my feelings?"

A single tear slid down her cheek. "Gentlemen marry for many reasons, and most of them have nothing to do with love."

Dare shook his head in amazement. A lady's brain was a very convoluted organ that a mere gentleman could not hope to decipher. He had thought his intentions were clear as glass.

He captured both of her hands, and felt Regan brace herself as if she were awaiting a physical blow. "You deserve honesty, Regan, and I want to give it to you." He brought her right hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I have told no one else what I have shared with you. I need you to understand this, too."

"Just tell me."

"For a long time, I was convinced that I was in love with Allegra," Dare confessed. "When she gave birth to Louise, Charles was furious that he had been cheated of his heir. He used the pitiful excuse to abandon his wife and infant daughter for months at a time. Gradually I found myself taking Charles's place whenever I visited Rooks House. My mother and father encouraged the friendship because Allegra was lonely, and there were moments when I could pretend-"

She silenced him by pressing two fingers to his lips. "I think I understand."

"Do you?" Dare nipped at her fingers lightly. Despite Regan's unconventional upbringing, Frost had done a damn fine job protecting his sister from the darker side of life.