"That blackguard!" Bentner spat. "The sound of his name makes my knuckles ache for a poke at him!" For emphasis, he shook his fist. "It has the same effect on me," Alex admitted wryly. "That's as far as we've planned." He stood up to leave, patted Alexandra's shoulder, and blithely informed the elderly n.o.blewoman who terrified half he ton with her stony hauteur, and who was already glowering at him for his familiarity with Alex, "You've got yourself a fine girl here, your grace. We've known Miss Alex since she was a girl chasin' frogs at our pond with Miss Elizabeth." The dowager did not reply. She sat in frigid silence, and only her eyes moved, following his progress out the door. "Alexandra," she said awfully, but Alex laughed and held out her hand. "Don't berate me for familiarity with the servants, I beg you, Grandmama. I cannot change, and it only upsets you. Besides, you were about to tell me something that seemed important when Bentner arrived."

Diverted from her ire at indecorous servants, the dowager aid severely, "You were so concerned in the salon that we lot keep Elizabeth in an agony of doubt in here that you have me no time to discuss some pertinent facts that may cause you some grave concern-that is, if you aren't already ,ware of them." "What facts?" "Have you seen the newspaper today?" "Not yet. Why?" "According to the Times and the Gazette, Stanhope himself is here in London and has just affirmed Ian Thornton as his grandson and legal heir. Of course, it's been whispered for years that Thornton is his grandson, but only a few knew it for a fact."

"I had no idea," Alex said absently, thinking how grossly unfair it was that the unprincipled libertine who'd brought so much unhappiness into Elizabeth's life should be enjoying such good fortune at the same moment Elizabeth's future looked so bleak. "I never heard of him until six weeks ago, when we returned from our trip and someone mentioned his name in connection with the scandal over Elizabeth."

"That's hardly surprising. Prior to this past year he was rarely mentioned in polite drawing rooms. You and Jordan left on your trip before the scandal over Elizabeth occurred, so there's no reason you would have heard of him in connection with that, either."

"How could such a wretched blackguard convince someone to legitimize him as his heir?" Alex said angrily.

"I daresay he didn't need to be 'legitimized,' if I take your meaning. He is Stanhope's natural and legitimate grandson. Your husband told me that in confidence years ago. I also know," she added meaningfully, "that Jordan is one of the very few people to whom Thornton has ever admitted it."

Alexandra's feeling of disaster increased, and she slowly put her teacup back in the saucer. "Jordan?" she repeated in an alarmed voice. "Why on earth would a scoundrel like that have confided in Jordan, of all people?"

"As you well know, Alexandra," the d.u.c.h.ess said bluntly, "your husband did not always live a life that was above reproach. He and Thornton ran with much the same crowd in their wilder days-gaming and drinking and doing whatever debauched things men do. It was this friendship of theirs that I feared you might not know of."

Alex closed her eyes in misery. "I was counting on Jordan's support to help us launch Elizabeth tonight. I've written to him explaining how dreadfully Elizabeth was treated by the most unspeakable cad alive, but I didn't mention his name. I never imagined Jordan would know of Ian Thornton, let alone be acquainted with such a person. I was so certain," she added heavily, "that if he met Elizabeth, he would do everything in his power to help put the right face on things tonight."

Reaching across the settee, the dowager squeezed her hand and said with a gruff smile, "We both know that Jordan would give you his full support if you wished to stand against foe or friend, my dear. However, in this instance you may not have his unconditional empathy when he finds out who the 'unspeakable cad' is. It is that which I wished to warn you about."

"Elizabeth mustn't know of this," Alex said fiercely. "She'll be so uneasy around Jordan-and I couldn't blame her. There is simply no justice in life!" she added, glowering at the unopened issue of the Times lying on the side table. "If there were, that-that despoiler of innocents would never be a marquess now, while Elizabeth has to be afraid to show her face in society. I don't suppose there's the slightest chance," she added hopefully, "that he didn't get a shilling or a piece of property with the t.i.tle? I could endure it better if he were still a penniless Scots cottager or a down-at-the heel gambler."

The d.u.c.h.ess snorted indelicately. "There's no chance of that, my dear, and if that's what Elizabeth believes he is, she's been duped."

"I don't think I want to hear this," Alex said with an angry sigh. "No, I have to know. Tell me, please."

"There's little to tell," the dowager said, reaching for her gloves and starting to draw them on. "Shortly after the scandal with Elizabeth, Thornton vanished. Then, less than a year ago, someone-whose name was not divulged for a long time-bought that splendid estate in Tilshire, named it Montmayne, and began renovations, with an army of carpenters employed to do the work. A few months later a magnificent town house in Brook Street was sold-again to an 'undivulged purchaser.' Ma.s.sive renovations began the next week on it, too. Society was all agog, wondering who the owner was, and a few months ago Ian Thornton drew up in front of number eleven Upper Brook Street and walked into the house. Two years ago the rumor was that Thornton was a gambler and no more, and he was a.s.suredly persona non grata in most respectable homes. Today, however, I have the sad task of telling you, he's said to be richer than Croesus, and he's welcome in almost any drawing room he cares to set foot in-not that he cares to very often, fortunately." Standing up to leave, she finished in a dire voice, "You may as well face the rest of it now, because you'll have to face it this evening."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, wearily arising. "I mean that Elizabeth's prospects for success tonight were drastically reduced by Stanhope's announcement this morning." "Why?" "The reason is simple. Now that Thornton has a t.i.tle to go with his wealth, what happened between him and Elizabeth will be overlooked by the ton as a 'gentleman's sport,' but it will continue to stain her reputation. And there's one more thing," she added in her most dire tone.

"I'm not certain I can bear it. What is It?"

"I," her grace announced, "do not have a good feeling about this evening!"

Neither did Alex at that moment. "Tony has agreed to escort Elizabeth tonight, and Sally is in accord," she said idly, referring to her brother-in-law and his wife, who was still at home in the country. "I wish, though, her escort was someone else-an eligible bachelor above reproach someone everyone looks up to, or better yet fears. Roddy Carstairs would have been the perfect one. I've sent him an urgent message to present himself to me here at his earliest convenience, but he is not expected back until tonight or tomorrow. He would be the perfect one, if I could convince him to do it. Why, most people in society positively tremble in fear of his cutting remarks."

"They tremble in fear of me," said the dowager with pride.

"Yes, I know," Alex said with a wan smile. "No one will dare to give Elizabeth the cut direct in front of you, but Roddy might be able to terrify everyone into actually accepting her."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. When and where are we all to gather tonight for this ill-fated debacle?"

Alex rolled her eyes and smiled rea.s.suringly. "We'll leave from here at ten-thirty. I asked Jordan to meet us at the Willingtons' receiving line so that we can all go down to the ballroom together."

Chapter 20.

At eight-thirty that night Ian stood on the steps outside Elizabeth's uncle's town house suppressing an almost overwhelming desire to murder Elizabeth's butler, who seemed to be inexplicably fighting down the impulse to do bodily injury to Ian. "I will ask you again, in case you misunderstood me the last time," Ian enunciated in a silky, ominous tone that made ordinary men blanch. "Where is your mistress?"

Bentner didn't change color by so much as a shade. "Out!" he informed the man who'd ruined his young mistress's life and had now appeared on her doorstep, unexpected and uninvited, no doubt to try to ruin it again, when she was at this very moment attending her first ball in years and trying bravely to live down the gossip he had caused.

"She is out, but you do not know where she is?" "I did not say so, did I?" "Then where is she?"

"That is for me to know and you to ponder."

In the last several days Ian had been forced to do a great many unpleasant things, including riding across half of England, dealing with Christina's irate father, and finally dealing with Elizabeth's repugnant uncle, who had driven a bargain that still infuriated him. Ian had magnanimously declined her dowry as soon as the discussions began. Her uncle, however, had the finely honed bargaining instincts of a camel trader, and he immediately sensed Ian's determination to do whatever was necessary to get Julius's name on a betrothal contract. As a result, Ian was the first man to his knowledge who had ever been put in the position of purchasing his future wife for a ransom of 150,000.

Once he'd finished that repugnant ordeal he'd ridden off to Montmayne, where he'd stopped only long enough to switch his horse for a coach and get his valet out of bed. Then he'd charged off to London, stopped at his town house to bathe and change, and gone straight to the address Julius Cameron had given him. Now, after all that, Ian was not only confronted by Elizabeth's absence, he was confronted by the most insolent servant he'd ever had the misfortune to encounter. In angry silence he turned and walked down the steps. Behind him the door slammed shut with a thundering crash, and Ian paused a moment to turn back and contemplate the pleasure he was going to have when he sacked the butler tomorrow.

He climbed into his coach and instructed his driver to turn the horses back to his house in Upper Brook Street, and there he alighted. His own butler opened the door with proper respect, and Ian strode past him, scowling and restless. He was halfway up the staircase when he decided his evening would pa.s.s more quickly if he spent it somewhere other than here, contemplating the rebellion he'd probably face in Elizabeth tomorrow.

Twenty-five minutes later he emerged from the town house formally attired for an evening of faro, and instructed his coachman to take him to the Blackmore. He was still scowling when he strode into the dimly lit, exclusive gentlemen's club where he had gambled at high stakes for years. "Good evening, my lord," the head footman intoned, and Ian nodded curtly, suppressing a grimace at the obsequious use of my lord.

The card room was elegantly appointed and well populated by the creme de la creme of society who preferred straight gambling to the gossip that all too often made White's a dead bore, and by less ill.u.s.trious but equally wealthy gentlemen who preferred to play for only the very high stakes that were required at the Blackmore. Pausing at the entrance to the card room, Ian started to leave and head for the faro room when a laughing voice remarked from his immediate left, "For a man who's just inherited a small empire, Ian, you have a remarkably sour expression on your face. Would you care to join me for a drink and a few hands of cards, my lord?"

An ironic smile twisted Ian's lips as he turned to acknowledge one of the few aristocrats he respected and regarded as a friend. "Certainly," he mocked, "Your Grace."

Jordan Townsende laughed. "It gets a little tedious, does it not?"

Grinning, the two men shook hands and sat down. Since Jordan had also just arrived at the club, they had to wait for a table. When they were seated a few minutes later they enjoyed a drink together, caught up on events of the past year and a half, and then got down to the more serious and pleasurable occupation of gaming, combined with desultory conversation. Normally the gaming would have been a pleasurable occupation, but tonight Ian was preoccupied, and every man who walked by the table felt it inc.u.mbent to pause and talk to one or both of them.

"It's our long absence from the city that makes us so popular," Jordan joked, tossing chips into the center of the table.

Ian scarcely heard him. His mind was on Elizabeth, who had been at the mercy of her loathsome uncle for two years. The man had bartered his own flesh and blood-and Ian was the purchaser. It wasn't true, of course, but he had an uneasy feeling Elizabeth would see it that way as soon as she discovered what had been done without her knowledge or consent. In Scotland she'd drawn a gun on him. In London he wouldn't blame her if she fired it. He was toying with the idea of trying to court her for a few days before he told her they were already betrothed, and simultaneously wondering if she was going to hate the idea of marrying him. Belhaven might be a repulsive toad, but Ian had grievously and repeatedly wronged her. "I don't mean to criticize your strategy, my friend"-Jordan's drawl drew Ian's wandering attention-"but you have just wagered 1,000 on what appears to be a pair of absolutely nothing."

Ian glanced down at the hand he'd just turned over and actually felt a flush of embarra.s.sment steal up his neck. "I have something on my mind," he explained.

"Whatever it is, it is a.s.suredly not cards. Either that or you've lost your famous touch."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Ian said absently, stretching out his long legs and crossing them at the ankles.

"Do you want to play another hand?" "I don't think I can afford it," Ian joked wearily. Glancing over his shoulder, Jordan nodded to a footman to bring two more drinks to their table, then he shoved the cards aside. Leaning back in his chair, he stretched his own legs out, and the two men regarded each other, a portrait of indolent, masculine camaraderie. "I have time for only one drink," Jordan said, glancing at the ormolu clock on the opposite wall. "I've promised Alexandra to stand at her side at a ball tonight and beam approvingly at a friend of hers."

Whenever Jordan mentioned his wife's name, Ian noted with amus.e.m.e.nt, the other man's entire expression softened.

"Care to join us?" Ian shook his head and accepted his drink from the footman. "It sounds boring as h.e.l.l."

"I don't think it'll be boring, precisely. My wife has taken it upon herself to defy the entire ton and sponsor the girl back into the ranks. Based on some of the things Alexandra said in her note, that will be no mean feat."

"Why is that?" Ian inquired with more courtesy than interest.

Jordan sighed and leaned his head back, weary from the hours he'd been working for the last several weeks and unexcited at the prospect of dancing attendance on a damsel in distress-one he'd never set eyes on. "The girl fell into the clutches of some man two years ago, and an ugly scandal ensued."

Thinking of Elizabeth .and himself, Ian said casually, "That's not an uncommon occurrence, evidently."

"From what Alex wrote me, it seems this case is rather extreme."

"In what way?" "For one thing, there's every chance the young woman will get the cut direct tonight from half the ton-and that's the half that will be willing to acknowledge her. Alex has retaliated by calling in the heavy guns-my grandmother, to be exact, and Tony and myself, to a lesser degree. The object is to try to brave it out, but I don't envy the girl. Unless I miss my guess, she's going to be flayed alive by the wagging tongues tonight. Whatever the b.a.s.t.a.r.d did," Jordan finished, downing his drink and starting to straighten in his chair, "it was damaging as h.e.l.l. The girl-who's purported to be incredibly beautiful, by the way-has been a social outcast for nearly two years."

Ian stiffened, his gla.s.s arrested partway to his mouth, his sharpened gaze on Jordan, who was already starting to rise. "Who's the girl?" he demanded tautly.

"Elizabeth Cameron."

"Oh, Christ!" Ian exploded, surging out of his chair and s.n.a.t.c.hing up his evening jacket. "Where are they?"

"At the Willingtons. Why?"

"Because," Ian bit out, impatiently shrugging into his jacket and tugging the frilled cuffs of his shirt into place, "I'm the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who did it."

An indescribable expression flashed across the Duke of Hawthorne's face as he, too, pulled on his evening jacket. "You are the man Alexandra described in her note as an 'unspeakable cad, vile libertine,' and 'despoiler of innocents'?"

"I'm all that and more," Ian replied grimly, stalking toward the door with Jordan Townsende beside him. "You go to the Willingtons' as quickly as you can," he instructed. "I'll be close behind you, but I've a stop to make first. And don't, for G.o.d's sake, tell Elizabeth I'm on my way."

Ian flung himself into his coach, snapped orders to his driver, and leaned back, counting minutes, telling himself it couldn't possibly be going as badly for her as he feared it would. And never once did he stop to think that Jordan Townsende had no idea what motives could possibly prompt Elizabeth Cameron's "despoiler" to be bent on meeting her at the Willingtons' ball.

His coach drew up before the Duke of Stanhope's townhouse, and Ian walked swiftly up the front steps, almost knocking poor Ormsley, who opened the door, on to his feet in his haste to get to his grandfather upstairs. A few minutes later he strode back down and into the library, where he flung himself into a chair, his eyes riveted on the clock. Upstairs the household was in an uproar as the duke called for his valet, his butler, and his footmen. Unlike Ian, however, the duke was ecstatic. "Ormsley, Ian needs me!" the duke said happily, stripping off his jacket and pulling off his neckcloth. "He walked right in here and said it."

Ormsley beamed. "He did indeed, your grace." "I feel twenty years younger."

Ormsley nodded. "This is a very great day." "What in h.e.l.l is keeping Anderson? I need a shave. I want evening clothes-black, I think-a diamond stickpin and diamond studs. Stop thrusting that cane at me, man."

"You shouldn't overly exert yourself, your grace." "Ormsley," said the duke as he walked over to an armoire and flung the doors open, "if you think I'm going to be leaning on that d.a.m.ned cane on the greatest night of my life, you're out of your mind. I'll walk in there beside my grandson unaided, thank you very much. Where the devil is Anderson?"

"We are late, Alexandra," said the dowager d.u.c.h.ess as she stood in Alex's drawing room idly examining a magnificent fourteenth-century sculpture reposing on a satinwood table. "And I don't mind telling you, now that the time is upon us, I have a worse feeling about this now than I did earlier. And my instincts are never wrong."

Alexandra bit her lip, trying to fight down her own growing trepidation. "The Willingtons are just around the comer," she said, dealing with the matter of lateness before she faced more grim details. "We can be there in a matter of minutes. Besides, I want everyone there when Elizabeth makes her entrance. I was also hoping that Roddy might yet answer my note."

As if in response to that, the butler appeared in the drawing room. "Roderick Carstairs wishes to be announced, your grace," he informed Alex.

"Thank heavens!" she burst out.

"I showed him in the drawing room." Alex mentally crossed her fingers.

"I have come, my lovely," Roddy said with his usual; sardonic grin as he swept her a deep bow, "in answer to your urgent summons-and, I might add," he continued, "before I presented myself at the Willingtons', exactly as your message instructed." At 5' 10" , Roddy Carstairs was a slender man of athletic build with thinning brown hair and light blue eyes. In fact, his only distinguishing characteristics were his fastidiously tailored clothes, a much envied ability to tie a neckcloth into magnificently intricate folds that never drooped, and an acid wit that accepted no boundaries when he chose a human target. "Did you hear about Kensington?"

"Who?" Alex said absently, trying to think of the best means to persuade him to do what she needed done.

"The new Marquess of Kensington, once known as Mr. Ian Thornton, persona non grata. Amazing, is it not, what wealth and t.i.tle will do?" he continued, studying Alex's tense face as he continued, "Two years ago we wouldn't have let him past the front door. Six months ago word got out that he's worth a fortune, and we started inviting him to our parties. Tonight he's the heir to a dukedom, and we'll be coveting invitations to his parties. We are"-Roddy grinned-"when you consider matters from this point of view, a rather sickening and fickle lot."

In spite of herself, Alexandra laughed. "Oh, Roddy," she said, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "You always make me laugh, even when I'm in the most dreadful coil, which I am now. You could make things so very much better-if you would."

Roddy helped himself to a pinch of snuff, lifted his arrogant brows, and waited, his look both suspicious and intrigued. "I am, of course, your most obedient servant," he drawled with a little mocking bow.

Despite that claim, Alexandra knew better. While other men might be feared for their tempers or their skill with rapier and pistol, Roddy Carstairs was feared for his cutting barbs and razor tongue. And, while one could not carry a rapier or a pistol into a ball, Roddy could do his damage there unimpeded. Even sophisticated matrons lived in fear of being on the wrong side of him. Alex knew exactly how deadly he could be-and how helpful, for he had made her life a living h.e.l.l when she came to London the first time. Later he had done a complete turnabout, and it had been Roddy who had forced the ton to accept her. He had done it not out of friendship or guilt; he had done it because he'd decided it would be amusing to test his power by building a reputation for a change, instead of shredding it.

"There is a young woman whose name I'll reveal in a moment," Alex began cautiously, "to whom you could be of great service. You could, in fact, rescue her as you did me long ago, Roddy, if only you would."

"Once was enough," he mocked. "I could hardly hold my head up for shame when I thought of my unprecedented gallantry."

"She's incredibly beautiful," Alex said. A mild spark of interest showed in Roddy's eyes, but nothing stronger. While other men might be affected by feminine beauty, Roddy generally took pleasure in pointing out one's faults for the glee of it. He enjoyed fl.u.s.tering women and never hesitated to do it. But when he decided to be kind he was the most loyal of friends. "She was the victim of some very malicious gossip two years ago and left London in disgrace. She is also a very particular friend of mine from long ago."

She searched Roddy's bland features and couldn't tell whether she was getting his support or not. "All of us-the dowager d.u.c.h.ess, Tony, and Jordan-intend to stand with her at the Willingtons' tonight. But if you could just pay her some small attention-or better yet, escort her yourself-it would be ever so helpful, and I would be grateful forever."

"Alex, if you were married to anyone but Jordan Townsende, I might consider asking you how you'd be willing to express your grat.i.tude. However, since I haven't any real wish to see my life brought to a premature end, I shall refrain from doing so and say instead that your smile is grat.i.tude enough."

"Don't joke, Roddy, I'm quite desperately in need of your help, and I would be eternally grateful for it."

"You are making me quake with trepidation, my sweet. Whoever she is, she must be in a deal of trouble if you need me."

"She's lovely and spirited, and you will admire her tremendously."

"In that case, I shall deem it an embarra.s.sing honor to lend my support to her. Who-" His gaze flicked to a sudden movement in the doorway and riveted there, his eternally bland expression giving way to reverent admiration. "My G.o.d," he whispered.

Standing in the doorway like a vision from heaven was an I unknown young woman clad in a shimmering silver-blue gown with a low, square neckline that offered a tantalizing view of smooth, voluptuous flesh, and a diagonally wrapped bodice that emphasized a tiny waist. Her glossy golden hair, was swept back off her forehead and held in place with a sapphire clip, then left to fall artlessly about her shoulders I and midway down her back. where it ended in luxurious waves and curls that gleamed brightly in the dancing candlelight. Beneath gracefully winged brows and long curly lashes her glowing green eyes were neither jade nor emerald, but a startling color somewhere in between.

In that moment of stunned silence Roddy observed her with the impartiality of a true connoisseur, looking for flaws that others would miss and finding only perfection in the delicately sculpted cheekbones, slender white throat, and soft mouth.

The vision in the doorway moved imperceptibly. "Excuse me," she said to Alexandra with a melting smile, her voice like wind chimes, "I didn't realize you weren't alone."

In a graceful swirl of silvery blue skirts she turned and vanished. and still Roddy stared at the empty doorway while Alexandra's hopes soared. Never had she seen Roddy display the slightest genuine fascination for a feminine face and figure. His words sent her spirits even higher. "My G.o.d," he said again in a reverent whisper. "Was she real?"

"Very real," Alex eagerly a.s.sured him, "and very desperately in need of your help, though she mustn't know what I've asked of you. You will help, won't you?"

Dragging his gaze from the doorway, he shook his head as if to clear it. "Help?" he uttered dryly. "I'm tempted to offer her my very desirable hand in marriage! First I ought to know her name, though I'll tell you she suddenly seems d.a.m.ned familiar." "You will help?" "Didn't I just say so? Who is that delectable creature?" "Elizabeth Cameron. She made her debut last-" Alex stopped as Roddy's smile turned harsh and sardonic.

"Little Elizabeth Cameron," he mused half to himself. "I should have guessed, of course. The chit set the city on its ear just after you left on your honeymoon trip, but she's changed. Who would have guessed," he continued in a more normal voice, "that fate would have seen fit to endow her with more looks than she had then."

"Roddy!" Alex said, sensing that his att.i.tude toward helping was undergoing a change. "You already said you'd help."

"You don't need help, Alex," he snickered. "You need a miracle."

"But-"

"Sorry. I've changed my mind." "Is it the-the gossip about that old scandal that bothers you?"

"In a sense." Alexandra's blue eyes began to spark with dangerous fire.

"You're a fine one to believe gossip, Roddy! You above all know it's usually lies, because you've started your share of it!"

"I didn't say I believe it," he drawled coolly. "In fact, I'd find it hard to believe that any man's hands, including Thornton's, have ever touched that porcelain skin of hers. However," he said, abruptly closing the lid on his snuffbox and tucking it away, "society is not as discerning as I, or, in this instance, as kind. They will cut her dead tonight, never fear, and not even the influential Townsendes or-my influential self could prevent it. Though I hate the thought of sinking any lower in your esteem than I can see I already have, I'm going to tell you an unlovely truth about myself, my sweet Alex," he added with a sardonic grin. "Tonight. any unattached bachelor who's foolish enough to show an interest in that girl is going to be the laughingstock of the Season, and I do not like being laughed at. I do not have the courage, which is why I am always the one to make jokes of others. Furthermore," he finished, reaching for his hat, "in society's eyes Elizabeth Cameron is used goods, Any bachelor who goes near her will be deemed a fool or a letch, and he'll suffer her fate."

At the door he stopped and turned, looking unperturbable and amused as usual, "For what it's worth, I shall make it a point to proclaim tonight that I for one don't believe she was with Thornton in a cottage or a greenhouse or anywhere else. That may slow down the tempest at first, but it won't stop it."