"I say, Lester! This is dashed unfair." Mr Amberly all but pouted.

Others muttered in similar vein.

Harry merely lifted a supercilious brow, his now- hooded glance shifting to rest on Lucinda's face.

"As I recall, my dear, you owe me a waltz. I've come to claim it."

"Indeed, sir." Savouring the sound of his deep drawl, Lucinda gave up her fight and smiled her delight.

"I.

always pay my debts. My first waltz in the capital is yours. "

Harry's lips twitched but he stilled them. With an elegant gesture he claimed her hand and settled it on his sleeve.

Lucinda slanted a quick, triumphant glance at Em, but her mentor was hidden by her court.

"Gentlemen."

With a sunny smile and a nod for her disappointed cavaliers, who were shooting disgruntled glances at her unexpected partner, she allowed him to lead her to the floor.

Harry held his tongue until they reached the dance floor but as soon as he had whirled them into the swirling throng, he looked down and trapped Lucinda's blue gaze.

"I.

realise, Mrs Babbacombe, that your experience does not extend to the vagaries of the ton. I fear I should warn you that many of the gentlemen presently intent on your smiles should be treated with extreme caution. "

More concerned with adequately following his a.s.sured lead than with her redundant court, Lucinda frowned.

"That's obvious."

Harry's brows slowly rose.

Lucinda's frown grew distracted.

"I'm rather more than seven, you know. As far as I can see, there's no reason I shouldn't enjoy myself in their company--I'm hardly so green as to be taken in by their charms."

At that, Harry snorted. For a full minute, he considered the possibility of scaring her with a more explicit warning then mentally shook his head. She wasn't, he realised, recalling Jake Blount and the Green Goose, easily scared.

But he could hardly countenance her court.

Glancing down at her face, he saw she' was still frowning, but in an abstracted way.

"What's wrong?"

She started--and cast an irritated glance up at him. "Well?"

"If you must know," Lucinda said.

"I'm not terribly experienced at waltzing. Charles didn't, of course. I've had lessons--but it's rather different on a crowded floor."

Harry couldn't stop his slow grin.

"Just relax." The look she sent him suggested that she found his humour ill-conceived.

Harry chuckled--and drew her closer, tightening his arm about her so she could more easily sense his intentions.

Lucinda held her breath--then slowly let it out. Their new positions were just this side of decent but she felt immeasurably more secure. When Harry twirled her through a complicated set of turns as they negotiated the end of the room, she followed without faltering. Rea.s.sured, she relaxed--only to find her wits almost overwhelmed by her senses. His hard thighs brushed hers as they progressed down the room; she could feel the heat of his large body reaching for her, enveloping her, his strength effortlessly whirling her about. A strange tension gripped her, making breathing difficult. It was matched by the tension in the arm locked about her. From beneath her lashes, Lucinda glanced up. Her gaze found his lips. As she watched, they firmed into a straight line.

It was an uphill battle but Harry strove to push aside all distractions--like the enthralling curves encased in blue silk nestling in his arms, the womanly softness of those curves and the supple planes of her back, like the subtle scent of her that rose to tease his senses, and the graceful curve of her neck exposed by her new hair style--and remind his wandering wits just why he had returned to London.

"When are you planning to visit your inns?"

Lucinda blinked, and shifted her gaze to his eyes. "Actually, I'd thought to start with the Argyle Arms at Hammersmith tomorrow."

Harry didn't bother asking if she'd arranged a suitable escort. The d.a.m.ned woman was so irrationally sure of herself, so ignorant of the true dangers, so determinedly wilful. His lips thinned.

"I'll call for you at nine."

Lucinda's eyes opened wide.

Harry noticed--and frowned at her.

"You needn't fear--we'll go in my curricle and I'll have Dawlish along.

Perfectly proper, I a.s.sure you." Lucinda swallowed her happy laugh. Em's strictures replayed in her head. She ey~l him consideringly, then gracefully acquiesced.

"Thank you, sir. Your company will, I'm sure, make the drive more interesting." Harry narrowed his eyes, but could make nothing of her serene expression. Stifling a humph, he drew her a fraction closer--and set his mind to enjoying the rest of the waltz.

At its end, he strolled back with her to where her court waited, impatient and eager. Harry read the antic.i.p.ation in their eyes. He stiffened.

Instead of yielding his fair partner up with a flourish and an elegant bow, the prescribed procedure, he covered her hand, resting on his sleeve, with his. And remained, thus anch.o.r.ed, by her side.

Lucinda pretended not to notice. She chatted gaily, ignoring the intrigued glint in Lord Ruthven's perceptive eye and Mr Amberly's disapproving expression. Harry, she noted, made no attempt whatever to contribute to the conversation; she longed to look at him but standing so close, she could not.

Not without making her interest obvious. She was somewhat relieved when Mrs Anabelle Burnham, a young matron ambling past on the arm of Mr Courtney, decided to join them.

"I declare, it's going to be yet another crush." Mrs Burnham fluttered her lashes at Lord Ruthyen before turning her laughing brown eyes on Lucinda.

"You'll grow used to them, my dear. And you have to admit these larger gatherings are ... entertaining." Another laughing glance went Lord Ruthven's way.

Lucinda struggled to keep her lips straight.

"Indeed." Nothing loath, she slanted a glance up at her silent partner.

"And the entertainment takes so many varied forms, too.

Don't you find it so? "

Anabelle Burnham blinked, then her teasing smile brightened.