"I fear that my visit this day is not a pleasant one. Your-" He nodded toward Meredith then.

"Our grandniece." The snowy-haired pair replied together.

"Of course. Your grandniece suffered a tremendous fall less than thirty minutes past, and I am convinced she did sustain some degree of injury." With great boldness, he reached out a hand and laid it, comfortingly, upon Viola's bony arm. "You see, she fell from a hot air balloon, through an oak tree."

Both aunts snapped their heads around to Meredith.

"Are you injured, dear?" Aunt Viola asked.

Meredith opened her lips and, to her great relief, her teeth were no longer marching. "No, Auntie. I am perfectly well. This gentleman cushioned my fall with his body."

"Oh, how gallant you are, Lord Lansing!" Her aunt Let.i.tia exclaimed. But then, she took note of the man's earth-marred coat and grimaced. "I do hope young Meredith did not cause you any distress, my lord. I daresay, she is a spirited gel and is always getting up to some mischief or another."

Meredith softly groaned her displeasure, but quieted when her aunt Viola gave her a hard, covert pinch.

"Why after all you've been through, my lord," her twig-thin aunt Viola began, "you must come inside and join us for a restorative."

"As much as I would enjoy joining you, madam, I am afraid that another pressing matter requires my attention."

No doubt, Meredith mused. Pressing a certain French courtesan to a mattress would be her guess. Oh, she knew his sort all too well. No matter, Giselle would tell her all about it the next morn.

Then, Alexander Lamont pulled a visiting card from a concealed pocket in his dirt-encrusted coat and pressed it into Meredith's hand.

"Should you have further need of my services, Miss Merriweather, please do not hesitate to send for me." He flashed her a brilliant, knee-weakening smile.

With a nod to her and to each of her aunts, Lord Lansing the rake bid them all farewell, leapt upon his ma.s.sive horse and galloped from the square.

Her elderly aunts released pleased sighs.

Aunt Let.i.tia caught Meredith's shoulder and hobbled along beside her toward the door. "My, he is a handsome devil, isn't he?"

"Indeed he is," Meredith murmured. "But then, they always are."

"Still, I feel I must caution you against forming any sort of connection with the gentleman, for I have heard rumors that in truth he is no gentleman at all."

Aunt Viola wrapped her thin fingers around Meredith's upper arm, but as they entered the house and turned into the parlor it was her sister she addressed. "What a thing to say, Let.i.tia. You must have heard, Lord Lansing has reformed. And you know what the ladies say... a reformed rake makes the very best husband."

"Nonsense!" Meredith exhaled her breath. "I for one do not believe it for a moment."

Aunt Let.i.tia widened her faded blue eyes then shook her head at her sister, who winced when she took her meaning.

"Of course a good, sensible gentleman, like your Mr. Chillton, dear Meredith, should always be a lady's first choice." A wisp of a giggle slipped through her lips then. "I only meant that a reformed rake, might know how... well... to please his wife."

Aunt Let.i.tia chuckled heartily at that, until she toppled back against the settee beside her sister and gasped for breath.

Finally, as the two elderly ladies quieted, Meredith crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin proudly.

"That may be, Auntie, but I am afraid no woman will ever know for certain because there is no such thing as a reformed rake."

Aunt Let.i.tia lifted her thick white brows. "You seem quite sure of that, my dear."

"I am." Meredith gave herself a secret little smile.

"And with Alexander Lamont as my subject, I intend to prove it, to the satisfaction of all, before the season ends."

Her aunts' widened eyes met nervously and their lips moved in shocked unison. "Oh, dear."

Also by Kathryn Caskie.

Rules of Engagement.

THE EDITOR'S DIARY.

Dear Reader, Whenever life throws lemons at you, make lemonade, right? But even the best lemonade isn't any good without a little sugar to sweeten things up. So grab our two Warner Forever t.i.tles this January-I promise even the sweetest of sweet tooths will be satisfied.

New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell raves Kathryn Caskie's writing "sparkles with wit and humor" so prepared to be dazzled. Pick up her latest, LADY IN WAITING, and you'll never look at facial cream the same way. Jenny Penny is a lady's maid to the matchmaking Featherton sisters and a lover of all things fine-and expensive. But soon her debts pile up, forcing her to secretly sell her homemade facial cream. Jenny could never have antic.i.p.ated the sensation it would cause... or that women in the ton would use her tingle cream in the most intimate of places to boost their libido. As if that weren't enough, the Featherton sisters have made Jenny their project. Pa.s.sing her off as Lady Genevieve, they are determined to see her wed s.e.xy Scottish marquis Callum Campbell. Being wooed by day and churning out tingle cream by night, Jenny is leading a double life and she's about to get caught.But will Callum's feelings change when he learns she is not a lady but an entrepreneurial lady's maid?

How far would you go to protect your daughter? Lady Johanna from Shari Anton's AT HER SERVICE would risk anything to protect her little Ivy. The plague devastated the village, killing Johanna's abusive husband and two of her three beloved children. Determined to keep Ivy safe from harm's way, Johanna has pledged her life to her daughter. So when outlaws raid her village, threatening their safety and injuring Ivy, Johanna is forced to hire a fearsome mercenary to stop them. Though she dreads the presence of a hulking, aggressive, and completely uncivilized man in her home, she has no choice. But when Logan Grimm arrives, he's nothing like Johanna thought. With his broad shoulders and kind eyes, she sees a gentleness she never expected-and one that she fears more than anything. For while Logan is protecting them against the outlaws, who, pray tell, is guarding her heart? Rendezvous calls Shari Anton a "master who weaves magic onto every page" so get ready to fall under her spell.

To find out more about Warner Forever, these January t.i.tles and the authors, visit us at www.warnerforever.com.

With warmest wishes, Karen Kosztolnyik, Senior Editor.

P.S. Here are two reasons to believe in true love again: Annie Solomon presents a powerful romantic suspense about a blind man and the sole witness to his attack who must save themselves from the a.s.sa.s.sin on their trail in BLIND CURVE; and Candy Halliday delivers the hilarious and outrageous tale of a woman determined to create the perfect virtual soulmate and the very real man who starts to seem more perfect every day in DREAM GUY.

Look for Rules of Engagement.

by Kathryn Caskie.

When two elderly aunts mistakenly use the military strategy handbook Rules of Engagement to secure their headstrong niece a fiance, London's ballrooms become battlefields in a war of wits, matchmaking, and mayhem.

"Top Pick! A smart and sparkling romance that quite simply captivates. Make room on the keeper shelves!"

-Romantic Times BOOKClub Magazine.

"A delightful debut!"

-Julia Quinn, New York Times bestselling author.

"Her writing sparkles with wit and humor."

-Cathy Maxwell, New York Times bestselling author.

end.