Gregor's brows lifted. "Except for the fact that he abducted you-"

"I was going to marry her!" Ravenscroft said, though no one looked his way.

"-lied to you-" Gregor continued.

"I told her the truth, once we were here."

"-and has kept you imprisoned ever since-"

"I did not!" Ravenscroft said, his face now as red as his waistcoat. "Had it not been for the snow, we would have been married and on our way to the continent by now!"

Venetia's mouth opened, then closed. "The continent?" There was a decided squeak to her voice.

Gregor smiled. "I thought you knew the, er, gentleman?"

Venetia ignored him. "Ravenscroft, what is this about the continent?"

Ravenscroft sent a resentful glare at Gregor before answering, "I was going to tell you, but I wasn'

t sure when to say something and if, perhaps, it wouldn't be better just to wait until-"

"Oh, for the love of Zeus, just spit it out," Gregor said impatiently. "Explain why you wished to travel to the continent right on the heels of your surprise nuptials."

Ravenscroft stiffened. "There are many reasons."

"We just want the real one."

"Perhaps I like Italy."

Gregor crossed his arms, his broad chest framed by his powerful arms. Beside him, Ravenscroft appeared even younger and more narrow-shouldered than usual.

"Ravenscroft," Venetia said, "why the continent? You aren't fleeing because of debt, are you?"

"No! Of course not!"

"It's worse than mere debt," Gregor said.

Ravenscroft glowered. "Look, MacLean," he bl.u.s.tered. "My lord, I know you don't mean to insult me, but-"

"Come, come, cub! Of course I mean to insult you."

Ravenscroft's mouth opened. Then closed. "You mean to insult me? On purpose?"

"Yes. I find your company unbearably tedious and your actions in regard to Miss Oglivie selfish.

Therefore, I do not bother to speak in a polite tone, or even in a polite manner."

The younger lord drooped as if his bones would no longer bear his frame. "Oh. I see."

Venetia stamped her foot. "Ravenscroft! Do not let Gregor beat you down in such a way."

The young lord's cheeks reddened. "I am not allowing him anything. I was merely attempting to understand, that is all."

"He is insulting you. If I were you, I would be furious."

Gregor's low voice drawled with an amused undertone. "I believe she would have you challenge me to a duel."

Venetia whirled to face him. "I do not believe in such idiocy, and you know it. I was merely suggesting that he stand up for himself."

"It's no matter. If Ravenscroft challenged me to a duel, I fear I would have to stand in line and await my turn."

Venetia frowned. "What?"

Ravenscroft suddenly came to life, gulping as he spoke. "Lord MacLean! Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere-" "No," Venetia said, her gaze narrowing on Ravenscroft. "Is there something you have not told me?"

"Yes-no-a very minor thing, to be sure."

"What is it?"

Ravenscroft winced. "Venetia, don't-"

Gregor grinned, pulled a chair into the center of the room, sat down then crossed one booted foot over his knee. "Continue," he invited.

Venetia placed her hands on her hips. "Would it kill you to be of a.s.sistance?"

"I put my neck at risk traveling here in this weather to do just that, but you informed me that I was not needed." He shrugged. "So I might as well enjoy myself."

"That is no excuse to make things worse."

"I beg your pardon," Gregor said with that devastating half grin that made her stomach warm in the most annoying way. "How could I possibly make things worse?"

Venetia hated it when Gregor was right. She forced herself to turn to Ravenscroft. "You might as well get this over with. Lord MacLean is not leaving until you've aired everything."

Ravenscroft sent a resentful glare to Gregor, who threw up his hands and said with a laugh, "Don't look at me like that; I am not the one challenging every male within earshot to a duel."

Venetia ignored Gregor, which was not easy to do, as he was leaning back negligently in his chair, his wet boots thrust out across the rug, making it difficult for anyone to walk anywhere. In his wet clothes, his black hair a bit curly from the dampness, his green eyes sparkling with amus.e.m.e.nt, he was devastatingly handsome. Even the scar on his left cheek seemed attractive, secretive, hinting at potential danger.

"Well, Ravenscroft?" Gregor quirked a brow at the younger man. "Will you tell Miss Venetia your plight? Or shall I?"

"Oh, I will tell her," Ravenscroft said in a voice so sulky that it quite put Venetia out of patience. "First of all, Miss Oglivie, you must realize that no matter what, no matter what, I am here because I love you madly."

"And?" Gregor prompted.

"And I had to leave the country because of a duel I was to fight."

Venetia blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

He sighed, his shoulders sagging beneath the buckram wadding that padded them. "What happened was-It wasn't my fault, but last week, Lord Ulster and I were playing cards at White's. He accused me of cheating, and I-"

"Were you?" Gregor asked.

"No," Ravenscroft said sharply. "I dropped a card on the floor. I bent to retrieve it without thinking, and Ulster had the...the gall to suggest I was not playing a fair hand!"

Gregor's brows rose. "In the middle of a game, you picked up a card from the floor?"

"Well, yes! I'd dropped it and hadn't noticed it, and I know I shouldn't have, but it was a queen, and I particularly needed...That's not to say that if I had it to do over again, I might-"

"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l." Gregor looked at Venetia, his eyes shimmering with humor. "You really wish to wed this fool?"

Ravenscroft's hands fisted, his face flushing a dark red.

Venetia ignored him. "I never said I wished to marry anyone, MacLean. I only said Ravenscroft had been a gentleman. Or so I'd thought."

"He is quite fun to watch," Gregor said thoughtfully, looking at Ravenscroft. "Much like having a pet monkey."

"My lord!" Ravenscroft stepped forward, his eyes blazing in anger.

"Sit down," Gregor said in a bored tone.

"My lord, I cannot allow you to-"

"Sit down!" This time, Gregor's voice thundered, his eyes the dark green of an angry sea. Outside, a crashing echo lashed through the air.

Ravenscroft's b.u.t.t hit the chair, a stunned look on his face.

Venetia's heart pounded in her throat. Gregor rarely became angry. In the many years they'd been friends, she could count on one hand the number of times he'd lost his temper.

And now he was angry with her, something she'd never thought to see happen, and it rattled her in ways she'd never imagined. It's just Gregor, she told herself, trying to calm her thudding heart. I've known him forever. Yet somehow that didn't rea.s.sure her as it once might have.

She clasped her hands. "Ravenscroft, pray continue with your story. Ulster accused you of cheating, and-"

"I had no choice. I challenged him to a duel."

"Who won?" Venetia asked.

The young lord bit his lip, saying in a very quiet voice, "No one."

Venetia leaned forward. "I beg your pardon?"

He cleared his throat. "I said no one. We-we have not yet met."

Venetia considered this. "When did this incident occur?"

"Three days ago."

Three days ago. Just before he'd come to steal her away and-She fixed her gaze on him. "That is why you wished to go to the continent."

Gregor's soft chuckle punctuated Ravenscroft's wince.

"You see, my love?" Gregor asked calmly, though something tight snapped beneath the surface. "I not only saved you from an unwelcome elopement but from a grim life on the continent, the wife of a banished man."

A flame of anger flashed through Venetia. "Let me get this straight, Ravenscroft. You not only tricked me into accompanying you by claiming that my mother was ill, but you planned on taking me with you into a life of hiding on the continent?"

"Well...yes. I thought you'd like it."

She was going to explode. "You thought I'd welcome such a thing? Living from country to country, never returning to England-"

"We would be able to return!"

"When?"

"Once Ulster could be persuaded to drop the charges."

"And how would you get that accomplished?"

"I-I thought perhaps your father-"

"You thought my father would undertake to beg for your return to England?"

"Your father likes me!"

"And so does my mother. But they would not be the ones living with you on the continent, would they?"

"No," Ravenscroft said in a sulky tone. "I didn't think they would mind a.s.sisting their son-in-law, though."

"I'm sure they wouldn't have minded being banished, either. Indeed, I am certain they would have thought it a grand adventure, hiding from the constable, registering at low inns under a.s.sumed names. As much as I love my parents, no one would ever think they possess the smallest bit of common sense. I, however, would have been greatly put out by the entire mess."

Ravenscroft leapt from his chair. "Ven-Miss Oglivie, truly, I didn't think you'd object! I hear it is beautiful in Italy! There are villas and shops and all sorts of amus.e.m.e.nts-"

"And how, pray tell, would we afford these villas and shops and amus.e.m.e.nts?"

Ravenscroft looked desperately around the room, finding nothing but Gregor's amused gaze and Venetia's indignant one.

"What sort of lovely plans did you have laid? Have you purchased a house, perchance?" Venetia pursued.

"Ah. No. I didn't really have the funds-" He caught sight of Venetia's expression and hurried to add, "I am certain something would have presented itself!"

"I don't know why I thought you were going into this unprepared," Venetia said calmly.

Ravenscroft looked relieved, but Gregor knew Venetia better.

She was a wrathful G.o.ddess-her gown mussed and crumpled, her hair a tangled mess upon her head, but her gray eyes flashed silver, her smooth skin flushed with pa.s.sion. Gregor had gone through agony since this morning. Venetia's disappearance had forced him to admit something rather uncomfortable: the necessity of their friendship. He not only enjoyed having Venetia in his life, but he needed her. Facing the prospect of possibly never seeing her again, or at least not in the same easy circ.u.mstances they'd always enjoyed, had sparked his fury like nothing else ever had.

Worse, as the hours had pa.s.sed, he'd imagined her fearful and upset, alone and frightened. Then he'd come upon the wreckage of their carriage, buried in the snow. His entire body had frozen for a moment, too shocked to accept the sight of the splintered wood and what it might mean.

He'd been frantic in a way he'd never been before. Of course, it was merely a protective instinct, nothing else, but still...the feelings had been immediate and overwhelming.

Which was why when he'd followed the path of the cart to the inn and discovered Venetia there -not broken and bloodied, but warm and snug, a sparkle in her eyes as if she'd actually enjoyed her "outing" with Ravenscroft-a new emotion had lodged itself in Gregor's breast, one he didn't recognize. One that had set off his frayed temper yet again.