being good lads, and he tousled both their heads before climbing onto the phaeton. He barely remembered driving to Maiden Hill.

And yet, that was where he was going. Nowhere else. Maiden Hill was his home now.

He'd tell Rosalyn what had happened. She'd help him make sense of everything. With her clear, level

thinking, she would understand, and she'd sanction his reasons for not returning all these years, not even

to see his parents. She'd remind him he wasn't a bad sort... just a selfish one.Colin reined Oscar to a halt. They sat in the middle of the road. He looked around, recognizing this spotof the Valley. As a boy, he'd run and crawled over every field and hillside around Clitheroe. Matt hadrarely wandered off, but Colin had always pushed the boundaries. He'd always wanted more.

Was that such a bad thing?

He slapped the reins, and Oscar started off at a trot. What a great heart this horse had. He was loyal to Colin. "Is that not a start?" he asked aloud.

Matt wasn't there to answer.

As Colin pulled up in front of Maiden Hill, he saw they had visitors. John held two fine hunters, one of

which was Lord Loftus's horse.Colin set the brake on the phaeton and jumped down. "We have guests?""Aye, you do, sir."Colin took a moment to unharness Oscar. He deserved a rest. He'd tend to the horse's other needs in a moment, and he walked toward the door, aware that Oscar was making his way in the direction of

Rosalyn's flower beds. Colin wasn't going to worry about it now.He'd just stepped inside the door and tossed his hat on a side table when Loftus charged into thehallway, his face red with fury. Shellsworth, also dressed in hunting clothes, followed close behind.

"Mandland, I want an answer!" Loftus barked.

"To what question, my lord?" Colin asked, not really in the mood for Loftus's nonsense.

"The fox!" his lordship charged. "You stole my fox! Took him right out from under me! And I want him

back!"

Chapter Fourteen.

Confronted by Lord Loftus's anger, the thought struck Colin that here he had owned Maiden Hill for a little over three weeks and he'd yet been able to sit in front of the fire and put his feet up.

Behind Loftus and Shellsworth stood a very scattered Mrs. Covington and a tall, confident Rosalyn, who said proudly, "I told Lord Loftus his charges are silly."

Colin smiled. Damn if she wouldn't brazen it out and get away with it, too. She had more pride than a

queen."They aren't silly!" Loftus returned. "A young lad and his girl saw Mandland pick the fox up off the roadand put him in his rig. They saw it! And I'd just about run him to ground! He was mine."

Rosalyn opened her mouth, ready to defend Colin's actions, but he couldn't let her. His brother's words

still echoed in his ears. What did he care that Loftus was upset over the fox?

"My lord, you are right. I did pick up the fox," he said. "The creature appeared injured and, since I value all God's creatures, I rescued it."

"Do you expect me to believe that horny toad nonsense?" his lordship shot back. " 'All God's creatures.'

What a farce!"

"Farce or not, it is what happened." Colin dared Loftus to take the matter a step further and call him a liar. He'd stared down better men, and he was not afraid to put steel behind his words.

The portly lord didn't want to back down. His temper had the better of him, and, yet, his sense of

self-preservation was starting to doubt the wisdom of a challenge.

Shellsworth took this moment to interject himself. "My lord, may I make a suggestion? It's admirable and noble of Colonel Mandland to rescue a woodland creature, but now he knows it is your fox, and therefore should hand it over to us."

"Yes! That's right!" Loftus quickly seconded. "Give me back my fox, and all will rest easy between us."

"No." Colin didn't even weigh the consequences before he gave his succinct, definite answer. He'd notturn the fox over to be destroyed.Lord Loftus's response was something to behold. His face grew redder, his eyes crossed, and his whole body shook. He sputtered out, "You would tell me no?"

Colin flicked his glance to the lawyer, who shrugged with an apologetic smile. "I would tell you no," Colin affirmed.

For a moment, Lord Loftus's mouth opened and shut like a fish gasping for air as if no one had ever

dared to defy him.

Rosalyn came forward. "Lord Loftus, you look as if you could use a glass of a... um... what do we have, Covey?"

"We have some sherry," Covey answered. "Perhaps two glasses-?" she suggested hopefully.

"Yes, Covey, two glasses of sherry is a brilliant idea," Rosalyn was saying. "Lord Loftus will feel better in

a moment. Here, I'll pour." She started for the sitting room, presumably to fetch sherry, which no man

worth his salt would ever drink, when Lord Loftus's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"If you believe I will give the Commons seat to a man who would defy me, you are wrong," Loftus said.

"Now, give me that fox."

There it was. The gauntlet had been thrown down between them. What man would be fool enough to

toss away his future for the life of a miserable little fox?

What was it his brother had accused him of? Believing the ends justified the means? Of running roughshod over others for what he wanted?

Apparently not when it came to a fox."I will not give you the fox," Colin said.Loftus stumbled back, as if he had not expected Colin to defy him. "You have made an error. A grave, grave error." He looked to Shellsworth. "You want the Commons seat.""I would be honored to accept the position, your lordship," the lawyer responded promptly."And you know your place, too," Loftus practically growled out. "Come, let us discuss the matter." He stomped past Colin and out of the house.

Shellsworth had to scurry to keep up.

Colin watched the two of them mount their horses and ride off. It wasn't until the dust of their leaving had

settled that he realized what he had just done.

He knew the Valley. Everyone knew better than to offend Lord Loftus. The man wielded real power,

passed down through his family from one generation to another. He was the feudal lord, the law. Hispower in the Valley rivaled the king's.And he was furious with Colin.Shutting the door, he turned to find Rosalyn and Mrs. Covington looking at him, each in a state of shock."Sherry? Right?" he said, not expecting an answer. He walked into the sitting room, where he didn't have any trouble identifying the liquor cabinet.

Rosalyn couldn't gauge Colin's mood. She exchanged a glance with Covey, who was even moreconfused than she was. The barely controlled violence in Lord Loftus's temper had been disconcerting,as was Colin's silence following the scene.

With a nod, she silently asked Covey to give her a moment alone with her husband. Her companion didn'

t even miss a beat. "I'll see to supper," she said.

The sitting room was dark enough now that a candle would not be inappropriate. Colin had the liquor cabinet open. In his hand he held a bottle of whiskey three-quarters full. He acknowledged her presence by saying, "There's sherry, but also this bottle of aged whiskey here. Do you think Mrs. Covington has been holding out on us?" He poured himself a glass.

"She probably didn't know it was there. She rarely goes into the cabinet. It may be years old."

"Perfect. That is the best whiskey." He toasted her and downed the glass."You didn't do anything wrong," Rosalyn said. "I wouldn't have let him have the fox either."Colin didn't answer, save for a self-deprecating smile. He refilled his glass."Colin, drinking yourself into a stupor solves nothing."He shook his head. "Do you think I give a damn what that petty little tyrant thinks?""Yes."At last he looked at her, and what she saw in his expression tore at her heart. "You know me better than I know myself," he admitted. He drew a deep breath and released it slowly. "Rosalyn, let me have some

time alone. I fear I'm not going to be good company."He grabbed the bottle in one hand and walked over to the upholstered chair in front of the hearth. He setthe glass and bottle on a side table and, propping his booted heels on a footstool, sat down as if settlingin for the night.

Rosalyn didn't know what to do. She'd been shut out. Their early camaraderie, the connection between the two of them, had vanished as if it had never existed. She sensed his distance. He wanted nothing to do with her right now. He preferred his bottle.

"I'll see you at dinner," she said uncertainly.

He didn't answer, his attention on the drink in his hand. She had no choice but to leave the room. She shut the door, needing a physical barrier to symbolize the emotional one between them.

An hour later, she met Covey in the dining room. "Is the colonel coming?" Covey asked. Bridget and

Cook had gone to great pains for this dinner. The table was set as if for the most respected company.

Rosalyn hated disappointing them.