Amarantha looked up into his face made of stark angles and shadows and wondered how anybody could mistake him for a diabolical doer of evil deeds. He had the most beautiful eyes, full of laughter and heat. She could fall into them, into him.

After so long, she had not planned for this.

“If I tell you the truth now,” he said, “will you leave?”

“Yes, if Libby does not need me.”

“What if I need you?”

“I have already said that I am not on the table.”

“Good Lord, lass, you’ve just put an image into my head that’ll fuel my dreams for weeks—months,” he said with the roguish grin she had missed.

She had missed his smile. She had missed him. Coming here had obviously been a very bad idea.

“Are you hiding Cassandra Finn and Maggie Poultney at Kallin?”

“Aye. Locked up tight in the mountains I’ve a castle full o’ females. Now will you go?”

“You seem eager for me to do so.”

“I’ve an estate here to put to rights. A trench to mend, a road to rebuild, fields to plow, any number o’ tasks to attend to.”

“Then you should probably go about doing those tasks.”

“I should.” His gaze dropped to her lips. “Truth is, I’m having the devil o’ a time remembering you’ve no’ come here to be seduced. My mind’s preoccupied now with how to accomplish it.”

“I am not seventeen any longer.”

“Thank the Almighty.”

“More importantly, I am not the naïve girl I was then.”

“You’ve said that. Still, ’tis a relief to hear it.”

“Why? Because this time I shan’t make a cake of myself over you?”

“Because this time I can be sure that when I ride away now to hire hands to dig out that trench, you’ll no’ be marrying another spineless preacher before I can return.”

Hoofbeats startled her from astonished paralysis and the dogs bolted toward a rider approaching along the drive.

“Good day!” Thomas Bellarmine called as he neared. The chill of the morning gave color to his skin. “Mrs. Garland, how glad I am to find you.”

“Good day, Mr. Bellarmine.” Her voice wobbled. The man beside her apparently thought nothing of teasing her mercilessly now, again. He had no heart.

Clearing her throat, she went toward the unexpected arrival.

“Have you been searching for me?” she said.

“Yesterday I called at Dr. Shaw’s residence.” He dismounted. “When I found the knocker up I called on Miss Campbell. She informed me of your journey.” He looked at the duke. “Your Grace?”

“Aye.”

“Thomas Bellarmine, at your service.” He bowed deeply, but was back up in an instant and proffering to her a letter. “Miss Campbell requested that I convey this to you. It is the reason I came. I don’t mean to intrude on your party, Your Grace.”

“You havena.” His eyes were keen on the other man.

“Miss Campbell was excessively eager for you to have that letter,” Mr. Bellarmine said to her.

“I shall read it without delay. Will you return to Leith now?”

“You’ve had a long ride, Bellarmine,” the duke said. “Come inside an’ take a draught.”

“I am honored, Your Grace.”

“See that, lass? He has respect for my consequence. You could take a lesson. Bellarmine, I dinna suppose you’re a preacher?”

“No, sir. I am in Law. At present, actually, I work for my uncle who is a merchant of tea and other goods. I once finalized a contract for him with your agent in London, Mr. Du Lac. Capital fellow.”

“Stay the night, Bellarmine. As many nights as you like.” He drew his horse toward the stable block, the dogs rambling after him. “You’ll have to care for your own animal. My groom’s away an’ there’s only Tate’s man to see to the lot.”

“Of course. Thank you, Your Grace!”

The duke disappeared inside the stable.

“He is as unusual as everybody says, isn’t he?” Mr. Bellarmine said, chuckling.

“I suppose so.” Gabriel Hume was in fact exactly the man she had known: confident, unashamed, and an outrageous flirt. Only the shadows in his eyes were deeper now.

“I am especially grateful for his hospitality, for it gives me opportunity to spend more time with you.”

“And your cousins,” she said, stepping away quickly. “For they are here too.”

“Mrs. Garland, I beg of you, forgive me for my impertinence at the ball. The truth is that you are the finest woman I have the pleasure to be acquainted with. That is to say, I admire you enormously and I do hope we will be friends, as you have befriended my cousins.”

“Thank you, sir. I should like to be friends.”

“Capital.” He glanced again toward the stable. “Your other friend will not mind it?”

“Hm. This prying is a poor start to our friendship, I think.”

“Do forgive me, madam.” Amusement ruined his contrition.

“Thank you for bringing this letter. I will leave you to see to your horse.”

Inside, the hall was deserted. Amarantha went to the hearth in which a great fire crackled, settled into the comfortable sofa before it, and opened Alice’s letter.

Amarantha shoved the letter into her pocket and ran to the stairwell. She collided with the duke. His hands caught her.

For a moment his grasp tightened, holding her close, and his gaze scanned her face swiftly.

He released her.

“What has happened?” he said.

“I must find Dr. Shaw.”

“Are you ill?”

“No. There is news in the letter Mr. Bellarmine brought. My friend in Leith is in danger. I must help her. I will return there at once.”

“What danger?”

She tried to move around him. “It does not concern you.”

He moved into her path. “What danger?”

“There is a man there who seeks to harm her. She is terrified. I must go.”

“Can she leave Leith?”

“Leave? Her only friends are there.” Modest tradesmen and women, all of them, like Dr. Shaw and Alice Campbell, members of the fledgling abolitionist society. “She has no other place to go. But she cannot remain there. I must take her to England, to my family’s home. She will be safe—”

“’Tis too far. She must come here. Write a letter to her. It willna require but ten minutes to harness a carriage.” He started across the hall.

“You will send your stable hand to Leith now? Night will come on before he reaches the city. And you said he was away already.”

“I will go. Quickly now, lass. Write the letter.”

“Wait, no. What are you—Stop! You will drive to Leith as it grows dark, to fetch her here?”

He crossed the room again and came so close that she had to tilt her head back to look into his face.

“You have said your friend is in danger. You are distressed. What else do you imagine I could do?”

“Six months ago you locked the gates of your estate against me. Three nights ago in Leith you refused to speak to me. Now you wish to help me?”

“Aye.”

“I do not understand you!”

“There’s nothing to understand.” He touched her chin, abruptly, without warning, and a shock of pleasure darted through her so deep she had to capture her gasp between her teeth.

“I am merely off to assist a princess in need,” he said with a half smile.

She shifted her face away from his touch.

“Do not tease about that time. I have only bad feelings about it.”

A moment passed. “I see.”

“But that hardly matters at present. You cannot leave here now. You have a house full of guests.”

“The only guest I have an interest in has just told me she intends to leave,” he said quite soberly. “This solution suits me better.”

“Are you doing this to . . . to . . .”

“To?”

“To secure entrance to my bed?”

She could feel the heat climbing into her cheeks as his smile returned.

“Secure entrance?” he repeated. “Is there a lock on that bed, then? I’ll no’ be hesitant to search for that key too.”

“Will you be serious for even a moment?”

“I am. Now I’m off to Leith. Will you give me leave to depart?”

She shook her head. “You truly are unbalanced, just as they say.”

“Amarantha Vale, you’ll no’ escape me so easily this time.” He moved away again. “That’s no’ a threat, by the by,” he tossed over his shoulder.

“Of course it isn’t. For it is nonsense.”

“’Tis a promise.”

Then he was gone and with appalling clarity she understood: he had no idea that he had broken her heart. And now, just as he had done then as a dashingly blithe tease with the reputation of a scoundrel, he was playing with her.

But she was no longer the naïve girl from that time. Both he and her husband had seen to that. Now she knew how to protect her heart. This time she would not fall.