As Meriel gave a cry and dashed to grab her gown, Quinn thought about diving for his trousers, but there was no point. Any idiot could tell what they’d been doing, and Fulkham was no idiot.

“What the devil is going on here?” Fulkham demanded, his gaze zeroing in on Quinn.

The disapproval in his tone got Quinn’s back up. Thanks to bloody Fulkham, Quinn had lost his chance to tell her the truth, which he’d just been about to do.

But he wasn’t about to admit to such idiocy in front of the man who had kept them apart all these months. “It’s none of your concern.”

The bastard slammed the door behind him. “Like hell it isn’t. She’s my sister-in-law, for God’s sake. You have no right to take advantage of her.”

“I’m not taking advantage of her, damn you! She’s my fiancée,” Quinn said, though she hadn’t yet agreed to marry him. Still, he couldn’t stand the idea of Fulkham believing he’d assaulted her.

Besides, she’d said she had no romantic feelings for Fulkham. It was time to see if Fulkham had any romantic feelings for her.

If he did, he masked them well. His gaze shot to Meriel. “Is this true? You’re going to marry this arse?”

She bristled. “Quinn is not an arse!” She dragged her corset on over her shift, though she had no hope of fastening it without help.

“Quinn?” Fulkham stared hard at her. “How long have you two been—”

“Months, actually.” Quinn went over to stand behind her so he could lace up her corset. “She didn’t want you to know because she didn’t think you’d approve.”

“Damned right I wouldn’t,” Fulkham ground out. “She’s worth ten of you.”

“Well, that’s certainly something we agree on,” Quinn muttered as he helped her get her gown on.

The minute he finished fastening the buttons, she strode over to face down Fulkham. “You’re wrong about him! Quinn is honorable and good and . . . and honest, something you’re incapable of. What’s more, he’s terribly brave. Why, he just risked his life for me!”

Fulkham’s gaze narrowed on Quinn again. “Did he, now?”

Quinn stifled a groan. Bloody, bloody hell. “Meriel—”

“Yes, he did,” she said stoutly. “He saved me from abduction by some fellow who was probably sent on behalf of whomever it was you wanted me to spy on tonight.”

Fulkham’s mouth dropped. “Are you mad? You told him about the spying?”

She sniffed. “Yes, I did. I got tired of inventing excuses for why I always had to cancel plans with him because of you,” she said, poking at Gregory with her finger. “That’s why he came here in the first place—because I’d been forced to cancel again. So he came over to talk to me, just in time to stop a man from trying to carry me off.”

“An armed man?” Fulkham said in alarm.

“Not exactly. I mean . . .”

“So where does the ‘risked his life’ bit come in?” Fulkham asked, clearly suspicious.

“Well. I . . . I had already pulled out my knife to defend myself when Quinn confronted the villain, who then pushed me into Quinn.” She tipped up her chin. “And I accidentally . . . er . . . stabbed him.” She pointed to Quinn’s bandaged arm. “And it’s all because of you and your infernal machinations!”

Judging from Fulkham’s hardening expression, he either knew or had guessed the truth about the abduction. Quinn’s world was about to come crashing down about his ears.

Cursing himself, he headed for his clothes. For this, he’d better be dressed.

As Quinn tied his cravat about his neck to make up for his lack of a shirt, Fulkham drawled, “My ‘infernal’ machinations had nothing to do with any abduction attempt, I assure you. Do you know why I’m back so early?”

The hard edge to the man’s words made Quinn’s stomach roil. Fulkham knew, all right. Someone must have alerted him.

Meriel didn’t yet seem to notice the tension in her brother-in-law’s voice. “To chide me for not showing up at your stupid ball to do one of your stupid missions?”

Fulkham was clearly taken aback to hear her speak to him so harshly. “Er . . . no, of course not.” He glanced from her to Quinn and scowled. “I’m here because—”

“Because apparently he has somehow found out that the abduction was all a sham,” Quinn said wearily. If anyone was going to tell her the truth, it would be him, not bloody Fulkham. “So he probably came to save you from me and my machinations.”

She whirled to stare at him agape.

“The man who tried to abduct you was my servant. I planned the whole thing so I could step in to rescue you, and thus prove my . . . worth to you.”

A glint of amusement appeared in Fulkham’s eyes. “Actually, I was going to say that I’m here because I got word that the princess didn’t attend the ball after all, and because my meeting ended early, but—”

“Wait a minute,” Meriel interrupted. She fixed Quinn with a glittering gaze. “You’re telling me that you frightened me half out of my wits just to pretend to rescue me from abduction?”

Quinn cringed to hear it put like that. “Yes. You were never in any danger, love.”

“Don’t call me that!” She strode up to him, her face showing such betrayal that it filled him with self-loathing. “You don’t know the meaning of the word. You let me think that I had been the cause of your getting hurt, that I had put you in danger! And all because—”

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Fulkham muttered.

Sparing a glare for the man, Quinn reached for her hand, but she snatched it away. The motion ripped through his chest as effectively as any blade.

To cover his pain, he concentrated on the familiar motions of donning his waistcoat and coat. “I know it was a stupid idea. I regretted it from the moment I put it into motion.”

“Only because I stabbed you,” she said hotly.

“No.” He cast her a long, meaningful glance. “I wasn’t lying about that. The stabbing was a small price to pay for sharing what we . . .” Frustrated by Fulkham’s presence, he gritted his teeth. “I would let you stab me a thousand times if it would get you to forgive me for . . . deceiving you.”

Her lips quivered a little.

“That could be arranged,” Fulkham quipped. “The stabbings, I mean.”

“Stay out of this!” Quinn and Meriel cried in unison, making Fulkham blink.

Quinn could barely resist the urge to touch her. “When I realized how much you hate subterfuge, I wanted to kick myself. Especially since, as you can tell, I’m not very good at it.”

Her features hardened. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said acidly. “You’re certainly more accomplished at deception than I gave you credit for.” She flashed Fulkham a dark look. “And I’ve known plenty of men who are accomplished at that, trust me.”

“Now see here—” Fulkham began, clearly starting to take offense.

“Meriel,” Quinn broke in. “I did it for you. Because I thought you needed to see that I could take care of you every bit as well as Fulkham obviously has.” He released a shuddering breath. “But I misunderstood. What you needed to see was that I could give you what he cannot—honesty. So in my zeal to win you, I unwittingly proved the exact opposite. But if you’ll give me another chance—”

“I want you to leave,” she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

His gut twisted. “Please, darling.” He had nothing to lose now. And perhaps that had been the problem all along. He’d chosen a subterfuge because he was afraid to tell her the truth. “I love you.”

Tears glimmered in her eyes. “You certainly picked an . . . an awful time to discover that.”

“I’m not just now discovering it, damn it.” He shoved one hand through his hair. “I’ve known it for weeks. I was simply too afraid to tell you. Because being stabbed is a hell of a lot easier than baring my heart to the woman I love and risking that she doesn’t share my feelings.”

With his blood pounding, he reached up to caress her cheek. “Do you?”

She closed her eyes as if to shut him out, and it shredded his heart. Because that was an answer of sorts. “I see,” he managed to say, and dropped his hand. “It appears I’ve learned my lesson too late. So all I can do is fulfill your request that I leave.”

When she said nothing to make him stay, he headed for the door, the weight of her rejection so crushing his chest that he feared he’d never be able to breathe fully again.

“Give us a few minutes, Raines,” Fulkham surprised him by saying.

Quinn glanced back at the woman who stood mutely shutting him out, then met Fulkham’s gaze. “What’s the point? She’s made her desires clear.”

Then he walked out. Thanks to his stupid plan, he’d lost her for good. And he had no one to blame but himself.

The moment Quinn was out the door, Meriel wished she had called him back. She had let her temper get the best of her, and in doing so had lost the only man she’d ever really wanted to keep.

“Shall I fetch him back?” Gregory asked.

Lord, she’d forgotten Gregory was still here. That he’d witnessed her humiliation. “Why? So the two of you can plot more machinations, now that you’ve discovered you have that skill in common?”

Gregory gave a humorless laugh. “Raines and I have nothing in common. For one thing, he is clearly bloody awful at keeping a secret.”

Something she’d already realized. That’s what made her so angry—that she’d fallen for his silly ruse in the first place. That she’d been willing to tell herself whatever was necessary to keep believing that he truly was the wonderful, open book of a man she’d always thought him.

Instead of a person with flaws. Like her. “He kept our relationship secret from you for months,” she pointed out.

“He didn’t keep it secret. You did. And unlike him, you’re damned good at subterfuge, dear girl.” He walked over to pour himself some brandy. “Better than even I realized.”

The words gave her pause. How could she blame Quinn for keeping secrets when she’d been hiding her feelings from him, too? And even from herself. “You taught me well,” she said bitterly.

Gregory cast her a searching glance, then gestured to the settee. “Sit down. It’s time we talk about why you’re angry with me, and why that anger is spilling over onto Raines, who apparently wants to marry you so badly that he’d do an idiotic thing like engineer a fake kidnapping.” He grimaced. “An inept one, mind you. I would have handled it better.”

“No doubt,” she muttered.

That gained her a sharp look from him. “The point is, I would hate to see you lose someone important to you because you’re conflating his behavior with mine.” He softened his tone. “Or because you’re as afraid as he is to admit to being in love.”

Love?

Tears stung her eyes and she brushed them ruthlessly away. Yes, she did love the big, thickheaded, infuriating arse. That was why his deception hurt so deeply.

But she began to fear that losing him would hurt far worse. Somehow in all these months of sneaking about, she’d come to depend on him, to look forward to being with him. To want him for her own. And that desire wasn’t going to go away just because she was angry with him at the moment.

Which left her only one choice. She sighed. She’d have to tell him she loved him. She’d have to run after him and make things right between them. To forgive him.

But Gregory did have a point. Before she could do that, she and her benefactor needed to talk.

“I want a divorce,” she said baldly.

Gregory started. “From whom? You haven’t even married the chap yet.”

She cast him a sad smile. “From you. And your schemes and the spying and the foreign princesses . . . all of it.” When he just stared steadily at her, she went on before she lost her nerve. “It isn’t that I’m not grateful for all you’ve done for me. I truly am. I wouldn’t even have a life worth living if not for—”

“You owe me nothing, dear girl. Or if you did, you paid it back long ago. First, by marrying my foolish brother and attempting to rein him in when I could not. And second, by putting up with my unfair demands for so long.”

With a pained expression, he set his glass of brandy aside and came toward her. “I’ve been shamefully taking advantage of your gratitude. You should have married again long ago—I should have encouraged that. I suppose I just . . . didn’t want to lose the only tie to John that I have left.”

That broke her heart. “Oh, Gregory, you will never lose me, no matter whom I marry. I will always be your sister-in-law. But I can’t be your spy anymore. Not if I’m to have a chance at a regular life with Quinn.”

He eyed her uncertainly. “Is that what you truly want? A boring, normal life with a banker? Because if this is just about the spying, you can stop that anytime you wish. No reason for you to marry some dull fellow whose mother is no more a count’s daughter than I am a Russian prince.”

“He’s not dull, and— Wait, you knew about his mother?”

Gregory lifted his eyes heavenward. “Of course. I’m a bloody spymaster.”

“I wish you’d told me. All this time I’ve been thinking I wasn’t good enough for Quinn.”

Seizing her hands, he said fiercely, “That’s nonsense. You’re good enough for any man, Meriel. Don’t ever let him or anyone else tell you otherwise. He’d be lucky to have you.”

“I think he agrees with you on that point,” she said softly.

“He damned well better.” He eyed her closely. “So, do you love him?’

“Desperately, to be honest. And I think a boring, normal life with him sounds heavenly. But if I don’t leave now and catch up to him . . .”

“Go, my dear girl.” Gregory squeezed her hands before releasing them. “I give you my blessing. If you even want such a thing.”

She stretched up to kiss him on the cheek. “Of course I want it. And I hope that one day you find someone to love, too.”

As she hurried for the door, she heard him mutter, “Not bloody likely. That’s the last thing in the world I need.”

Hurrying out into the hall, she caught sight of Nunley. “Is Mr. Raines still here?”

“Afraid not, madam. He left as soon as he walked out of the parlor.”

She scowled. “Surely you weren’t able to call a hackney for him that quickly.”

“He didn’t want one. He wanted to walk. Said he needed to clear his head.”

Relief flooded her. At least she could catch up to him. “Do you know which way he went?”

“I did watch to see, yes,” Nunley said slyly. “He headed for Mayfair.”

“Then have Gregory’s gig brought around at once.”

Nunley hurried to do as she asked, and a few minutes later she was driving the gig, scouring the street for Quinn. It didn’t take her long to find him. He was walking slowly along, seemingly deep in thought.

She pulled up next to him. When Quinn didn’t even look up, she called out his name. He halted to glance over at her.

“Get in,” she said.

“I don’t think that’s wise,” he said, pain in every word.

Oh, Lord, she’d really hurt him. “Get in, or I’ll abduct you. And this will be a real abduction. I have a knife, you know.”

“The one I left lying on your steps?” he said dryly.

“I picked it up on my way out the door,” she lied.

“Damn it, Meriel—”

“You did say you would let me stab you a thousand times if it would get me to forgive you for deceiving me.”

He stared hard at her, then came closer. “So you’re planning to take me up on that, are you?”

Her heart was in her throat. “I’d prefer that you got in so I could say my piece in private.”

He glanced away, clearly distraught. “Meriel, I can’t go through this anymore, with your doubts and—”

“I want to marry you, Quinn.”

For a moment, his throat worked convulsively. Then his eyes hardened, and he cocked his head at her. “This isn’t some plot of Fulkham’s to gain a spy inside Raines Bank, is it?”

She supposed she couldn’t blame him for thinking that. “If it is, he didn’t tell me. And I wouldn’t go along with it anyway. I told him I’m done with spying forever.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Now, would you please get in this carriage before I really do have to abduct you?”

“I have a better idea.” Taking her by surprise, he hoisted her down from the gig, then kissed her fervently, making her toes curl and her body turn to mush. When he drew back, he murmured, “Say what you’re going to say. Right here, right now.”

She gazed up into his eyes. “I love you. I forgive you. What else do you need me to say to make you stay?”

The look that came over his face was full of love and tenderness. “That’s all I need,” he answered, and brushed a soft, tender kiss to her lips. “If you mean it.”

“I do.” She cupped his head in her hands. “I’ve been so afraid to let you in, to let my heart have free rein. But much as I hate to admit it, your pretend abduction made me realize that I would be lost without you.”

He broke into a grin. “Now that is a decidedly better answer than before.”

They kissed again, this time in an expression of love and, yes, hope for the future. When at last they broke apart, she teased, “I may abduct you anyway.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because I can think of no other way to have you to myself for the next few hours.”

“Darling,” he said, tugging her back into his arms, “all you have to do is ask.”