She inhaled and looked up frankly. “I loathe it.”

He nodded. “I have a copy of Thucydides somewhere about. Would you like to borrow it?”

“I don’t…” She paused and looked at him. She should decline his offer. Becoming any more involved with Reading than she already was was a sure way to disaster. And he’d sensed her thoughts—his face was already closing in preparation for her dismissal.

“Yes. Please,” she said before she could think any more.

A wide smile lit his face. “Very well.”

The carriage halted and Reading glanced out the window. “Here we are.”

He helped her out, and Hero saw they were in front of a neat, but by no means wealthy, town house. Reading knocked on the door.

“It’s awfully early to be calling,” Hero hissed.

“Don’t worry. He’s expecting us.”

And indeed the door opened to reveal a young man in a somber brown wig and round spectacles.

“My lord!” he cried with an infectious grin. “It’s so good to see you.”

“And you, Jonathan.” Lord Griffin squeezed the other man’s hand. “Lady Hero, this is my friend Mr. Templeton. Jonathan, Lady Hero.”

“Good God!” Mr. Templeton exclaimed, losing his smile. “I had no idea Lord Griffin meant to bring a lady of your rank, my lady. I mean, that is, it’s a pleasure to meet you, my lady.”

Hero nodded to Mr. Templeton, conscious that her position in society had once again put a damper on things. She sighed silently.

Mr. Templeton glanced about dazedly and then gestured inside. “Won’t you come in?”

She smiled at him, trying to put him at ease. “Thank you.”

They were shown into a small sitting room, sparsely furnished but meticulously clean.

“I’ve called for some tea,” Mr. Templeton said. “I hope that meets with your approval, my lady.”

“That sounds lovely.” She chose a straight-backed chair while Reading wandered over to a single bookcase to peruse the shelves.

Mr. Templeton glanced uneasily at his friend. “Lord Griffin said that you wished to consult with me about a project?”

“Yes.” Hero folded her hands on her lap and explained about the Home for Unfortunate Infants and Foundling Children, the plans to build a new orphanage, and the problems they were having. By the time she’d finished her recitation, the tea had arrived and Reading had wandered back from the bookcase.

“What do you think, Jonathan?” he asked as he accepted a cup of tea from Hero. “This architect they’ve hired sounds like a bad ’un.”

Mr. Templeton shoved his spectacles up his forehead and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Much as I hate to malign a fellow architect, the fact is I’ve heard of this person.” He looked apologetically at Hero. “It’s rumored he’s fled the country because of his debts.”

Hero drew in her breath. If their architect truly had absconded, then they’d lost the monies that she and Lady Caire had already paid for the new home. She had more of her inheritance, but it came in the form of an annual income, of which she’d already withdrawn this year’s amount. Where was she to find more money?

“Can you do anything for Lady Hero, Jonathan?” Reading asked.

“Yes, yes, of course I can.” Mr. Templeton put down his teacup. “I can look over the plans your architect had drawn up and see what work needs to be done on the building. I can, in fact, with your approval, take over the project.”

“That would be wonderful, Mr. Templeton,” Hero said. “But I must be frank. With my copatroness out of the country, my funds are limited. I can pay you an amount right now, but the rest of your wages will have to wait until I can find more funds.”

Mr. Templeton nodded. “Thank you for your frankness, my lady. I do appreciate it. Shall we say that I’ll begin the work and when I need further funds, I shall inform you?”

“Yes, that sounds like a good plan.” It would certainly give her some time in which to come up with the “further funds.” Hero stood. “I shall have the plans we have sent around to your house here, along with the directions to the home. Thank you, Mr. Templeton.”

He rose hastily to his feet, bowing. “It’s my pleasure, my lady.”

He showed them both to the door, where Lord Griffin bid farewell to Mr. Templeton before helping Hero into the carriage.

“Where will you find more money for your home?” Reading asked.

“I don’t know at the moment.”

“Would you consider a small loan?”

She looked at him, startled. “You know I can’t accept money from you.”

“Why not?” he asked softly. “I wouldn’t tell anyone. It would be a small transaction just between you and me. You could pay me back when you are able.”

Her mouth opened silently. He would have her in his power if he made a loan to her… but that wasn’t what made her curious. “Why are you making this offer to me?”

He blinked. “Do you have an objection to my money?”

“You don’t know me well. I don’t even think you like me.” She opened her hands in her lap. “For what purpose are you making this offer? I don’t understand.”

He tilted his head back, staring at her. “I think it perfectly obvious. I have the money and you need it.”

“Do you make such offers to every lady who needs money?” She began to blush the moment the words left her mouth as she realized the possible double meaning, but she held his gaze defiantly. Would he take the easy way? Turn this into a joke?

But he didn’t. He looked irritated now, but he answered her nonetheless. “No, of course not.”

She simply looked at him.

He leaned forward suddenly, his elbows on his knees. “Money is the one thing I’m good at. You can trust me completely in this matter. I don’t cheat. I don’t steal. When it comes to financial dealings, you can rely on me.”

He said it almost like a confession, and she was strangely touched, as if he’d shared something deeply personal with her.

Yet she’d only known this man for less than forty-eight hours. Years of practicality held her back. “I do appreciate your kind offer,” she said carefully, “but I think I must decline it for now.”

He nodded as if he’d expected her answer and sat back. “My offer is still open should you change your mind.”

She suddenly felt lighter, even though she’d refused his money. He was on her side. She wasn’t working alone anymore. “I haven’t thanked you, have I?”

He shook his head, a smile playing about his mouth.

She inhaled, fighting down her own silly smile. “Well, I do thank you. Mr. Templeton seems like a competent architect and, perhaps more importantly, an honest one. I would never have found him without your introduction.”

He shrugged. “I’m glad to be of service.”

“There is one question I have for you, though.”

“Only one?”

“Why were you in St. Giles yesterday morning?”

If she expected confusion or denials of wrongdoing, that wasn’t what she got. Reading grinned and knocked on the ceiling of the carriage to signal the driver to stop.

“I was in St. Giles on business,” he said as the carriage halted. He opened the door and looked back at her over his shoulder. “Wicked, wicked business.”

He jumped down and tipped his hat to her. “Good morning to you, my Lady Perfect.”

He slammed the door and the carriage started forward.

Hero sat back against the squabs, whispering, “And good day to you, my Lord Shameless.”

Chapter Five

Well, this was quite the problem as you can imagine! For Queen Ravenhair trusted—and distrusted—her advisors, ministers, and men of letters all equally. How to choose which of the three princes would make the perfect husband? After puzzling on the problem for several days, the queen mounted her mare and announced to a gathered throng of her subjects that she had come to a decision. She would invite all three gentlemen to her castle and there hold a series of trials to discover her perfect consort and the man she would wed. All the court cheered.

But the stable master, standing by the head of the mare, was silent….

—from Queen Ravenhair

The first thing Griffin noticed as he entered Mandeville House that night was the multitude of candles. That and the two footmen and the butler who rushed to take his hat signaled that Mater had decided to turn a simple family dinner into an Event.

Griffin sighed.

Dinner with his family was wearisome enough without the extra frills.

“My lady has already sat down,” the butler said, his tone managing to sound both obsequious and disapproving at the same time.

“Of course she has,” Griffin muttered. It wasn’t enough that he’d have to endure a formal dinner with Thomas and his perfect fiancée—he must be late as well.

He stifled a yawn as he followed the butler up the stairs to the dining room. The few hours of sleep he’d been able to catch between leaving Lady Hero in her carriage and waking belatedly to dress for dinner didn’t seem nearly enough.

“Lord Griffin Reading,” the butler announced as if everyone in the room didn’t know him already.

“You’re late,” Caroline, the elder of his two sisters, said. Caro had always enjoyed stating the obvious. She was considered a beauty by most, but Griffin privately thought that ill humor overrode any amount of glossy dark locks and large brown eyes. “Where have you been?”

“In bed,” Griffin said succinctly as he made his way down the room to his mother. He stopped to touch the cheek of Margaret, his younger sister. “Been well, Megs?”

“Oh, Griffin!” she said. “I have missed you.”

She smiled up at him, her round cheeks rosy. Megs was the youngest of the family at two and twenty and Griffin’s personal favorite.

He grinned and continued to the foot of the table. There were seven at the long table: Thomas at one end with Lady Hero to his right and Caro on his left; Mater was at the other end with Wakefield on one side and Lord Huff, Caro’s husband, on the other. Megs was between Caro and Wakefield. Which left the last empty chair standing between Huff and Lady Hero. She was wearing a sort of misty green tonight that made her red hair blaze like flame in the candlelight.

Griffin bent and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Good evening, Mater.”

“You needn’t boast of your debauchery,” Caro sniffed.

Griffin raised his eyebrows. “It’s only boasting if I tell who was abed with me.”

“Please refrain for all our sakes,” Caro said.

Griffin met Mater’s gaze, which was part amused, part exasperated.

“You shouldn’t tease your sister,” she murmured.

“But it’s so easy,” he whispered back before straightening and moving to take his seat.

“You’ve missed the fish,” Huff said.

His brother-in-law was a short, burly man. Caro had inherited the Mandeville height and stood several inches taller than her husband—a fact that mortified her to no end but that Huff didn’t seem to notice at all. Actually, Huff didn’t seem to notice much of what his wife did. Nevertheless, he was fond of Caro in an absentminded sort of way, and Caro was quite happy with her match since Huff was one of the richest men in England.

“Was it any good?” Griffin murmured back.

“Cod,” Huff said somewhat obscurely.

“Ah.” Griffin took a sip of the red wine that had just been placed before him. The social niceties out of the way with his brother-in-law, he really had no choice but to turn to Lady Hero. “I hope you are well, my lady?”