Mariah was fortunate to find Ginny in her dressing room, brushing out her dresses as she unpacked them.

“Good morning, my lady,” she said with a curtsey. “Can I help you with something?”

Mariah let out the breath that had been trapped in her lungs since overhearing Peter and William’s conversation. “Yes, I need to change into a riding habit.”

“Right away, my lady.”

Mariah sank into the small chair in the dressing room while Ginny sorted through the jumble of her clothes, some already hung in their new places, some still in the trunk. If William refused to leave Starcross Castle, then Peter would have to continue acting outwardly cold to her. And after seeing how fierce he could look when he was in a temper, she wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Beyond that, what had William meant by saying Peter had been the death of Anne?

Of course, the answer to that was obvious, considering the way Anne had died. But surely that wasn’t Peter’s fault. Although, it did take two people to conceive a child.

“Is something the matter, my lady?” Ginny asked as she drew Mariah’s riding habit out of her traveling trunk. “If you don’t mind my asking,” she quickly added.

Mariah studied the young woman for a moment. At home, she would have shared her thoughts with Victoria, even though her sister was young and flighty. Ginny seemed older and wiser, and in spite of being Mariah’s maid, she could be a much-needed confident.

“What do you think of Lord William?” she asked, standing and starting to undo the buttons of her morning dress.

Ginny was silent, but her pinched look of disgust told Mariah everything she needed to know.

“That bad?”

Ginny’s cheeks pinked. “There are many things that I could tell you that I shouldn’t.”

Mariah smirked. “If I guessed, would you be able to nod?”

A flash of a grin pulled at Ginny’s lips, and she bobbed her head once.

“Is he disrespectful toward his uncle on a regular basis?” Mariah asked.

“That I can tell you openly, and the answer is yes.” Ginny paused, then added in a whisper. “Downstairs, we’re appalled by it.”

Mariah’s brow shot up as Ginny helped her to step out of her dress. “So the servants like Lord Peter, then?”

“Oh yes, my lady,” Ginny answered with genuine enthusiasm. “He’s kind, fair, and a wonderful man to work for.”

Mariah smiled at that. It confirmed everything that she thought she knew about him, but had begun to doubt at breakfast. “I rather like him myself,” she said.

Ginny smiled as she draped Mariah’s dress over the back of the chair and brought the riding habit to her. “I’m glad to hear it, my lady. We’ve all been wishing for Lord Dunsford to have a happy marriage, seeing as his last one….” She bit her lip, looking as though she’d gone too far.

“I know it wasn’t happy,” Mariah admitted, stepping into the skirt of her riding habit as Ginny held it for her.

The two of them were silent for a moment as Mariah dressed. “I’m under the impression that Lord William owes a lot of money.”

Ginny hummed, one of her brows arching.

Mariah was on the right track. “I take it those debts are owed to unsavory sorts.”

Ginny met Mariah’s questioning look with silent confirmation, then shifted behind her to do up the buttons of her bodice.

“Does Lord William interfere with the servants?” Mariah asked on. She’d heard horrible stories of maids who had been compromised by gentlemen, and how those maids had been forced into lives of prostitution, or worse, when the blame for that abuse fell on their shoulders.

Behind her, Ginny hummed in a way that confirmed Mariah’s suspicion and sent a chill down her spine.

Mariah glanced over her shoulder. “Has he attempted anything with you?”

“Once,” she answered with a firmness that brought a proud smile to Mariah’s face. Ginny had obviously stood up to the man.

“Does Peter know about Lord William’s behavior?” Mariah asked.

Ginny let out a breath then moved to stand in front of Mariah, glancing over her to make sure the riding habit was in order. “His lordship has done everything he can to stop Lord William, my lady, but we all know that he can’t toss the blackguard out on his ear, begging your pardon.”

“Because of Peter’s agreement with his brother,” Mariah said.

Ginny sighed. “I don’t think Lord Dunsford could possibly have known what he was getting into with that deal, but it’s too late now. And bless him, he’s had so many other things to worry about that Mrs. Wilson is loath to tell him about every offence his nephew commits.” As soon as the words were out, Ginny snapped her mouth shut and met Mariah’s eyes warily. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I’m glad you did.” Mariah reassured her. “Perhaps, in the future, Mrs. Wilson could come to me with these things.”

“That would be nice, my lady.” Ginny hesitated. “But if I were you, I would urge Lord Dunsford to keep Lord William under lock and key until he agrees to leave on his own accord.”

“I wonder if he could actually do that.” Mariah headed into her bedroom, but Ginny chased after her.

“Lock the blackguard up, my lady?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Ginny grinned. “If he doesn’t, downstairs, we all have bets that the law will someday.”

Mariah stopped, eyes going wide. “Is Lord William that much of a criminal?”

Ginny made a scoffing sound. “He has been seen keeping company with a rough sort at the pubs in Truro.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“Not me, my lady.” Ginny shook her head. “But Davy says he’s witnessed things that would make my hair curl. Although to be honest, I suspect young Davy says half the things he does in an attempt to impress the ladies.”

Mariah laughed. “Young men are all the same. It makes me glad I’ve married one who is past all that nonsense.” Although after the morning she’d had, she was beginning to think that nonsense never truly went away, it just changed forms.

“Lord Dunsford is a catch, my lady,” Ginny assured her. “And we’re all certain he’ll find a way to rid us of his nephew.”

“I certainly hope so,” Mariah said as they made their way to the hall. “Even so, I fear Starcross Castle won’t be completely safe until….” She let her words trail off and pressed a hand to her belly.

“Don’t worry, my lady.” Ginny grinned. “I’m sure that blessed day is right around the corner.”

Mariah wanted to hug her maid, but propriety stopped her. “Thank you, Ginny.”

Perhaps with friends like Ginny in her corner, there was hope for her new life being a smooth one after all.

Peter paced the courtyard in front of the stables, wondering what was taking Mariah so long. He’d never minded when Anne took hours to dress for the simplest things, but with Mariah, every moment they spent apart seemed too long. That, and the longer she was out of his sight, the greater the chance that William might find her and cause damage he couldn’t fix.

His conversation with William continued to irritate him. Try as Peter did to measure his responses to William’s manipulative tactics, his nephew had hit the sorest spot possible by suggesting he had put his own pleasure ahead of Anne’s wellbeing. Not because mating with Anne had been pleasurable. Exactly the opposite. But he could have tried harder to stop her. And now here he was, hanging his hopes on having a child with Mariah. But at what cost to her? If he truly cared about her, he would send her away until he could figure out how to neutralize William. And William knew it. Peter had left their conversation with the feeling that William was about to try something outlandish to get what he wanted.

“My lord.” Harry, the head stableman, cleared his throat. “Perhaps you’d like me to saddle one of the horses with a calmer temperament than Charger?”

Peter shook himself out of his dark thoughts and turned to Harry with a puzzled frown. “Why? Is something wrong with Charger?” He glanced to his tall, black steed. Charger was perhaps his favorite of every horse he’d ever owned, and he was currently pawing at the cobblestones as if ready to run.

Harry cleared his throat again. “Only, my lord, you know how he tends to feel the mood of whoever’s riding him.”

Peter loosened his shoulders as Harry’s observation hit him. The black mood that William had left him with was that obvious. He scolded himself, walking over to Charger and stroking his nose. “I’m sorry, old boy. Too much to think about these days.”

Charger blew out a breath and bobbed his head, as if telling Peter to come to his senses or else. Peter couldn’t help but grin.

“There’s a reason I like you best,” he murmured to the horse, patting his neck.

The door to the house opened, and Mariah entered the courtyard dressed in a fashionable, grey riding habit. Even at a distance, she was beautiful.

“Except her,” he said to Charger. “I like her best of all.”

Beside him, Harry hid a wide grin by coughing into his hand. Peter raised an eyebrow at the man, then headed across the courtyard to meet Mariah.

“You made it,” he said, reaching for her, but pulling back. He glanced at the windows of the house that faced the courtyard, anxious over whether William was spying on him from above. It was a paranoia that he had to get rid of as soon as possible.

“I wouldn’t have been able to find my way without Mr. Snyder’s help,” she said, smiling at the butler.

“Thank you, Snyder.” Peter nodded at him. Snyder bowed in return, then headed back into the house. Peter offered his arm to Mariah, and was relieved when she took it. If he had his way, the rest of the world would disappear, leaving them to enjoy each other’s company worry-free. “This is Harry, our stableman.” He walked Mariah over to where Harry was bringing a gray mare out of the stable.

“How do you do?” Mariah greeted the man.

“Very well, my lady.” Harry bowed in return. “I’ve got Lady Jane saddled and ready for you.”

Mariah smiled at both Harry and the mare. Peter stood back and watched as Harry helped her to mount. She seemed to know what she was doing, which was a blessing. He liked to ride, though he had little time for it. But if it were a pastime that Mariah enjoyed, maybe he’d do more of it. Once she was secure in her sidesaddle, he strode over to Charger and mounted in one, swift movement.

“Oh my.” Mariah’s eyes were wide and her cheeks were pink when he wheeled Charger around to face her.

“Is there a problem?” Peter asked, using his legs to guide Charger closer to her as he settled in his seat.

Mariah raked him with a glance, her eyes sparkling. “I didn’t realize you were such an accomplished horseman.”

Peter grinned, trying not to feel too full of himself. All things considered, after the morning they’d had, it was impossible not to gloat at being noticed for physical prowess. “I was an officer in the army,” he reminded her, nudging Charger into a walk and making sure Mariah kept up by his side. He headed to the gate that led out of the courtyard and into the castle’s front garden. “Horsemanship was a necessity.”

“It looks like you’ve stayed in practice,” she said, her smile growing.

Peter chuckled, turning down a path that would lead them around the immediate property of the castle. The farther they got from the castle and any possibility of William’s prying eyes, the easier he felt. “I may be a scholar by nature, but I’m a soldier by training.”

“And is horsemanship the only military skill you’ve maintained?” Mariah asked. She too seemed easier as they rode.

“No, I have a few other martial skills up my sleeves,” he said.

“Like what?”

His grin turned downright wicked. “You’ll have to wait until the time is right, then I’ll show you.”

The way she laughed and sent him a sultry look made him wish they were miles away from everything. “I suppose that explains a few things,” she said.

“Such as?”

Her lips twitched in a coy smile. “Such as how a desiccated mummy can have such a powerful physique.”

It was as perfect a compliment as he’d ever received, and it made the effort he’d put into staying healthy worth it. But Mariah’s admiring gaze was captured by something else entirely as they turned a corner, rode out from behind one of the hedge-lined gardens and onto an open lawn. The castle loomed to one side in all its sunlit glory.

“It really is a castle,” Mariah gasped, her eyes wide.

She pulled Lady Jane to a halt, and Peter stopped beside her. He’d grown up in Starcross Castle, but it wasn’t hard to imagine what the first sight of the place could do to people. It had been too dark for Mariah to see it properly when they arrived the day before, but now there it was, the original keep with its crenelated towers, the Georgian extension that blended so well with the rest of it, and the modern wing that made it look like something out of a storybook. It was magnificent, if he did say so himself.

“Behold, my lady. Your castle.”

Mariah swallowed, and her dazzled smile became overwhelmed. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be mistress of all this.”

“Of course you are,” he said, nudging Charger to walk on and Lady Jane to follow. “Your father assures me you are not only competent, but that you need something to keep you occupied and useful.”

Mariah shook herself out of her trance and laughed. “Dear Papa. He’s right about that.” She sent him a fetching grin.

Peter was surprised at how quickly the world set itself to right without the threat of William looming over him. He took Mariah around the castle itself, then picked up their pace to venture farther afield, toward the mines and some of the tenant villages. Charger was in a mood to gallop, so he let him, only to find Mariah doing an admirable job of keeping up. It was enough to make him consider taking her somewhere other than Starcross Castle for their honeymoon period after all.

And yet, there was so much to do in Cornwall.

“Is this the mine?” Mariah asked as they rounded the crest of a hill and looked down to a valley that was built up with purposeful, stone buildings.

“One of them,” Peter answered. “This is Carleen.”

She blinked at him. “You have more than one mine?”

A twist of pride filled him. “Yes, the estate has had quite a few mines over the years. This area of Cornwall is rich in ore.”

She continued to look as though pieces were falling into place in her mind. “But that must mean…that must mean that you have quite a bit of money.”

“We have more than enough to suit our needs,” he told her, downplaying the extent of his wealth. Riches had never mattered to him apart from what they could do for those who depended on him. He’d been more concerned about who he would leave them to than enjoying them himself.

Mariah frowned. “If you have so much money, why not pay off William’s debts so that he’ll go away?”

The cheer that Peter had been feeling flattened. Charger danced sideways at his change in mood, which gave Peter the blessed seconds he needed to gather his thoughts. “I have paid off some of them, but for men like William, all the money in the world still wouldn’t be enough,” he said, meeting and holding Mariah’s gaze. “I’ve seen men my age take a prosperous estate that is hundreds of years old and squander every last farthing. Money is challenging to earn, but far too easy to waste.”

Mariah hummed in agreement and nodded. “I think I know what you mean. Like the man in Parliament who my father is always butting heads with, Mr. Turpin. Papa says he squandered a large fortune on cards and horses.”

“And bad investments,” Peter added. He hoped Edmund had been wise enough not to tell someone as innocent as Mariah how else Turpin had lost everything he’d inherited. To explain would mean talking about Theodore Shayles, and no one as pure and innocent as Mariah should know anything about Shayles and his world. “Which is why I refuse to give William the money he says he needs.”

“Because it would be opening the floodgates,” Mariah said.

Peter nodded. “I’m glad you understand and that you don’t think I’m some sort of horrible, old skinflint.”

A grin tweaked the corner of Mariah’s mouth. “I think we’ve established that you’re not as old as others seem to think you are.”

He laughed, wishing they were closer to home and his bedroom.

Mariah grew more serious. “And I think I understand what you mean about William. Would it hurt you if I were to say I don’t like him?”

Strangely enough, it did fill Peter with a sense of disappointment. Not because Mariah didn’t give her approval, but because he hadn’t been able to make William into someone likable. He shook his head. “I only regret that I didn’t have time to explain the situation more fully or to prepare before he descended on Starcross Castle. Believe me when I say I didn’t think he’d be here to greet you.”

“I believe you.” Mariah sent him a smile that was far kinder than he deserved. “And anyhow, I’m not sure any amount of time would have prepared me for William.” Before he could reply, she went on with, “Why don’t you show me your mine so that I can get an idea of where our wealth and opulence comes from?”

She was back to flirting, for which Peter was grateful. “Right this way, my lady,” he said, nudging Charger to start down into the valley. He could forget about the looming problem of William for a moment. The way things were, with William stubbornly refusing to leave, the best he could do was to spend as much time with Mariah in his sight as possible.

* * *

The back room of the County Arms in Truro wasn’t crowded in the middle of the afternoon, which was just what William needed. Most of the regulars wouldn’t arrive at the inn and its pub until after dark, meaning no one who counted would see him slip into the smoky room to sit at one of its three small tables with two strangers.

“Do you have the money?” the shorter of the two men asked.

“Now, now, Poole.” William’s casual smile hid the panicked drumming of his heart against his ribs. “I told you these things take time.”

“Shayles doesn’t have time,” the other man, taller with reddish hair, growled.

“Robinson.” William shook his head and clucked his tongue. “Lord Shayles has faith in me, and so should you.”

“Shayles’s faith has its limits,” Poole went on. “He wants his money.”

“I’m still the heir to the Dunsford title and fortune,” William reminded them with feigned casualness.

“Not for long,” Robinson snarled.

William shook his head, leaning forward, elbows on the table. “Listen. You tell Lord Shayles that he has nothing to worry about. The chit my uncle married is as weak as milk toast. There isn’t enough of a spark between the two of them to light a match.” Although, after what he’d witnessed in Peter’s study, he wasn’t as confident of that as he’d been upon first meeting his new aunt. He was risking everything on the bet that the new wife was just for show and that his uncle was well past breeding. “Even if there was,” he went on with a shrug, “I’ve got my contingency plan primed and ready to go.”

Poole and Robinson exchanged flat looks. “You mean the nonsense in your father’s will about you getting half the estate if your uncle gives you the boot?”

William swallowed hard, shifting in his chair as though it were covered with tacks, pointy side up. “You know about that?”

“Shayles knows about it, and that’s all that matters,” Robinson said.

Poole leaned across the table in imitation of William’s posture. “Shayles doesn’t put much stock in your so-called contingency plan. He wanted us to tell you that your uncle has ten times the backbone you have.”

“Lord Shayles is wrong,” William snapped.

Poole and Robinson laughed as though William had shared a bawdy joke. Poole shook his head. “Look. It’s simple. Shayles wants his money back, and he doesn’t care how you get it. You can try to get Dunsford to kick you out, but the boss won’t wait forever.”

“What do you mean?” William asked, squirming even harder.

“Shayles wants to be paid in full by June first.”

“June first? He said I had all summer.”

“June first,” Poole repeated.

“That’s less than a fortnight away.” Panic squeezed at William’s throat, turning his stomach and his blood to ice.

Robinson shrugged as though he didn’t care. Poole shook his head. “It didn’t take you more than a fortnight to spend five hundred thousand pounds, so it stands to reason that it shouldn’t take you that long to raise it, right?”

William wanted to argue that it’d taken him years to sink five hundred thousand pounds into the hole, but his protest would have fallen on deaf ears. “What if I get my uncle to declare me his heir regardless of any child this new wife of his might have?”

Poole and Robinson snorted and rolled their eyes.

“What earl in his right mind would declare someone other than his own son to be his heir?” Robinson said. “Even if the law would let him.”

“All right, what if I have him declare me heir until whatever phantom child of his comes of age?” William scrambled for another way out. “My uncle is ancient already. Even if he does have a son—which is doubtful, given that he couldn’t get his seed to grow in Anne’s garden for twenty years—Uncle is sure to die years before the brat comes of age.”

“Shayles wants his money now,” Poole insisted, growing visibly impatient.

“And…and what if I can’t get it?” Sweat dripped down William’s back and began to bead on his brow.

“Your money or your life,” Poole said with a smile. Robinson underscored the point by leaning back in his chair, brushing his coat aside, and revealing a shiny revolver in his belt.

“This isn’t the Wild West of America,” William said with a snort, hoping he came off as dismissive and not ready to soil himself.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Poole went on. “Shayles wants his money. If he can’t get it, he’ll use you to send a message to others who try to default on their loans.”

William swallowed the rush of bile in his throat. Words failed him. All he could do was stare at the gun. Damn Peter for marrying that young bitch. Damn him for not accepting the way things should have been. If he thought he could get away with cutting him out of the inheritance that was rightfully his, he had another thing coming.

“June first?” William repeated, forcing himself to look calm, even though he raged and quailed in equal measure on the inside.

“June first.” Poole nodded. “Or else.”

“Not a problem.” William knocked on the table and stood. “Shayles will have proof that my uncle still considers me his heir or a note from his solicitor stating that he has defaulted on the terms of my father’s will by throwing me out by the end of the month.”

“You really think you can get your uncle to turn on you now when he hasn’t after all these years?” Robinson asked.

William grinned. “He hasn’t exposed his flank as egregiously in all these years. The old cheat might think he’s thwarted me by taking a young wife, but all its done is shown me how to strike him where it hurts. And I intend to strike hard.”