Iphiginia debated whether to inform him that none of his statues were in the true antique mode as far as she could see. She tried to study some of the nearby figures with an objective eye.

It was not an easy task. The faintly glowing lamps revealed a room full of stone and marble statues that appeared to have only one thing in common. They were all images of men and women posed in astonishingly intimate and exceedingly odd positions.

A buxom female crouched on — her hands and knees, her buttocks arched high. The male figure positioned behind her gripped her hips as he thrust into her.,

"That one is called Unbridled Passion," Lartmore murmured. "One of my favorites."

"Indeed." Iphiginia could not think of anything else to say.

"Over there is A Taste of Delight." Iphiginia gazed at the figure of a woman seated on a rock. A man crouched between her widely spread knees. His face was buried between plump stone thighs.

"I see." "And this one I call The Elixir of Life." Lartmore touched a stone leg and smiled at Iphiginia.

I She frowned as she studied the figures. At first Iphiginia thought the female was praying. She blushed furiously when she saw that in actuality the nude had a very long length of marble manhood in her mouth.

"Good heavens," Iphiginia whispered. "I am especially fond of my newest acquisitions." Lartmore led the way toward the far end of the hall to where a series of sculptures had been arranged. He beamed with pride. "I should dearly love to have your opinion on them, Mrs. Bright. Everyone knows that you are an expert in these things."

Iphiginia's initial reaction to the series of statues was relief. The first few pieces appeared to be much more decorous than the others. These figures were at least clothed.

Relaxing slightly, Iphiginia took a step closer to get a better look at the shadowed statues. In the first of the series a young woman wearing a prim gown sat on a stone bench. A properly attired man sat beside her. They appeared to be conversing politely.

Then Iphiginia noticed that the man's hand was on the woman's leg beneath her skirts.

"What do you call this?" Iphiginia asked uneasily. "The entire series is caged The Breaching of the Virgin's Maidenhead. You will notice that with each succeeding statue in the collection the figures become increasingly more intimate until, in the last one, the deed is done. Amusing, is it not?"

Iphiginia cast him a sidelong glance. She noticed that the expression in Lartmore's colorless eyes had become a hard gleam. A sheen of sweat had appeared on his balding skull. Even as she watched, he edged closer to her. His cadaverously thin body was touching her white skirts.

It was definitely time to return to the ballroom. As much as she hated to admit it, Marcus had been right. Clearly it had been a mistake to come in here. There had to he another way to get into Lartmore's library tonight.

Iphiginia cleared her throat authoritatively. "As you have asked for my opinion on your statuary, my lord, I fear I must tell you that these examples are extremely poor imitations of the antique mode."

"My dear Mrs. Bright, how can you say that?" Lartmore looked grievously wounded.

"To be perfectly blunt, the style is not at all in the manner of the ancients. I see no indications of either Roman, Grecian, or Etruscan motifs in any of these statues."

"But, Mrs. Bright, surely you are mistaken." "No, sir, I am not mistaken. I assure you, I have examined a great deal of genuine antique statuary and none of it bore any resemblance to these pieces."

Lartmore put a hand to his chest in a gesture of anguish. "I am crushed." He took a step closer to Iphiginia.

III trust you did not pay a great deal for any of these statues." Iphiginia sidestepped deftly and moved quickly around Lartmore. "If you did, you were fleeced."

"Mrs. Bright, allow me to show you the rest of my collections Lartmore put out a long-fingered hand to detain her.

"Unfortunately, I do not have the time to linger." Iphiginia managed to avoid his groping hand with a quick move to one side.

"But I insist." Lartmore lunged, claws outstretched to seize her.

Iphiginia picked up her skirts and fled. She nipped around the stone figure of the man braced on his knees behind the crouching female, sprinted past a man and woman engaged in sexual congress on top of a pedestal, and plowed straight into a very large, very immovable object that loomed in her path.

This male figure was definitely not made out of stone, but it was as unyielding as any of the sculptures in the hall.

"Marcus." Her reaction was instantaneous and instinctive. She smiled brilliantly as she staggered and clutched at his arm to catch her balance. "I cannot tell you how very happy I am to see you, my lord."

"I've been searching for you, Mrs. Bright." But Marcus did not look at her. His eyes were on Lartmore. "I was under the impression that we had arranged to meet at the Richardsons ."

"Yes, well, I planned to go there immediately after I left here, sir." Iphiginia checked her hair to see if the white roses were still in place. "Lord Lartmore kindly offered to show me his statuary hall, so I was somewhat delayed."

"I see. How unfortunate." Iphiginia winced at the unmistakable menace in his voice. She hurried to defuse what was clearly about to become a very awkward situation. "Well, then, as you are here and I am ready to leave, I do not see why we should not be off."

"In a moment," Marcus said absently. "There are one or two matters that should be clarified first."

Lartmore rushed to his own defense. "Masters, I assure you, there was nothing objectionable about this little tour of my gallery of statues. I sought Mrs. Bright's intellectual opinion on my collection. Nothing more."

"Nothing more?" Masters repeated ominously. "Absolutely not." Pinned by Marcus's cold eyes, Lartmore appeared to grow thinner and even more cadaverous. He stuck one bony finger beneath his cravat and tried to loosen the heavily starched fabric. "We were just finishing the tour, Masters. I was about to escort Mrs. Bright back to the ballroom."

"There will he no more such tours," Marcus said. "No, no, of course not." Lartmore cast a desperate glance at Iphiginia.

"I have given Lord Lartmore my opinion of his statuary collection," Iphiginia said coolly. "I'm afraid I found it all of rather poor quality. Completely lacking in true antique sensibilities."

"Fascinating," Marcus said very gently. "I believe I had already warned you that it was not of the best quality and would he of little interest to you."

"Ah, yes." Iphiginia rallied quickly. "Yes, you did, my lord, but I am the sort of person who prefers to form her own conclusions."

"Perhaps it would be wise if you learned to take sound advice when it is offered."

Iphiginia scowled but decided not to say anything. Something told her this was not the best time to inform him that she rarely took other people's advice these days. She'd been obliged to endure far too much of that commodity back in Deepford.

"if you Will excuse Me." Lartmore slithered between two copulating statues and headed for the door. "I must get back to my guests."

Iphiginia glowered at the retreating Lartmore. When he had vanished like a wraith, she swung around to confront Marcus.

"I do not recall that your advice was offered, precisely, my lord. I believe it was put a bit more strongly. Some would say that your so-called advice was more in the nature of an extremely autocratic command."

Marcus took a single step closer. His face was ruthless in the shadowy lamplight. "It was your choice to go about London disguised as my paramour, was it not?"

Iphiginia blinked and took a wary step back. "Well, yes, initially I suppose one could say it was my idea. However