"But Marcus, people will expect you to announce your engagement to one of the young ladies who was brought out this Season. Not to your mistress, for heaven's sake. Even your own brother assumes that you are going to declare yourself for one of the eligible young women of the ton."

"I am going to betroth myself to a young lady who is having her first Season," Marcus said. "You."

"You are the most stubborn man I have ever met in my entire life."

"You may as well get used to it because I have no intention of changing."

Iphiginia stifled a groan of exasperation. "Let us get back to the matter at hand. I advise you not to take such a hard and inflexible stand with Bennet and Juliana. I fear that by doing so you will only drive them into each other's arms,

"I do not recall asking for your advice on the subject."

"Then why are we having this discussion?" "Damned if I know," he muttered. "It's none of your affair. Bennet is my brother and I will act as I see fit."

"Marcus, I comprehend what you are trying to do. You wish to protect him."

"What is wrong with that?"

"Nothing. I understand your desire. You raised him. I suspect that in many ways you are more of a father than a brother to him. I was in a similar position with my sister. In some ways I was almost a mother to her."

"I'm aware of that," he said quietly.

"You and I both became parents before we had a chance to become mature adults ourselves. And we feel protective toward our charges, as any parent would feel. But as much as we would like to guard them forever, we cannot do so."

"I can and will protect Bennet from Juliana Dorchester,"

"You are going about it in the wrong way."

"What do you suggest that I do?" Marcus growled. "Give my blessing to the marriage?"

"Yes."

"Never."

"Hear me out." Iphiginia leaned forward earnestly. "Tell your brother that you will give the marriage your blessing if he will agree to a reasonable period for the engagement."

"What do you call reasonable?" "Many young couples in the ton are betrothed for a year. Surely you can convince Bennet to go along with such a request. You can ask for six months at the very least."

"And what happens when the engagement period is finished?"

"A year is a long time, Marcus. So is six months, for that matter. If Juliana is the wrong woman for Bennet, there A he ample opportunity for him to discover that fact."

"Breaking an engagement is no light matter." "True, but it can he done and it is done. You can arrange for the thing to he handled quietly."

Marcus's expression darkened. "What if Juliana succeeds in compromising herself with Bennet before the year is ended?"

"You already face that risk. In fact, the threat is greater at this very moment because the pair will be feeling desperate. If Juliana does care for Bennet as much as he cares for her, they may see themselves as star-crossed lovers. They may decide to defy family and convention in order to he together."

"Bloody hell. What you are saying is true only if I am wrong about Juliana's feelings. But if I am right, the entire matter is finished. The Dorchesters, Juliana included, will decide that Bennet is no longer a suitable marriage prospect."

Iphiginia sighed. "My lord, I doubt that you are right in your assessment of the situation. You are a man of science, probably the most intelligent man I know, but you are blind when it comes to dealing with matters such as this. Love makes people do very desperate things."

He slid her an assessing, sidelong glance. "What makes you an expert?"

She refrained from pointing out that she was a living example of the desperate lengths to which love could drive a person.

"I watched my sister fall in love," Iphiginia said instead.

Marcus's gaze became even more intent. "With the man you had thought loved you?"

Iphiginia caught her breath. "You know about Richard Hampton?"

"Yes." Marcus looked out at the street. "You think you know everything, do you not, my lord?"

"It has been my experience that it is better to have all the information one needs before one makes a decision."

"Well, then, as you appear to be all-knowing, you do not need any further explanations from me concerning Richard, do you?"

Marcus met her eyes for an instant. Then his gaze slid back to the night-darkened streets. "Did you love him?"

"The answer would be meaningless to a man who does not believe in love."

"You're evading the question." "I'm merely adopting your own rule against providing the curious with explanations." Iphiginia paused. "But I will make a bargain with you, my lord."

"What bargain?" "I'll tell. you the answer to. your question if you wig agree to answer one of my questions."

"Very well," he pounced. "But you will answer my question first. Did you believe yourself to he in love with young squire Hampton?"

Iphiginia struggled for an honest response. Odd how hard it was to recall her emotions during those days when she had thought Richard might ask her to marry him. Her feelings for Richard had been so pallid and bland compared to her feelings for Marcus.

"I believed that I could have learned to love him," she said quietly.

"You believed that you could have learned to love him?" Marcus scoffed. "What rubbish."

"I do not think it's rubbish. I am a bluestocking at heart. A former schoolteacher. I believe in the powers of the intellect. I am convinced that where the right factors are present and where there is determination, goodwill, and a degree of intelligence, it is possible that one can learn to love."

"The poets would laugh to hear you talk of applying rational intelligence to love."

"You are not a poet, my lord. Why are you laughing?"

"The whole bloody subject is laughable." Marcus shot her a derisive look. "You said that the right factors must he present in order for one to learn to love. Were those factors present in Richard Hampton?"

"I believe so. Richard is a good man. A kind man. Strong, gentle, and constant. Yes, I could have learned to love him."

"He sounds like a damned paragon. Do you honestly think that you would have been happy with him?"

"Yes." "You would have been true to him?" She frowned. "Of course."

"Even if you had met someone else after the marriage? A man who turned your blood to molten fire? A man who made you comprehend the works of the poets? A man who tempted you' to touch the stars?"

"You mean, even if I had met you, Marcus?" He went very still in the-shadows.

Iphiginia smiled wryly. "It is highly unlikely that you and I would ever have encountered each other had I married Richard Hampton. But the answer to your question is yes. Even if I had met you, I would have been true to him. I may not care for rules, but I do possess a sense of honor."

"Passion is not always subject to the dictates of will, madam."

"I disagree. And I think, deep down, you do, too. We are intelligent human beings. Temptation and passion can most certainly he controlled if one is determined to do so.

To her surprise, Marcus smiled slightly at that. "You may he right. What does that say about you and me, Iphiginia? That we lack willpower?"

«No'» She unfurled her fan very slowly and then closed it. "It says that we are both free to indulge our passions and we have decided to do so. It is our prerogative, our right as unattached adults. If we were not free, honor would constrain us from giving in to temptation."

"Ah. I see. We happened to he free to allow ourselves to he tempted, so we were tempted. An interesting bit of logic."

"Perhaps we should return to the subject of your brother's passions, rather than our own. You cannot control Bennet's life, Marcus. Nor should you."

"Don't you think I know that? I don't want to control his life. I want to protect him."