‘Am I so much of an idiot?’ she muttered, her eyes on the twirling couples below. ‘To refuse an earl. Really?’

With a sigh, she leaned against the wall and reveled in the relative cool. From where she stood, she could just glimpse the ballroom below and the dancing couples whirling around the floor. Near the wall, those who were not dancing clustered together, the ladies fanning themselves briskly, the gentlemen looking quite warm, for the heat was considerable. The music was quite loud here for she was no more than thirty feet from the orchestra but it was still nice to be by oneself for a moment. With a sigh, Audrey closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax.

‘Well, well, Miss Hathaway. What a curious place to find a young lady alone. It makes me wonder… what are you up to?’ The voice was a lazy drawl that sounded as if it had been dipped in dark velvet.

Audrey’s eyes flew open. Turning her head, she saw a tall figure standing several feet from the opening of the alcove. Kirkwood! ‘What are you doing here?’ The words burst out of her, sounding very much like an accusation. They were, in fact, an accusation for there was no reason for the man to be there, unless he had followed her. The idea sent a frisson of mingled alarm and anticipation through her. But why anticipation? she thought in some confusion.

An eyebrow went up at her peremptory tone. ‘Why should I not be here?’ he inquired. ‘You are.’

‘You followed me!’

‘I did,’ he admitted. ‘I wished to see where you were disappearing to so mysteriously. I suspected a lovers’ tryst but I cannot believe my dear brother would have the courage to meet any female without the sanction of a chaperone. It made me curious as to whom you are meeting.’

‘Nobody,’ she said crossly, glaring at him. How dare he follow her here! She was disturbed that somebody had seen her slip up the stairs, but she was particularly horrified that it should be this man. ‘I wished to have some time alone.’ She tried to emphasize the last word a little, hoping that he would take the hint.

Unsurprisingly, he did not. ‘Time alone? Surely not. Young females come to these ghastly affairs to be seen by as many people as possible. No, I really do think that you have come here to enjoy a tryst. If I were a gentleman I would naturally take myself off, but under the circumstances I am not inclined to. I have heard that Allingham is interested enough to make an offer. We can’t have him being cuckolded before the wedding, now can we? Time enough for that after the event.’

Audrey gasped. ‘Sir, you insult me!’

‘If you are playing my brother false then I believe I have good reason to insult you,’ he returned and she noticed the hint of steel beneath the lazy voice. ‘Believe me when I say that I find families to be unbearably tedious much of the time but I find I have a certain obligation towards mine, even if they don’t acknowledge me. If you are not serious about Allingham, I would know it now so that I can put a stop to this business.’

She gaped at him a little. Good heavens, did he really think she was playing his brother false? It was, in its own way, admirable, she supposed but at the same time she could not help but be both embarrassed and incensed. ‘I am sure that your feelings for your brother do you credit but you are quite wrong. I am not meeting anybody here. As I said, I merely wished to have some time by myself. There are a great many people here tonight and it is very warm. And now, if you will excuse me -’

She took a step forward, intending to move past him but his next words stopped her. ‘Do you care for my brother, Miss Hathaway? Do you intend to marry him?’

She looked up into his face, frowning at this. It was dim up here; the backwash of light from the candles below and those supplied for the musicians the only illumination. Even so, she tried to read his expression, difficult enough, she guessed, in full light for he seemed a peculiarly inscrutable man. She had not been expecting the question. Indeed, it was not a question any stranger would ask and she was taken aback.

‘Really, Sir,’ she said, trying to infuse as much disapproval in her voice as possible. ‘I hardly think that is any of your affair.’

‘We are talking about my family, Miss Hathaway. If I do not have the right to ask your intentions, who does?’

‘My intentions?’ Audrey blinked. He rather had her there, for Kirkwood was his brother. ‘I’m sorry but I do not feel I am in a position to respond. Your brother has not made me an offer so it is entirely hypothetical. And now… if you will excuse me…’

‘Do you know, I don’t think I will? Don’t run away yet.’ He moved towards her a little. Audrey suddenly felt very small and extremely vulnerable for he towered over her. ‘It is irrelevant whether he has asked you or not. We both know he will. What I want to know is if you intend to marry my brother.’

‘Do you care for him so much, then?’ she asked, rather breathlessly. ‘So much that you feel you have the right to challenge his choice of a bride?’ Or the unfortunate bride herself…

Her eyes had grown used to the dim light by now and it struck her once again that the man was exceptionally good-looking. Allingham had the fresh, open countenance of a young man who enjoyed all the healthy pastimes available to him; riding, hunting, sparring at Boucher’s, a fondness for the outdoor life that showed. His brother, on the other hand, had the kind of looks that suggested he enjoyed some of the less commendable pastimes but he had yet to go to seed; in fact, those dark looks were still quite devastating. Audrey wondered if he really was a rake, as her sister had suggested. She had never met a proper rake before. Whatever the case, he was darkly handsome and she rather thought he was exactly the kind of man she should not be alone with. No…the situation was far more dire than that for a young lady never spent time alone in the company of a gentleman, even if it was accidental. If they were discovered here she would, quite simply, be ruined. Oddly enough, such a circumstance had never occurred to her before when she had slipped away at social events. She experienced a cold chill when she realized what peril she had been placing herself in. What a guileless fool she had been! If she managed to survive this encounter unscathed, she promised herself she would be a great deal more careful in the future.

Abruptly, his demeanor shifted. He seemed to relax, taking on an air of indolent amusement that he had worn in the ballroom. She eyed him suspiciously.

‘He’s very tame, you know,’ Kirkwood observed, leaning one broad shoulder against the wall.

‘W-what?’

‘Roddy. Admirable, of course. He has so many of the manly virtues that it would be easy to overlook the other side of the coin. All that horsey goodness is tempered by a sad lack of imagination, I’m afraid. You strike me as being a lively sort of female. Are you not worried that he would bore you to death in a month?’

Audrey was taken aback. ‘Thank you for your concern, but I can assure you it is entirely unnecessary. Your brother is not at all boring. On the contrary, I find our conversations most stimulating.’

‘There’s stimulation and then, there’s stimulation,’ Kirkwood observed, with a wicked grin. ‘The two things can be very different animals. I am almost sure marriage to Roddy will not produce the sort of stimulation most females crave.’

She frowned and pursed her lips. ‘I am quite sure you are an expert in the subject, Mr. Kirkwood but you have no idea what I am looking for.’

‘Is that a challenge, Miss Hathaway?’

She eyed him in alarm. ‘No, it is not!’

This produced a low laugh, which to Audrey’s anxious ears, sounded far too much like a provocative growl. ‘I am merely concerned for you, my dear. Roddy’s virtues are manifest but one cannot expect him to know his way around a pair of sheets until he’s had a mistress or two to show him the ropes.’