“I had the gown made especially for tonight, and Peggy designed my hair. It’s absolutely marvelous, isn’t it?” Eve glowed as she leaned toward Edward. “Has he arrived yet?” she asked, lowering her voice to an almost conspiratory pitch.

“Yes, Geoffrey is-” Edward started, but she interrupted, touching his arm as she gave a light laugh.

“Not Geoffrey. Lord Noah Kincade. I’ve heard so much about him lately that I just can’t wait to meet him.”

“Lord Kincade…of course…” he blustered. “No, he hasn’t made an appearance yet, but I’m sure he’ll be arriving soon.”

“You’ve met him already, haven’t you, Cecelia?” Eve asked, keeping her tone casual lest she reveal too much of her excitement at finally having the opportunity to meet the nobleman.

CC didn’t understand why, but the other woman’s mention of Kincade annoyed her.

“Oh yes, I’ve met him,” CC answered through gritted teeth. She remembered the last time she’d seen him, and his words-You may come to my room at the Red Lion later-rang through her mind.

“And?” Eve pressed, eager for any information she could glean about the rich lord.

“He’s a very handsome, charming man.” CC almost gagged on the lie. Handsome? Once she had thought him so, but no longer. And charming? Hatred flamed anew within her as she thought of that night. Noah Kincade had all the charm of a snake…the morals, too.

“Then I bet you’re excited about seeing him again tonight,” Eve ventured.

“He’s only a business acquaintance of my father’s, Eve.” CC managed to disguise her uneasiness at the thought of facing him. “John is here, you know.”

She glanced back toward the ballroom doorway and was pleased to see John making his way toward her, the pale blue velvet of his embroidered coat enhancing his blond attractiveness. He looked most handsome this night, and CC knew she should be thrilled to be the object of his affections, but somehow she wasn’t.

“Of course; how could I have forgotten?” Eve flashed John the smile she reserved for men only, then brashly asked within John’s earshot, “And just how long are you going to toy with John’s affections, CC?”

CC stiffened at her inquiry and was tempted to tell her bluntly that it was none of her damned business, but she refrained. “If and when I decide to marry, Eve, you’ll be among the first to know, I’m sure.”

Eve wasn’t certain whether or not there was a barb to her words, but she couldn’t resist a parting shot. “Don’t keep him dangling too much longer, darling. I doubt John will wait for you forever,” she sniped before sweeping away toward the ballroom.

John greeted Eve as they passed, and then approached CC, his brown eyes alight with interest. “Do I note a possible change in your attitude toward our marriage, my love?”

“John…we’ve discussed marriage between us and-” she was answering when she heard her father behind her speak.

“Lord Kincade! How good of you to come.” A chill of apprehension shook her as she heard his deep, mellow response.

“Good evening, Edward. May I present my brother, Matthew. Matthew, this is Edward Demorest.”

“A pleasure to meet you, my lord,” Edward greeted him.

“Thank you, sir, but please call me Matthew.”

“Matthew, then.” He was most pleased at being allowed the familiarity. “CC, darling…” Edward spoke to his daughter, who was standing with her back to them and appeared to be in deep conversation with John. “Lord Kincade and his brother Matthew have arrived.”

Tensing, she forced the semblance of a sweet expression on her face as she turned from John to welcome him, but even as she spoke, her gaze remained hard and suspicious. “Lord Kincade.”

“Miss Demorest…a pleasure to see you again.” He read the distrust in her green-eyed gaze. Knowing the reason for it, he delighted in taking her hand and, with slow, gentlemanly ease, bringing it to his lips for an innocent-looking, yet very sensual, kiss. Noah deliberately let his gaze rest upon her bosom before rising up to look her in the face.

The hot brand of his mouth upon her hand, and the penetrating heat of his silvered regard as it seared her decorously clad breasts sent a thrill of remembered desire through her, but it was a sensation she was determined to resist. CC struggled not to give in to her indignity. She knew why Kincade was doing it. He was taunting her, daring her. He had told her that night that it was not through between them, and now she knew he meant it. It took nerves of steel for her not to snatch her hand from Kincade’s grasp, and she was greatly relieved when he finally released her, his smile mocking and knowing.

Dragging her eyes away from his, she turned as quickly as politeness allowed to the younger man at his side. “This is your brother?”

“Matthew, may I introduce Miss Cecelia Demorest.”

Matthew’s smile was real in appreciation of her beauty, and he, too, took her hand and raised it to his lips. “Miss Demorest.”

How odd, CC mused distractedly as she considered the effects of Matthew’s touch compared to his brother’s. The emotions she’d experienced when Noah Kincade had touched her were foreign and very frightening; yet when the younger Kincade touched her in the very same manner, she felt no threat at all. Glancing up at him, CC found warmth and cheerfulness in his blue eyes, eyes so unlike his brother’s glacial gray ones. She responded to that glow of kindness as a flower responds to the sun.

“Lord Kincade.” She smiled brightly. There was a great physical resemblance between the two brothers, but Matthew had a friendly openness about him that encouraged the same response in others.

“I would beg you to honor me by calling me Matthew.” Matt found Cecelia Demorest enchantingly lovely.

“Matthew.” She spoke his name softly and then realized that John was still standing there awaiting an introduction. “Lord Noah Kincade and Matthew, this is John Robinson.”

Noah had heard John’s remark to her about “our marriage, my love,” and he stiffened as he eyed him askance. He recognized John almost immediately as one of those who’d been in attendance at the secret meeting, and he wondered how any man could allow the woman he professed to love to take part in such dangerous activities. Her father, he was certain, knew nothing of her involvement with the rebels, but this man, who was obviously her fiancé, was supporting her participation. The thought rankled, and Noah found himself wondering why. What did it matter to him that Cecelia Demorest was risking her life by working with the revolutionaries? Probably, he thought with age-old male cynicism, this John encouraged her in her pursuits and maybe even directed her to use her lovely body to help further their “cause.” His expression hardened as he acknowledged Robinson with distant disdain.

“CC, you and John stay and welcome any latecomers while I introduce Lord Kincade and Matthew to our other guests,” directed her father. He then escorted them down the hall, leaving CC behind with John.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Lord Kincade was an acquaintance of your father’s?” John hissed for CC’s ears only when Edward had guided the two Englishmen into the ballroom. “Is he the reason why you disappeared from the meeting the other night?”

“Yes, I was worried about being found out,” she answered, glad to have that as an excuse.

“But why didn’t you tell me about him before you left?”

“He had only been to the house once on business.” Her tone was hushed, but sharp. “You know that Joshua checked him out. He’s not a spy, though it would probably be easier to stomach his company if he was.”

“Why?” Her remark mystified John.

“Because knowing he’s not a spy reduces him to nothing more than a money-hungry double-dealer!”

“Aren’t you reacting a little strongly?” he wondered.

“Hardly. The man’s amoral. He has no true interest in our cause, save how much he’s going to make off of us. If we don’t meet his price, I have no doubt that he’s going to turn around and offer the shipment, lock, stock, and barrel, to my father for the British troops. I know for a fact that they’ve already spoken of it.”