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"Daisy says perhaps that isn't a possibility." Hazard's tone was scrupulously polite, exquisitely polite, a tactful inquiry into the Duc's honest intentions.

"She probably told you my wife isn't cooperating." Etienne sighed. "It could take some time."

"How long?"

The Duc set his glass down on a small table intricately inlaid with fragrant sandalwood. "I don't honestly know." A moody ill-humor colored his voice. "Neither Isabelle nor her family approves of divorce… a very new option in France anyway, as you might know."

"So I've been told." Hazard's dark gaze took in the Duc's brooding scowl for a long moment, and his voice, when he spoke, was grave. "How much do you love her?" He didn't ask do you love her because he wanted to know more than that. "She's my only daughter," he cryptically added.

"I've never loved anyone before. I love her that much," Etienne simply said.

Hazard put his glass down, too, as if the amenities were past and the serious issues confronted them. "I don't care about your divorce," he quietly said. "Our culture enfranchises individual choice. Male or female," he softly added. "What I do care about though, is my daughter's happiness. My question is whether you can offer her that." He put his hand up to stay the Duc's response until he finished. "She's not sure apparently about her feelings and I don't know if the problem is yours or hers. I don't even know positively a problem exists, but my wife tells me one does. You tell me."

"Is Daisy involved with anyone else?" Not only jealousy but practicality prompted Etienne's question. "Because if she is, then the reasons she's given me for her refusal of my marriage offer are in the way of a polite dismissal. If not… I'll do my damndest to change her mind."

"I don't know if her involvement matters. In my culture, a man woos a woman whether he has rivals or not. If he cares."

"Good." Etienne's smile drove the moodiness from his eyes.

"You shouldn't have any trouble pressing your suit if rumor's true," Hazard mildly said, amusement prominent in his tone.

"I have your permission, then, to court your daughter?" The Duc spoke in swift declaration. "And I intend to divorce Isabelle if it means buying off every magistrate in France."

"I was wondering if you hadn't considered that possibility before. Bribes are quite effective over here. Although certainly never cheap. Trey's divorce cost us one of our mines, but you met Valerie tonight. The exorbitant price was worth it."

"Yet the man with her tonight is a family member."

"Valerie's a pleasant diversion; one simply wouldn't want her for a wife, and Blaze's brother Kit is still only interested in diverting himself. He'll enjoy her company."

"A benevolent point of view."

"Kit's special. He's my wife's only family."

"Does he live in Montana too?"

"At times. He mostly sails."

"For business?"

"No. Kit's only business is pleasure. Some of your commercial interests are railroads, Daisy tells me. A problem for her, she also tells me, with your lines in Europe. Do you see it as a problem?"

"I was hoping she might live with me in Paris… at least part of the year. I honestly hadn't considered it an issue. I told her the problems of our two lives could be solved… somehow."

"Can they though? I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit Daisy's extremely important to our clan as well as to our family. We're in litigation right now over mineral rights to our new mine. These court fights are hell; the case could very well drag out for years and she's the best legal resource person we have. In that respect I don't know how much she'll be willing to compromise. Daisy is seriously committed to our tribe."

"I'm more of a romantic than she. I'm convinced we can reach some agreement."

"Would you live in Montana?"

"I can't permanently. My business ventures require my presence in Europe at least occasionally."

"Hmm," Hazard murmured.

An ominous sound suddenly in the silence of the Alhambra chamber. "Surely we can compromise."

"We've railroad building out West now too. You might want to think about it. Come out some time and take a look for yourself."

The door to the smoking room opened then and Nadine swept in, her arms open wide, her smile radiant. "There you are!" She sailed over in a cloud of perfume and black lace. "You've had him long enough, Hazard. He's mine now."

"Good luck," Hazard murmured to Etienne with a grin. "He's all yours, Nadine," he said aloud. "But remember, we might need him for a polo match tomorrow if our play-off is scheduled. The Duc might like some sleep."

"Rest assured, Hazard, I'll see that Oliver arranges a rest day for tomorrow. The Duc has graciously promised to come over to Barkley lighthouse later in the afternoon for my picnic."

"I do have an early appointment with Hector in the morning, Nadine."

"It's only one-thirty, Etienne."

"It's only one-thirty for people who sleep until noon, Nadine. And that doesn't include me since I'm Hector's breakfast partner. In fact, Jolie invited me to stay with them tonight."

"Could I drive you over on my way home?" Hazard offered, although he knew his carriage was back at the Rutherfords'. He didn't think the Duc would mind walking.

With heartfelt relief, Etienne took Hazard up on his offer.

Nadine pouted prettily for a moment, but the French team would be playing in the tournament another week; she had time. "Tomorrow then, Etienne," she softly said, "at the lighthouse."

Since he knew Daisy would be there, he said, "Sometime later… after Hector's visit."

Nadine's smile was complaisant, satisfied. "Pleasant dreams," she archly murmured, and with a coquettish tap of her fan on his cheek, she left.

When Hazard and the Duc reentered the billiard room a few moments later, Trey and Kit momentarily paused in their game.

Guards at the door? Etienne mused. Their presence, however casual, had that look, although Trey and Kit both were smiling and friendly when they reached them a moment later.

"Nadine tells us Oliver will schedule us a day of rest before our return match," Hazard said, as if his conversation with Etienne had been inconsequential. "Who's winning?"

"Kit."

"Trey."

They hadn't been keeping score, more intent on the events in the smoking room. They were, as Etienne had suspected, there as backup.

"We're tied, actually," Kit said, his expression bland. "Care to join us?"

"I'm giving the Duc a ride over to his daughter's."

Which comment raised interesting possibilities, Trey thought, considering their carriage was at the Rutherfords'. "I'll come with you," he said. "I can beat Kit anytime." The grin he directed at his uncle was teasing.

"You don't mind walking, do you?" Hazard looked at Etienne. "Blaze took the carriage but you looked like you needed an excuse for Nadine."

"I'd walk a hundred miles to avoid arguing with Nadine at my bedroom door tonight. Thanks."

"If you're leaving," Kit said, "I'll find Valerie, provided she hasn't left with someone else by now."

"A distinct possibility," Hazard dryly said.

"If she has, then I'll walk home with you." Kit didn't give the appearance of being profoundly concerned.

"I'm happy to see your heart isn't involved," Hazard lazily said.

"Valerie isn't interested precisely in… hearts." Kit's grin creased the deep tan of his cheeks.

And when he returned a few moments later to report she'd been seen leaving with a younger son of the Duke of Beresford, Trey sardonically drawled, "Apparently Comers has a few more dollars in the bank than you do."

"Actually he doesn't, poor fellow. He's a younger son. But he does have several titles, and since Valerie already has a great deal of money—thanks to your generosity," he added with a grin, "she's probably in the market for a coronet."

"Poor wretch."

"Not necessarily, Hazard. He may be in the market for a healthy bank account. A common interest, as it were, for their relationship. Besides sex," Kit added with a wolfish smile.

"Always the basis for any of Valerie's relationships."

"But as you well know, Trey," Kit's arched his brow suggesting roguish memory, "not at all common."

Trey couldn't help but smile. "True."

Moments later they were being ushered out into the foggy night by Nadine's liveried footmen. Standing under the huge lit portico before stepping out into the fog, Hazard apologized for their candid discussion of Valerie. "In her own way, she's an interesting and um energetic woman. And were it not for her extreme selfishness, well…"

"You wouldn't be raising her child," Kit said.

"Or be one gold mine poorer than before," Trey curtly added. "Don't forget that."

"The Duc and I were discussing the expenses of divorcing earlier. Certain expenditures are necessary."

"Mine has currently reached an impasse," Etienne declared.

"A permanent impasse, Daisy seems to think," Hazard ex-plained. "The Duc has asked my permission to press his suit with Daisy."

"So you're the reason she's been moping since she returned from France. Good luck and welcome to the family, as long as it's not my wife you're interested in," Trey added, his smile pale in the gray foggy night. In Trey and Empress's estrangement before their marriage, the Duc de Vec had been one of Empress's closer friends.

All the palatial cottages on Bellevue Avenue faced the ocean, and having strolled several doors down from the Belmonts', the men paused at Hatfield Keene's, where Jolie and Henri were guests. "Jolie isn't actually expecting me," Etienne explained when they stopped to say good-night. "I'm going on to the polo club. I thought I'd stay with my ponies. A pleasant alternative to Nadine."

"Come to Rutherford's instead," Hazard offered. "The club is bare-bones sleeping arrangements and probably full up anyway."

"I don't want to impose," the Duc courteously replied. "I can sleep with my groom if need be."

"Nonsense. No need to sleep with your ponies when there're palaces up and down this block. Frank built Idle Hour to satisfy his tastes anyway, not his wife's. His annex was built to accommodate his bachelor guests. There's plenty of room there. If you stay, you can see Daisy in the morning."

A simple decision suddenly. "You've got yourself an overnight guest. Although I'd better stop at the club first for a change of clothes, so I don't have to go to the beach with Hector in evening dress."

The men accompanied him to the small veranda-framed clubhouse at the end of Bellevue Avenue and waited while he picked up the clothes he'd left there as replacement clothing between matches. Retracing their steps, the four tall men conversed in companionable fashion about polo and ponies, the fog shrouding them from all but each other, their voices drifting off into the wispy damp atmosphere. They separated at the main house, Kit and the Duc turning toward the bachelors' wing.

"If you're rising early, breakfast is set up in the main floor dining room at seven," Hazard said. "Although hardly anyone wakes before eleven," he added in mild condemnation.

"Including me," Kit cheerfully said. "Do not wake me for breakfast."

"He was raised in the city," Hazard said, his grin indulgent, "which accounts for his society ways."

"Hector's too young for society ways, yet, so I'll be up early. I'm seeing him at eight."

The Duc wanted to ask if Daisy still rose earlier than the fashionable eleven o'clock, as she had when he knew her in Paris, but decided against it. He'd find out in the morning.

Daisy hadn't slept well.

Between her frustration over Etienne's allure to women, particularly Nadine in this instance, and her own disastrously ardent response to him, her mind had been too full of conflict to sink into a deep slumber. She'd dozed fitfully, waking every few minutes, hoping the sun had risen so she could leave her bed. But exhausted by her restless night, she fell asleep just before dawn, waking with a start at seven.