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Miss Melbourne only provided more impact up close. Her mouth alone was an image from
every man’s most sinful dream. He found that he could not look away.

“Gavin, please meet Miss Kira Melbourne, my intended.”

His intended.
Gavin took a deep breath. Yes, he best not forget that fact. It would be unwise and
unfair to engage in lewd thought about his cousin’s fiancée, no matter how much she
inspired it. Miss Melbourne would, after all, soon share James’s life. And though
intriguing, she was merely a woman. Gavin had met—and sampled—more than a few.

She dropped into a perfectly proper curtsey and murmured, “I am honored, your grace.”

He nodded, swallowing, and took her gloved hand to his lips. Damnation, she even smelled
good, like vanilla swirled in moonlight.

His mouth felt oddly dry. “Miss Melbourne.”

Forcing his mind away from her… person, he turned her name over in his mind.
Kira
.
It suited her, for it was exotic, a name he had never heard. From what culture had
she acquired such a name—and such an incredible mouth?

“And her brother Mr. Darius Melbourne,” James went on.

The man extended his hand, and Gavin took it absently.

“Your grace,” Melbourne greeted, meeting his grip.

Gavin hardly took his eyes off the man’s sister.

A moment later, the handshake ended. Everyone stood in silence. Gavin, despite years
of milling about the
ton,
found he had to remind himself to play host.

“Shall we go inside?” he asked finally.

But the questions in his head were so different. Why had Miss Melbourne agreed to
wed James? When had his cousin become so damned lucky with this particular lady?

Had his lustful Daggett blood chosen now—and chosen Miss Melbourne—over which to roar?

* * * *

“How do you like Norfield Park?” Kira’s fiancé, Mr. James Howland, asked an hour later
as the foursome sat with their tea.

Kira glanced about at the elegance of the duke’s home, surveying everything from the
elaborate plaster moldings lining the ceilings to the thick
,
jewel-toned carpets.

“I’m entranced, I confess.” She sent a scolding glance to her fiancé. “It is far too
grand to be merely comfortable.”

James shrugged, looking boyish. “I spent much of my youth here, so allow me to be
less impressed by its appeal. But I am most happy if you like it.”

“Oh, I do.”

Kira gave him an indulgent smile. As with all things, James displayed his charm and
kindness at once.

She could not say the same, however, for his cousin.

The duke was reserved
,
haughty even. His demeanor, his reticence, communicated that fact. But Kira had expected
such behavior. A man of his consequence could have no interest in meeting her, the
daughter of an earl’s second son, beyond indulging his poor relation.

What she had not expected was the man himself. He was almost painfully handsome, standing
nearly a full head taller than his cousin, watching her with fathomless dark eyes.
She wished he would stop staring. Kira feared his grace was sizing up her faults,
including her half-Persian heritage, and making a list he would later recite for Mr.
Howland. But the duke might as easily have been contemplating estate business in his
head. His eyes gave nothing away.

Beside her, Darius nudged her ribs with his elbow, reminding her that she must overcome
her natural reluctance to talk with new acquaintances.

“Your grace, certainly you are not so jaded as to find Norfield Park unremarkable,
I hope.”

The duke sharpened his focus on her. Kira could swear an invisible line existed between
them, almost connecting them. Most likely, she was attuned to his anger. Had he heard
the rumors of her debacle with Lord Vance? Quite possibly. And he, like most in England’s
good families, would not relish the idea of a woman of mixed heritage joining their
family, much less a half-breed woman with a scandal.

Taking a surreptitious breath, Kira reminded herself that she would soon wed James,
and those who indulged in the ugly gossip about her would move onto the next tale.
Then perhaps she would
finally
have peace and a place where people accepted her for her, rather than judging her
for the circumstances of her heritage.

“Indeed, I do not,” the duke answered. “I prefer Norfield to nearly every place on
e
arth. I regret that I am called away much on business to London and must often leave
Norfield because of it. The grounds alone make it excellent.”

Well, his grace did not lack pride in what he owned, just an easy manner.

“Indeed. I shall take you and Darius on a tour tomorrow, if you like?” Mr. Howland
offered.

She smiled. “I should like that very much.”

Her fiancé was a good man, a kind one, full of understanding and caring
. He was
the type of man willing to turn his life upside down to help her. Kira feared merely
being his wife would never repay even half the debt she owed. Perhaps she would come
to love him in time, as he deserved.

“Splendid idea, James,” said Cropthorne.

Silence fell. The duke stared at her, gaze dark, inscrutable. Kira resisted the urge
to fidget in her seat.

“Mr. Howland informs me that you are one of the primary investors in a new railroad,”
she ventured to break the silence.

The rise of Cropthorne’s dark brow reflected surprise. “I am. The T
&
S will open its London to Birmingham route in roughly two months.”

“Then Gavin is fond of teasing that he shall finally have the time to find his sisters
wealthy husbands who can pay their shocking
modiste’s
bill,” James said, laughing.

“They had best be wealthy men, given Kate’s and Anne’s tastes.” The duke even cracked
a smile, to her surprise.

But still he stared at her, and Kira looked away. Despite that, his handsome countenance
lingered in her mind.

That invisible something, that odd… awareness she felt between she and Cropthorne,
it did not make sense. His demeanor suggested that he did not approve of her. And
Kira was discomfited by his aristocratic manner. Oddly, though, she was mindful of
his every word, his every gesture.

The Duke of Cropthorne was a difficult man to ignore.

He was also dangerous, with his wealth, power, his sway over his younger cousin, and
his apparent disapproval of her. For those reasons, Kira vowed to cut his grace a
very wide path.

* * * *

Gavin was not surprised when he received a summons from his Aunt Caroline close to
midnight.

His father’s younger sister had all but raised him when his own mother died shortly
after his tenth birthday. Caroline was like a mother to him, and he knew her very
well because of it. When he’d noticed her stewing after James made the announcement
of his upcoming nuptials following dinner, Gavin knew his aunt would wish to speak
with him, sooner rather than later.

He approached Caroline’s door, knocking quietly as he arrived. Impatiently, she flung
the door open. She met him in a long blue dressing gown, face flushed, mouth taut.

“The others sought their beds a half hour past. I’m surprised it took you this long
to send for me,” he teased.

“Gavin, how can you torment me at such a time? This is terrible. Simply dreadful!”

“Since we’ve had fine weather of late, I can only assume you mean James’s choice of
a bride.”

“Of course! Have you any idea how entirely unsuitable she is for him? For any man
of good breeding?” Aunt Caroline threw her hands in the air.

Because his aunt was quite good at sending herself into a frenzy, Gavin had become
skilled at calming her.

“I admit she is something of a surprise, but James said she is a good, kind woman.
We must allow that he knows the girl far better than we. Have we any reason to doubt
his judgment?”

Most likely she had aroused James beyond his good sense, but Gavin kept the thought
to himself.

Aunt Caroline looked at him as if he’d sprouted horns. “She’s blinded him with lust!”

His aunt had never been slow or stupid, Gavin reminded himself. Nor had she ever lacked
temerity to speak her mind.

“She—she has the most terrible family,” Caroline sputtered in horror.

The manner in which her shoulders shook told Gavin his aunt was about to cry. Hating
to see her in distress, he put a comforting arm about her.

“Do not upset yourself. Perhaps it’s not as bad as all that.”

“It is that bad—and worse. She is the Earl of Westland’s niece, you know.”

No, he had not known that. But now that Aunt Caroline mentioned it, he
had
heard some gossip just before he left London about the girl… but it eluded him.

“What a decadent background. And her behavior!” She gasped as if sickened. “She left
home for two days, saying she intended to
elope
with Lord Vance, as if he would have such a woman. Suddenly, she returned unmarried
and without explanation. Her reputation is in tatters!”

Gavin recoiled. Miss Melbourne had spent two days—and nights—alone with a man to whom
she was not wed? No woman of good breeding or decorum would conceive of behaving in
such a manner. It was completely unthinkable. The arising scandal would ruin her.

And if Gavin despised one thing in life, it was scandal.

“That would cause tongues to wag.” He frowned. “Did Lord Vance offer to marry her
and take her from her family without honoring his promise?”

“Lord Vance made no such offer for her. Why should he? She is a girl of few means
and a Persian mother.”

Persian; that was the heritage that colored Kira’s less than fair skin, shaped her
exotic features, like her incredible mouth—

“Gavin.” Aunt Caroline snapped her fingers to gain his attention again. “What are
we to do? James cannot marry her. She is pure scandal!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Aunt Caroline was right; Miss Melbourne sounded
like pure scandal. Gavin refused to allow gossip directed anywhere near his family.
Damn! Would James, in order to gratify his stiff cock, plunge the family into the
thick of gossip and dishonor by marrying Miss Melbourne? Clearly he intended to do
exactly that, though it seemed unlike him.

“What does the gossip say exactly?”

“That Kira Melbourne is a scheming jade who sought to trap herself a rich husband.
And according to Lord Vance, she did all manner of lewd and shocking things to force
his hand. Of course he would not want such a brazen wife.”

Gavin might not want a woman of Kira’s ilk as a wife either, but he suspected he would
more than enjoy her brazen behavior…

But such thoughts would not help James. He cleared his throat.

Was Lord Vance the kind of man who would lure a girl away from her family with false
promises? Gavin did not know the man well enough to say.

In any case, Lord Vance had clearly declined to marry her, likely deciding that Kira
Melbourne was not the kind of woman upon whom a man of his consequence should waste
his honor.

“Still, can Lord Vance cast her aside so easily?” he asked. “She is relations to an
earl.”

Aunt Caroline waved that fact away with a
ring-laden
hand. “Westland disowned his brother when he married the Persian woman. I doubt Westland
has ever met Miss Melbourne! Without his backing, I daresay, she is just another poor
country mouse scheming to marry one of her betters. And now she has her claws in my
sweet James!” She sniffed as if she might cry.

“Do not upset yourself.” Gavin squeezed his aunt’s shoulders. “Perhaps we can find
a way to quell the talk of Miss Melbourne’s downfall.”

Aunt Caroline shook her salt
-
and
-
pepper curls. “That is unlikely. People can scarcely talk of anything else!”

Gavin’s gut clenched, at both his aunt’s distress and his own unease. He bloody hated
scandal. His father had introduced it into his family long ago. Memories of the terrible
tattle tainted his entire childhood. Vicious gossip had once caused Aunt Caroline
to take to her bed for a month with a nervous prostration. As a family, they had been
shunned and taunted. James knew how he—how the whole family—felt about being the favored
food for gossips. Why would he marry such a girl?

Then Gavin remembered Miss Melbourne herself. Scandal or no, she was a woman worth
having in one’s bed. He, however, knew enough to keep a woman like that as a mistress.
Dear gullible James would assume he must marry her.

Caroline went on. “It is simply shocking that Miss Melbourne could sit at dinner with
her demure smile and her very proper clothing when she has nothing innocent about
her!”