Helena frowned. “It’s forward of me to even ask. But it would make things easier if I knew. Daisy, are you contemplating him for your next husband? Are you setting your cap for him?”

“Of course,” Daisy said in surprise. “That’s why I came to England. He still thinks of me as another man’s wife, but I hope to change his mind about that soon. The sooner the better.”

Helena was still.

“You don’t approve?”

“It’s not for me to approve or disapprove,” Helena said, knotting her hands together. “But he is twice your age.”

“Yes, but men like young wives. I know he doesn’t need an heir, and that’s fine with me, too. If we don’t have any babies, I’ll have lots of grandbabies to play with. You heard that Daffyd’s wife is anticipating. Well, so is Amyas’s wife. All the earl’s sons are in the same boat. From what Daffyd said with a wink, I think Christian’s wife will be popping out a babe soon, too. I’ll be up to my ears in babies if I marry Geoff!”

“And the process of begetting them?” Helena asked, her eyes wide. She knew she was risking her position, and a fine one it was, but she couldn’t restrain herself. Was this glowing young woman actually saying she didn’t want a vibrant young man in her bed? She remembered her own youth and her young husband and the sensual joys they’d shared. She herself was a mother now, and she wouldn’t want her own daughter to make such a match when she came of age.

Helena hoped that was the only reason that the idea of the earl and Daisy together in a marriage bed seemed so wrong to her.

“You don’t mind missing that?” she asked Daisy, her face coloring up. “It’s not mine to say, but however hale he is, it’s a universal truth that an older man is not as… vigorous as a young one.”

“Exactly,” Daisy said. “A man can’t perform as regular when he gets older, and he loses the inclination, too. That’s what all the whor-Lord! I have to watch my mouth. I mean that’s what all the tarts in jail said. It’s harder work for them enticing older men. They have the money but not the honey. That’s what the girls used to complain, because they needed traffic to keep their rents paid. But a husband like that would suit me fine. One like that, or like Viscount Haye, who doesn’t want females in the first place!”

Helena gasped again. “What? Viscount Haye? Are you mad? Excuse me. This whole conversation is irregular, I know it,” she murmured, as if to herself. “But if you’re going to dismiss me, it might as well be for honesty.” She drew herself up, folded her hands, and announced, “Haye is one of the premiere rakes in London.”

“No!” Daisy said in surprise.

“I’d have warned you about him right off,” Helena said. “But I thought you knew, and anyhow, I didn’t believe he’d ever set out to seduce a friend of his friend. Gentlemen have their scruples, and that, I believe, is one of the foremost among them.”

Now Daisy’s eyes were wide. “The viscount? But all he cares about is clothes. And he minces and…” She hesitated. That wasn’t true. The viscount didn’t mince. She thought of how he walked, with long easy strides, and the way he moved, with supple grace. “Well, he doesn’t seem interested in females,” she concluded weakly, “only in what they wear.”

“He’s interested, believe me,” Helena said. “He’s famous for it.”

“But he drawls… and acts the man of fashion.”

“He is the man of fashion, and not the least because he’s a rake. Oh, dear,” Helena said sadly. “And I thought I’d like it here with you. But I know I’ve been too outspoken. Please give me a second chance. I won’t be so bold again. Please forgive me.”

“Of course not,” Daisy said. “There’s nothing to forgive. I need someone I can talk with who’ll be honest with me. Now, don’t be foolish, please. Just, promise, always be honest with me, and I’ll be happy.”

“I’ll try,” Helena said, turning her face away. But she didn’t promise. Because there were some things she would prefer never to mention. Such as the fact that she thought the Earl of Egremont would be a wonderful husband, just not for Daisy Tanner.

Chapter Seven

Leland and Daffyd had their eyes fixed on Daisy, as did every male they’d passed so far. They were strolling through Vauxhall Gardens behind Daisy, the earl, and Helena Masters. It was sunset, and the park was beginning to be thronged with fashionable people as well as commoners there for the evening’s entertainment.

Daisy was hard to miss. She was wearing a low-cut green gown, enlivened by a green and yellow patterned shawl thrown over her shoulders. Her vivid hair was done up with white ribbons, and she wore a crystal rose on a silver chain at her neck. The crystal caught the last sunlight and danced rainbows on the white skin of her breast. She shone like the setting sun, and her radiance made the earl, dressed in a dun jacket, dark breeches and boots, and high white neck cloth, fade into the approaching twilight.

“Do you know?” Leland finally told Daffyd in a soft under voice. “I believe watching and waiting is foolish. You’re leaving Town soon, and besides, you don’t know how to ask her. I think I should see just how serious she really is about Geoff.”

Daffyd turned, his eyes grave. “You said you wouldn’t harm her.”

“Gads!” Leland said in annoyance. “What do you think I mean to do? Kidnap her and force the truth from her? I only thought to try a little friendly persuasion. She’s a grown woman, a widow, and one who’s been in darker places than I’ll ever know-you said so yourself. I simply meant I’d throw out lures and see if she took any. I may be a beanpole, with a nose that’s a caricaturist’s delight, homely as an old boot, in fact, but I have been known to attract a female or two in my time, you know.”

“I do know,” Daffyd said. “Too well. You almost stole my Meg from me.”

“Oh, yes,” Leland said sarcastically. “If I’d half a chance, you’d be visiting her in my house today. But she couldn’t see me once she’d met you.”

“She saw enough. She still says you’re madly attractive. I don’t know how you do it, but you do. All right. Daisy can take care of herself. She survived prison, Tanner, and Botany Bay. I guess she can deal with you. See what you can find out. If she really loves Geoff-then good luck to her. I don’t know her that well, but as I said, she’s a good sort, in all. Oh, by the way. She is rich. I asked someone who would know. It’s true.”

“I know,” Leland said. “I asked, too. But she’s not as rich as the earl is; few in England are. That’s always a lure. Some people never have enough money. Well, then, let’s see what happens, although there’s not much I can do if she keeps hanging on his arm like a bracelet. But there’s always dinner. She’ll have to let go so he can eat. Not that there’ll be much of that. Dinner here means watered wine, shaved ham, and bits of fruit, for a huge price. What a delightful evening,” he said too brightly. “Going to a fireworks display. What fun. You know, Daffy, if you and Geoff weren’t such good friends, I could think of many more interesting things to do.”

“Your virtue will save you money and the possibility of a nasty rash.”

Leland laughed. “I don’t have to pay all my flirts, you know. And thank you, Mother, but I listened to your lectures and I’m always very careful…” The laughter left his voice as he saw who was approaching the earl. “Oh my God,” he breathed. “Speak of the devil and there she is.”

They stared at the elegant woman who had paused to speak to the earl. She was a tall, beautifully dressed woman of middle years, with fair skin and fairer hair, and eyes that were dazzlingly deep blue even from a distance. Everything about her was impeccable; even her smile seemed to have been measured for a fit before she tried it on.

“Our noble parent,” Leland said. “I thought she was still in Bath. I didn’t know she was back in Town. Did you?”

“Why should I? ”Daffyd said with a shrug. “She only calls on me when she needs a favor, and doesn’t acknowledge me to the world at any time. No surprise there; after all, she left me a week after I was born, and didn’t speak to me again until I surprised her by turning up again last year. Remember? Much I care. But you’re the heir.”

“Much that matters. She left me when I was three to run off with your father, and only came back a year later because he beat her. Remember?” he echoed mockingly. “Well, you wouldn’t. That’s when she got you. One of the few things she’s done that I approve of. I didn’t at the time, of course, because your advent was a fact she neglected to share. Actually, I wouldn’t mind a few decades without her now. Neither would my baby brother, but he’s lucky. He’s in school and almost never has to see her. I, unfortunately, run into her at social occasions more often than is comfortable for either of us.”

“God!” Daffyd said. “What do you suppose she’ll make of Daisy?”

“Mincemeat,” Leland said, and walked over to greet his mother.

“Dear Haye,” the dowager viscountess Haye said, greeting Leland and offering the right side of her cheek to the air at the side of his left cheek. “Daffyd,” she said, nodding her head in a slight bow. “Heavens. Is this some sort of family excursion?”

“Mrs. Tanner is an old friend of mine and Daffyd’s,” the earl said. “As the viscount Haye is also a friend, we’re all taking her out on the Town to see the sights.”

“And you have never seen fireworks?” the viscountess asked Daisy, taking her in from her hair ribbons to her slippers in one long sweeping glance, pausing only to stare at the low neck of her dress, one eyebrow moving ever so slightly upward as she did.

Daisy had been smiling, but her smile stiffened when she saw how the older woman was weighing her up, and managing to criticize her without so much as saying a word. She felt the tension in the air around her, slowly let out a breath, and then smiled again.