‘And my brother and Miss Marchment?’ he asked, with a dangerous calm.

Jane gave him a winning smile. ‘I suggested that they strolled on ahead. There was no point in all of us waiting! Indeed, I was expecting to catch them up when Lord Blakeney returned!’ Her tone managed to convey reproach that it was he, and not Lord Blakeney, who had appeared. ‘I expect they are back with the others by now!’

‘I am surprised that Philip could bear to be from your side,’ Alex said drily. ‘He has stuck like a burr all week!’

‘Yes, is it not delightful?’ Jane said blithely. ‘You must be so pleased that your brother and I have reached an understanding!’

‘It is the nature of the understanding that concerns me,’ Alex said affably. ‘You had me fooled for quite a little while this time, Miss Verey, but not any more!’

‘I have no notion what you mean, sir!’ Jane said, managing to preserve her air of injured innocence.

Alex caught her arm and swung her round to face him. ‘Oh, come now, Miss Verey! I used to admire your honesty! The truth is that you have managed to enlist the support of my disgraceful brother-and Miss Marchment, no doubt-in your scheme to thwart the marriage plans! It was so obvious,’ Alex mused, a smile starting to curl the corners of his mouth, ‘I cannot think why I did not see it before! To think that I believed that you had meekly accepted the plans made for you! My wits must have gone a-begging!’

There was a long silence. Jane’s intellect, which had served her so well up to that point, suddenly seemed to have deserted her, banished by the insistent pressure of Alex’s touch. Worse, although her mind was frighteningly blank, her senses seemed unusually sharp. She was conscious of the plaintive sweetness of the birdsong, the rustle of the leaves and the cool caress of the breeze on her hot cheeks. Her gaze was held by his and no power on earth could have broken the contact.

Jane saw the amusement fade from Alex’s eyes, to be replaced by an expression that made her shiver.

‘Am I to test my theory and the strength of your feeling for my brother?’ he asked softly. ‘It is irresistible, I fear…’

Jane had plenty of time to move away from him and she knew that he would not have tried to stop her had she done so. She could not have said what it was that held her captive, unless it was that fatal curiosity of hers; it had prompted her to wonder secretly what it would be like to be kissed by Alex, and now she wanted to know the answer. Whatever the reason, she stayed quite still, and Alex leant forward and kissed her.

The touch of his lips on hers was deceptively light, almost casual, were it not for an undercurrent of sensuality that sprang shockingly to life as soon as they touched, elemental as sheet lightning. Jane felt a surge of sensation wash over her, leaving her weak with a most delicious pleasure. She knew a moment when she was sure that Alex was about to sweep her into his arms, then, to her great disappointment, he released her and stepped back.

‘My apologies, Miss Verey,’ Alex said expressionlessly. ‘I fear I succumbed to an impulse that has been troubling me for some time.’

Jane took a deep breath. She was dizzy with the memory of taste and touch of him, torn by disappointment that he had let her go.

‘Well!’ she said, with incurable honesty. ‘I do not see that it is at all the thing to kiss your brother’s intended bride, your Grace!’

‘No…’ Alex slanted a glance down at her ‘…I agree that it would not be at all appropriate-were you to be that bride, Miss Verey! Now, permit me to escort you back to the others before anything else befalls you!’

After a moment’s hesitation, Jane took his proffered arm and they walked slowly through the dappled shade towards the edge of the copse. Her shaken nerves were beginning to settle again, but she was still acutely aware of Alex’s physical presence. She reflected a little ruefully that Alex himself seemed quite unmoved, almost as though he had forgotten what had passed only a moment before. In fact he suddenly seemed a great deal more cheerful than he had for the entire week.

‘So,’ he said conversationally, ‘will you concede the truth? It is all a scheme, is it not?’

Not even Jane found herself brass-faced enough to tell a direct lie. ‘It was all working so well!’ she said a little plaintively. ‘You said yourself that you had been taken in!’

‘Yes, I must have been very slow,’ Alex agreed pleasantly. ‘In truth, I thought I knew you far too well to be deceived again!’

Jane cleared her throat. For some reason his words and tone had disturbed something in her. They created a feeling of intimacy that stirred emotions already aroused by their encounter. For some reason he did not sound accusatory-there was too much warmth in his voice.

‘You have said before that you knew I was untrustworthy,’ she began, a little bitterly, but Alex stopped and turned to face her properly.

‘I did say that, and I am sorry for it. I said it only to provoke you at the time and the fact that it worked does not make it any more admirable! The truth is, Miss Verey-’ his tone dropped ‘-I have long admired your strategies and your determination not to give in!’

There was a silence broken only by the chatter of the birds and the running of the brook. Jane felt the colour sting her cheeks and dropped her gaze, and Alex, sensing her discomfort, started to walk again.

‘Tell me, what did you plan to do next?’ he asked. ‘Your plan was a good one in the short term, but dangerous as well! You must realise that your mother in particular is planning an announcement as soon as we reach Town!’

‘Yes…’ Jane was glad to be distracted from her own complicated feelings ‘…I own that was a problem! I had not quite fathomed how to avoid the formal engagement!’

‘No doubt you would have thought of something,’ Alex said, so consolingly that Jane looked up sharply to see if he was teasing her. He was smiling at her, but without mockery.

‘I expect so,’ Jane said dolefully, ‘but now that you know the truth-’

‘Yes, we shall have to think of something else!’

‘I only wanted Sophia to be happy,’ Jane said, still following her own train of thought. ‘That is,’ she added scrupulously, ‘I did not wish to marry Lord Philip, but when it became apparent that Sophia did, I hoped for a happy outcome! Do you think-’ she glanced at Alex hopefully ‘-that you might permit…?’

Alex was looking preoccupied. ‘I shall have to think about it, Miss Verey,’ he said.

Jane left it at that. She wanted to make a push for Sophia’s future, but knew full well that Alex was hardly a man who could be pestered into agreement. Besides, she wanted to escape the leafy shade, for being alone with him was making her nervous. The strength of his arm beneath her fingers, the brush of his body against hers…she was very aware of him and had no wish to betray her feelings.

They stepped out into the bright sunshine and Jane nearly gasped with relief.

‘I see Miss Marchment and my brother ahead,’ Alex said, matter of factly. ‘As you predicted, Miss Verey, they are almost back with the others!’

‘Oh, by all means let us hurry to catch them up!’ Jane said thankfully. She had no wish to prolong this unsettling encounter. Alex, however, appeared to have other ideas.

‘Oh, let us not rush back,’ he said lazily, with an amused look down at her. ‘It would not do for you to go hurrying about in the full sun!’

‘I have my parasol now,’ Jane said pertly, unfurling the lacy white material, ‘and I am no fragile flower!’

‘No, indeed, a most resilient root, Miss Verey, although that is scarcely a flattering description of you! I would never underestimate your resourcefulness!’

Jane tilted her head to look at him. ‘You are speaking in riddles, your Grace!’ she said bluntly. ‘It is most disconcerting!’

Alex gave her a smile that was even more disturbing. ‘Forgive me! I thought, perhaps, that you would understand me, being so accomplished in strategy! I simply meant that though I have seen through your current plan, I would not put it past you to devise another! I must beg you not to do so. You see, I already have one of my own in the devising, and though it will take a little time to sort out, I have high hopes that it will come to fruition!’

‘I hope that it is not along the lines of your other tactics, sir,’ Jane said tightly and not entirely truthfully. ‘I consider them indefensible!’

‘If you mean the kiss, it was not an intentional part of my plan,’ Alex admitted, still smiling, ‘but now that I have found it so effective and enjoyable I may have to employ it again! Now, Miss Verey, tell me if you would protest! That is an interesting test of your honesty!’

Jane’s stormy gaze locked with his but she was not able to respond because of the proximity of the others. She did not like to imagine what they might have read into her expression. The picnic had been neatly packed away and Lord Philip was assisting Lady Verey and Lady Eleanor up into the gig that was to convey them back to the house. Lady Dennery, her face as thunderous as it had been earlier, was standing a little apart from the others and tapping her parasol angrily on the grass.

Lord Philip hailed his brother with a deeply suspicious innocence. ‘Alex! We had all but given up hope of you and imagined that you had spirited Miss Verey away!’

‘Tempting,’ Alex said under his breath, with a limpid look for Jane. He raised his voice. ‘Is everybody ready to go back?’

‘I have been ready this past hour!’ Lady Dennery snapped. ‘Have you no thought for others, Alexander?’ Her contemptuous gaze raked Jane. ‘Or perhaps you were lost in your pastoral idyll with that little-?’

‘Have a care, Francine!’ The Duke’s tone was soft but with an undertone that made Jane jump. For a moment she saw a flash of some vivid emotion in his eyes, before he turned to her with scrupulous courtesy.