‘Thank you,’ Alex said gravely. He was smiling a little. ‘You have not, however, heard the second part of my proposal.’

‘There is more?’

‘Indeed. In permitting Philip to wed Miss Marchment I am no longer able to honour the commitment I made to my grandfather. Would you permit me to explain a little of the background, explain why I wished for the match at all?’

‘Of course,’ Jane said, feeling a little at sea. If Alex was no longer interested in the Verey-Delahaye alliance, why should he need to explain? She was suddenly uncertain where this was leading.

Alex squared his shoulders. ‘I believe that it was our paternal grandfathers who formed the idea that an union between the two families would be beneficial. They were both in the diplomatic service and met in Vienna. Did you know that they had formed a friendship?’

Jane shook her head. ‘My father’s father died when I was but young, sir. I had no idea he planned a grand family alliance!’

‘Unfortunately there was no one appropriate in our parents’ generation,’ Alex said drily. ‘My own mother and father were already married and I believe the other children were either promised or unsuitable in some way! Nevertheless, the grandfathers were not deterred!’

‘They planned to skip a generation?’

Alex smiled. ‘Precisely, Miss Verey! My grandfather summoned me before he died and acquainted me with his plan. I was already married but Philip was still a bachelor and already giving cause for concern with his wild antics. My grandfather knew that your parents had married late and that you were still in the schoolroom. Nevertheless, he suggested that it might be a good match. So I went to Ambergate to find out whether your father liked the idea.’

‘I know.’ Jane said. ‘I saw you.’

Alex looked startled. ‘You saw me? At Ambergate?’

‘Four years ago,’ Jane said. ‘I saw you one night going along the corridor past my room.’

For a moment the memory of the night came back to her: the dancing candle flame, the dark stranger, the legend…Jane felt suddenly resentful, all her bitterness over the arrangement with her father flooding back, reminding her that Alex had sought to use her as a pawn to further his own ends.

‘I suppose you had come to look me over and negotiate with my father as though I were some commodity!’ she said sharply.

Alex winced. He drove his hands into his jacket pockets. ‘I concede that the plan was ill conceived. I was trying to honour my grandfather’s wishes and find a solution to Philip’s wildness. I did not think-’ He broke off, to resume:

‘I must be honest and admit that I thought nothing of your hopes and wishes! Oh, it was old-fashioned of me to wish to arrange a match, but I had the best of intentions. I really thought that it would be the making of Philip!’

‘And so it will be,’ Jane said stoutly, ‘immeasurably more so now that he has been allowed to choose his own bride!’

‘Yes.’ Alex slanted a look down at her. ‘I suppose my reasoning was at fault in thinking that marriage was the means to compel Philip to settle down. He would no more accept a forced match than he would reform of his own accord! Yet now that he has attached himself sincerely to a young lady, he is a changed character!’ Alex shook his head ruefully. ‘I admit that I have made some bad mistakes in this business.’

Jane was prey to mixed feelings. It seemed from Alex’s words that matters were now settled. Philip and Sophia would be permitted to marry and Jane would no longer be obliged to scheme and plan to avoid her fate. She could return to Ambergate, perhaps, and then she would never need to see the Duke of Delahaye again…

‘Of course,’ Alex was continuing, ‘that leaves me with the difficulty of resolving my pledge to my grandfather. Then I thought that if one plan could not suffice, another might.’

Jane realised that they had stopped walking. They were in the shadow of a huge clump of cedars and the figure of the groom seemed suddenly far away. There was no one else in sight. Her throat had gone dry. She could read his intentions in his face…

‘Oh, no…’

Alex gave her a whimsical smile. ‘Is it so horrifying a prospect, Miss Verey? You must be quite honest, as I know you can be! You do not wish to marry me? It is such a neat solution!’

The breeze caressed Jane’s hot cheeks. Her mind was racing.

‘Oh, I could not! I am…you are so-’ She stopped before she could say anything she regretted. She was not entirely sure what she had meant to say. For all her feelings and half-formed wishes, the whole idea was so shocking, so sudden, that she could not comprehend it. Yet Alex was looking quite composed, almost lazily amused, as though her confusion pleased him.

‘Oh!’ Jane burst out. ‘This is so like you! To replace one outrageous suggestion with one even more monstrous! After all the trouble I went to-’

‘To thwart me?’ Alex was laughing openly now and it only added to Jane’s distraction. ‘But surely you did not wish to marry Philip?’

‘No, but-’ Jane almost stamped her foot with frustration. ‘Nor did I plan to have to reject you, your Grace!’

‘Then do not…’ Alex had taken her gloved hand in his and his touch was almost too much for Jane to bear. She realised that something strange was happening to her. The combined shock and the heady influence of Alex’s presence threatened to sweep away her good sense. It would be thrilling to give in to her instincts and accept him. For a moment she revelled in the idea, before sanity intervened.

There were so many reasons to refuse him. He had admitted that he had proposed in order to fulfil the pledge to his grandfather. Then there had been his bitterness when he had spoken of his dead wife. Alex must have loved her very much, and who could compete with a ghost? Surely not a naïve girl of nineteen! And then there was Francine Dennery…

‘What of Lady Dennery?’ she said, suddenly forlorn, remembering the Beauty’s flagrant charms.

Alex raised his black brows. ‘You need not concern yourself over her,’ he said cryptically. ‘Lady Dennery will not be surprised at our betrothal.’

He was moving much too fast for Jane. Betrothal…She frowned a little at his presumption.

‘I do not find that particularly reassuring, sir,’ she said candidly. ‘Do you imply that Lady Dennery would accept the situation and carry on as before, or that your association with her would be at an end?’

Alex gave her a wicked grin. ‘Straight to the point, Miss Verey! Do you imply that Lady Dennery is my mistress?’

‘I have no wish to discuss your precise relationship!’ Jane snapped, fast losing her temper. ‘My point was that I would not marry a man who would be unfaithful to me!’

Alex inclined his head. ‘I respect your views and you need have no concern on that score. I do not intend to be unfaithful to my wife!’

His wife…Jane realised that her question had given the false impression that she would accept. Drawing away a little, she turned to look at him. She had to put a stop to this now, before she became further entangled. Alex had viewed the marriage as a neat solution, and on that basis she had to decline. The balance would be too unequal otherwise-she loved him, but he saw her as a way out of a problem…

‘I am sorry,’ she said formally. ‘I cannot accept you, your Grace.’

Alex’s face was very still. Jane found herself studying him closely, committing to memory the strong lines of his face, the dark eyes that could lighten so easily to unexpected laughter…Her throat ached with tears as an intense love swept over her. Oh, if only he had said that he loved her!

‘May I ask why you have refused?’ he said at length, very quietly.

‘Because…’ Jane cleared her throat ‘…I understand that it would only be a match of convenience-’

‘A match of convenience! What extraordinary ideas you do have, Miss Verey!’ Alex stepped closer. ‘Surely you must realise that I find you prodigiously attractive?’

Jane gave a despairing squeak. That was not what she had meant at all and now matters were taking a decidedly difficult turn. ‘Oh, no, your Grace, that cannot be so! You are funning me! Please do not say any more!’

‘Pray do not distress yourself, Miss Verey,’ Alex murmured. ‘Let me convince you of my good faith!’

Jane was aware that the situation was slipping from her grasp. She had witnessed Alex’s potent charm on many an occasion but never imagined that there would be a serious need to defend herself against it. She put out her left hand to ward him off-he appeared to already have possession of her right-but he simply captured it in his and pulled her closer.

She knew that he would release her at once if she appeared truly distressed and yet she discovered that she had not real inclination to pull away from him.

He freed her hands only to draw her more closely into his arms and Jane found that, instead of pushing him away, she was leaning confidingly against his chest. His cheek grazed hers, rough against the softness of her skin and Jane gave a pleasurable shiver, breathing the delicious male scent. She had a sudden urge to turn her face against his neck and inhale deeply until she was intoxicated with the essence of him, but Alex was kissing her already and this time it was very different from at Malladon. Gone was the gentleness, to be replaced with a real urgency that was both exciting and a little bit frightening at the same time.

The stretch of parkland, the tall trees and the cool breeze all receded from Jane’s consciousness. She was aware of nothing beyond the powerful circle of Alex’s arms and the melting warmth that was invading her body.

Her lips parted instinctively beneath the skilful pressure of his own and Jane felt herself tremble in response. Nor did Alex seem unaffected by the embrace as she had thought him at Malladon, for she could feel the racing of his heart where her hand still rested against his chest. She slid her arms up around his neck and felt him draw her all the closer until she was resting against the whole length of his hard, muscular body. The kiss deepened into a dizzying spiral of desire, easing after an immeasurable time only as Alex let her go a little to catch his breath.