But then Colin glowered at Harrison, and Jinx knew this mess was far from resolved.

"We are wed," Colin said. "But I doubt you two can claim that. Not yet, anyway."

Harrison had wound a section of sheeting around his hips. Unfortunately it was the end of the same sheet that shielded Jinx from view. She tugged and he tugged back, and they had no choice but to both edge nearer one another.

"This is not what it seems," Jinx began.

"Yes it is," Harrison said.

She glared at him. Whose side was he on? "This is all Colin's fault. It would never have happened if he hadn't run off with Alice."

Colin's eyes bulged with outrage. "He did this to you for revenge? You out-and-out bounder-"

"I didn't say it was revenge. And I won't have such language!" Jinx shouted.

"Nor will I!" Alice concurred.

"I did not do… did not take… did not-Bloody hell," Harrison swore. He glowered at Colin. "I fully intend to marry your sister."

"I should hope so," Colin muttered, but his tension did seem to abate somewhat.

Jinx's, however, did not. Marry her? Harrison would do that? She felt a surge of emotions: relief, joy. Then, swiftly, gloom. She did not want him to marry her out of a sense of duty.

"I believe it takes two to marry," she said. "And I'm not likely to agree'to such a union between us."

"You agreed the moment you accepted him into your bed," Colin stated, stalking right up to the footboard. "It's too late for you to say no now."

"I will not allow you to arrange my life for me, Colin. Not you, nor anyone else."

He threw his hands up in the air. "You must marry him, Jinx, or else you will be ruined. Can't you see that?"

"I must do no such thing!" she retorted.

Then a hand caught her by the arm and her argument was no longer with her brother. Harrison stared down at her, his face serious. "Why won't you marry me?"

"Because… Because…" She swallowed hard, searching for words. "For one thing, you haven't asked me. You just announced that you would marry me, without ever consulting me about it. You're far too highhanded to make a good husband-"

"Will you marry me?"

That shut up her nervous babbling.

"I…" She shook her head and frowned. "I don't think that would be at all wise. We don't get along very well. You know that's so. We disagree about everything."

"The only thing we have disagreed on was whether your brother and my sister should wed. And that has just become a moot point."

"We hardly know one another," she said.

Colin let out a snort, while Harrison grinned at her. "We know each other well enough."

Her cheeks grew hotter still. He had her there. "But… but I'm not rich enough for you," she said, beginning to run out of excuses and afraid to point out the only real reason she had to object: that he didn't love her.

Then again, did she love him?

As Jinx stared at him, at his bare chest and broad shoulders and casually tousled hair, the oddest feeling settled over her. He was smart and loyal, and honorable. He was a generous lover and had a wry sense of humor, and he had the knack of surprising her. Plus, he set her heart to racing and her stomach to churning in ways she couldn't begin to understand.

Did she love him already?

She knew at once she did.

But instead of allowing her gracefully to accede to his request, the fact that she loved him only strengthened her resolve not to let him marry her out of a sense of duty. She shook her head once more and fought back the sting of unexpected tears.

"I don't need a rich wife," he said, scowling now.

"You don't need a wife at all," she whispered.

"Perhaps we should leave," Alice suggested.

"Are you mad?" Colin exclaimed. "Look at them. They're naked."

"Yes. They are," she agreed, taking hold of his arm and steering him toward the door. "Wait a minute, Alice -"

"No, Colin. Trust me in this. They must settle this between themselves, just as we made our decision absent of the interference of others."

A nervous shiver snaked up Jinx's spine. "I don't think you should go," she said.

But it was too late. Something had passed between Alice and Colin, some shared look that lightened his mood considerably. "Perhaps you're right after all, my dear." He glanced over at Harrison and actually smiled. "I hope you can convince her to marry you, Hartley, else I'll be forced to issue you a challenge, come the dawn."

It was all too ludicrous, Jinx thought as the couple departed, closing the door with a decisive click. All along she had feared Harrison challenging Colin, but instead, her brother had issued Harrison a challenge- albeit a friendly, grinning one.

Oh, but men were a perverse lot.

Still, this madness was not yet done, for she must deal with Harrison and his dutiful, and therefore unacceptable, proposal. She cleared her throat. "You needn't offer for me simply because of what has happened here between us."

"That's not why I offered for you."

He dropped the end of the sheet and sat down beside her. She scooted to the opposite side of the bed, still hiding her nakedness.

"While it's very nice of you to say that, and I appreciate the gesture, we both know the truth."

"No, I don't believe we both do."

She chanced a sidelong glance at him. "What does that mean?"

"It means that you could not possibly know why I want to marry you. I'm only just figuring it out for myself."

Jinx clutched the sheet tighter around her and tried not to notice how magnificent he looked in the altogether. "If you mean sex, well, yes, it was very nice. Very nice," she repeated. "But there should be more to marriage than merely procreation."

At that he started to laugh. "What we did in this bed was not 'merely procreation.' That was making love, Jinx. Love."

Love? She couldn't help it. She stared at him wide-eyed, knowing her emotions were bare to his examination, knowing that with one glance he would be able to guess all her secrets.

"Yes, love," he said, answering her silent question. "I know all about duty, Jinx. I know I must wed and create an heir for the Hartley line, and I've searched diligently for a woman to fill the role of my wife. But I was always looking for her with my head, not with my heart. Only now do I see that."

He sat there staring at her so earnestly, so sincerely, that Jinx was overcome. She was not a weeper; she never had been. Yet tears welled in her eyes, then one by one spilled over.

He reached out and with his thumb gently smoothed them away. "I love you, Jinx. I love you wet and bedraggled. And angry and obstinate. And even cross-eyed. Your every incarnation managed to trap me more and more securely in your web until now…" He lifted his arms and let them fall in a gesture of helplessness. "I love you. I only hope you can learn to love me, too."

"I do. I do love you," she blurted out. Then not allowing herself time to think, she launched herself into his arms. In a moment they were locked in an embrace, legs, arms, and sheets, all tangled together.

"I love you, Harrison," she murmured between sweet

kisses and hot kisses and seething, writhing kisses. "I love you."

"And you'll marry me?"

She drew her face back from his. She lay on top of him yet she knew she was as trapped by him as if he held her down by force. Love had caught her in its snare. How lovely a thought that was.

"I'll marry you, but on one condition."

He did not look in the least surprised. "And what is the condition?"

"You'll approve of Colin and Alice's marriage."

He laughed. "Oh, that. I conceded that battle to you yesterday."

"You did?"

"When I decided I could not let you go, I knew I would have to accept the rest of your family as well,"

"You decided that yesterday?" When Harrison grinned and nodded, Jinx smiled at him, certain she'd never at any moment of her entire life been happier than she was now. Without planning to do so, she'd somehow fallen in love. And so had her soon-to-be husband.

A love match. Fancy that.

Epilogue

THE SUNDAY TIMES LONDON, MAY 30, 1824

These are shocking times, dear readers. Shocking times, indeed.

On Wednesday past, Hartley Hall, that grand manse on Grosvenor Square, was the scene of unanticipated excitement. The Hartley mansion is renowned for its collection of classical bronzes and early weaponry, and also, in years past, for the exquisite balls and receptions hosted by the late Marquis and Marchioness of Hartley. The ceremony on the evening in question, however, was of another sort entirely: the newest Marchioness of Hartley made her unannounced entrance.

Yes, dear readers, your eyes do not deceive you. Harrison Stirling, Marquis of Hartley, is wed, a fact many will find even harder to credit, once advised of the scandalous circumstances of his marriage. But be in no doubt. It is a fait accompli. The eligible Lord Hartley is eligible no longer.

Your faithful correspondent has learned that the new marchioness is the former Miss Jillian Benchley, eldest daughter of the late Honourable Stanley Benchley and his late wife, the former Violetta Greenleigh. While I will allow that the bride is rather striking, tall with a graceful carriage and a crown of blazing tresses, she also has an odd air, rather exotic and foreign. One would swear bells tinkle in her wake. If nothing else, she will be a most entertaining addition to town society. No doubt invitations to Hartley House will be greatly in demand for the remainder of this season.

One wonders, of course, about such an unseemly haste to wed. Responding to inquiries about why no announcements were made prior to their union, Lord Hartley remarked only that his marriage is his private concern-his and his wife's.