The tea tray had been set on a table close to where Rannulf sat. The plate of dainty cucumber sandwiches had been passed around once as had the plate of cakes. Second cups of tea had been poured, after which the maid had been dismissed with a nod from Lady Effingham. But Mrs. Law’s appetite had not been satisfied, it seemed. Her silk dress rustled about her plump form and the jewels in her necklace and earrings and on her rings and bracelets sparkled in the sunlight as she half turned to the woman behind her.

“Judith, my love,” she said, “would you be so obliging as to bring the cakes again? They are particularly good today.”

The drab, shapeless companion got to her feet and came behind the sofa on which Rannulf sat and picked up the plate. His attention was on a list of expected houseguests Mrs. Effingham was reciting for his edification.

“Oh, do pass them around, my love, if you will,” the old lady said as the companion began her return path behind the sofa. “Lady Beamish did not take one the last time. But you have all the exertion of the journey home to face, Sarah.”

“We are expecting my stepson too,” Lady Effingham was saying to Rannulf, “though one can never be quite certain with Horace. He is a charming young man and is in constant demand at all the summer house parties.”

“No, thank you, Miss Law,” his grandmother said softly, waving away the cake plate. “I really have eaten enough.”

Rannulf lifted his hand to make the same gesture of refusal as the woman moved in front of him and offered the plate, her head bowed so low that the brim of her cap hid her face from his view. Not that he looked up into it anyway. He did not afterward know what it was that made him suddenly pause. She was simply one of the invisible female creatures with which the households of the wealthy tended to abound. One simply did not notice them.

However it was, he did pause, and she lifted her head just a fraction. Enough that their eyes met. And then she lowered her head hastily again and moved on even before he could complete his dismissive gesture.

Green eyes. A nose very lightly dusted with freckles.

Law. Miss Law. Judith. Judith Law.

For a moment he felt completely disoriented.

Claire Campbell.

“Er, I beg your pardon?” he said to Lady Effingham. “No. No, I do not believe I have the pleasure of his acquaintance, ma’am. Horace Effingham. No, indeed. But I may well know him by sight.”

She had set down the plate, moved behind him again— this time he felt her as she passed—and resumed her seat, though first she moved it even farther behind the old lady’s.

He dared not even glance at her, though he felt no doubt whatsoever that he had not mistaken. It was not as if he had been searching for green eyes and freckled noses wherever he went after all. He had not.

He had not wanted to see her again, had not expected to do so. Besides, he had been firmly convinced that she was in York.

Even so, the evidence of his senses had presented him with too bizarre a truth.

There was no such person as Claire Campbell, actress, then? Even that had been a clever deception?

She was Judith Law, some relative of the family. A poor relation by all appearances. Hence her empty purse when she had traveled— and hence too the stagecoach as her mode of travel. She had allowed herself a sensual fling with him when it had offered itself. She had recklessly sacrificed her virtue and her virginity and risked all the dire consequences.

The consequences.

Rannulf did not know what was said to him or what he replied during the five minutes that passed before his grandmother got to her feet to take her leave. He rose too, somehow said all that was proper to the occasion, and found himself in five minutes more back in the barouche, having handed in his grandmother ahead of him. He set back his head and closed his eyes, but only for a brief moment. He was not alone.

“Well?” she asked as the carriage rocked into motion.

“Well, Grandmama,” he said, “she is indeed remarkably pretty. Even prettier than you led me to believe.”

“And quite prettily behaved too,” she said. “If there is any excess, it is mere youthful folly and will soon mature under the demands of matrimony and motherhood and the patience of a good husband. She will be a good match for you, Ralf. Not brilliant, perhaps, but I believe even Bewcastle will not protest too loudly.”

“It was never understood,” he said, “that Wulf would choose my bride, Grandmama.”

She chuckled. “But I would be willing to wager on it,” she said, “that he was near to having an apoplexy when he discovered that Aidan had married a coal miner’s daughter.”

“After that shock,” he said, “I am confident that he will approve of someone as eligible as Miss Effingham.”

“You will seriously court her, then?” she asked, setting one hand on his sleeve. He noticed how the skin stretched thin and pale over the bones, and covered it with his own hand.

“I agreed to go back tomorrow for dinner, after the house-guests have arrived, did I not?” he reminded her.

“You did.” She sighed. “I expected you to be far more difficult. You will not be sorry, I promise you.

Bedwyn men have always been reluctant to marry, but they have invariably made marriages that turned into love matches, you know. Your poor dear mama never did recover her health after Morgan’s birth and died far sooner than she ought, but she was very, very happy with your papa, Rannulf, and he doted on her.”

“I know,” he said, patting her hand. “I know, Grand-mama.”

But his head was pounding with thoughts about Judith Law, alias Claire Campbell. How the devil were they going to avoid each other during the coming weeks? At least now he could understand why she had fled. He had wanted to go with her so that he could see her act , not realizing that everything he had seen of her from the first moment on had been nothing but an act.

He was no less furious with her now. She had deceived him. For all the excesses of his life, he would never have dreamed of seducing a gently nurtured woman. And that was exactly what he felt like—a seducer of innocence. A damned lecherous villain.

Life had certainly taken several turns for the worse since his grandmother’s letter had reached him in London.

He is so very large, mama,“ Julianne said, nevertheless clasping her hands to her bosom as if in ecstasy.

Uncle George had gone downstairs to see Lady Beamish and Lord Rannulf Bedwyn on their way and had not returned to the drawing room.

“But a fine figure of a man,” Aunt Effingham said. “There is no padding in his clothes, I declare, nor does there need to be.”

“He is not at all handsome, though, is he?” Julianne said. “He has such a big nose.”

“But he has blue eyes and good teeth,” her mama said. “And all the Bedwyns have that nose, Julianne, my dearest. It is what is known as an aristocratic nose. Very distinguished.”

“His hair!” Julianne said. “It is long, Mama. He had it tied back .”

“That is a little strange, I must confess,” Aunt Effingham said. “But hair can always be cut, dearest, especially when a lady for whom he cares requests it. At least he is not bald.”

She and Julianne tittered merrily.

“In my day, Julianne,” Grandmama said, “long hair on men was still all the rage, though many of them shaved their heads and wore wigs. Not your grandpapa, though. His hair was all his own. Long hair is very appealing, in my opinion.”

“Ugh!” was Julianne’s comment. “What did you think of Lord Rannulf Bedwyn, Judith? Do you think he is handsome? Shall I have him?”

Judith had had more than half an hour in which to compose herself. She had thought she would surely faint when he first came into the room. It could not be, it just could not be, she had thought for the merest moment. Her eyes and her mind must be playing tricks on her. But it was unmistakable and indisputable—Ralph Bedard and Lord Rannulf Bedwyn were one and the same. All the blood had drained out of her head, leaving it cold and clammy, dimming sounds and making everything before her eyes sway and swim in a strange unreality.

Ralph—Rannulf. Bedard—Bedwyn. Close, but different enough to keep his true identity from a potentially demanding and ambitious actress. And different enough that she had not even noticed the similarity before being confronted by the man himself. She had fought not to swoon and thus draw unwelcome attention to herself. But she still felt unsteady enough to faint if she allowed herself.

“Handsome?” she said. “No, I don’t think so, Julianne. But he is, as Aunt Louisa says, distinguished looking.”

Julianne laughed, jumped to her feet, and pirouetted as she had done in Grandmama’s dressing room earlier.

“He was very attentive, was he not?” she said. “He listened to every word I spoke and did not look superior or bored as so many gentlemen do when one speaks. Shall I have him, Mama? Shall I, Grandmama? Do you not wish you were in my place, Judith?”

“He will have to make Papa an offer first,” Aunt Effingham said, getting to her feet. “But he was clearly very taken with you, dearest, and it is clear too that Lady Beamish fully intends to promote the match.

She must have considerable influence over him. I believe we can be optimistic.”

“Judith, my love,” Grandmama said, “would you be so good as to help me to my feet? I do not know why I am so sluggish these days. We will have to have the physician again, Louisa. He must give me more medicine. We will go upstairs and you must summon Tillie for me, Judith, if you will. I believe I will lie down for an hour.”