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chastity.

Rosa strolled over, beaded glass in hand. "If you keep looking at the man like that," she said quietly, "you'll stir rumors."

"Don't be silly."

Rosa drew her away a little from the other women. "Elf has already asked me a couple of oblique questions."

"About me and the marquess? How peculiar."

This was Rosa, however, who knew her far too well to be deceived. Diana led the way out of the door and down the corridor toward open air.

"He's a fascinating man," Rosa said when they were outside. "And handsome - if one admires a finely-made blade."

Diana stopped to face her. "That's not fair. There's more to him than a weapon." When her cousin's brows rose, she cursed her impulsive tongue. "Perdition, Rosa, I just feel sorry for him."

"Sorry..." Rosa echoed. "For the Marquess of Rothgar?"

"You're as bad as the rest! I thought you said he was the one who sorted out your problems and made this all happen. You should be grateful."

"I am, but - "

"Yes he's brilliant, elegant, and carries England in the cup of his hand, but..." Knowing she was going to regret her words Diana still couldn't stop. "He's alone, Rosa. Don't you see that? He's created a loving family, but he's not part of it - "

"Of course he is."

"Well, yes. But not as a brother. Not quite. And his mother's madness means he won't create a family of his own. You must see how that resonates with me. I have no siblings, and I will never have a family."

"There's nothing to stop - "

Diana waved that aside. "His gifts, his powers, must set him apart from other men. How many men in England feel truly at ease with him? And how many can he allow himself to be at ease with?"

Rosa was studying her with a frown. "But the marquess knows everyone, and is known everywhere. He can't go down the street in London without being recognized."

Diana knew the "delights" of that. Doubtless he, like she, even had his face on inn-signs. True, the picture of her hanging outside the Countess of Arradale Inn in Ripon wasn't an excellent likeness, but it was close enough. She could not go anywhere in the north in private.

Unless she adopted a disguise, she thought, remembering the time last year when she'd played the part of Rosa's spotty maid. When she met the Marquess of Rothgar for the first time -

She snapped herself out of that. "What of his more intimate friends?"

And what of mine? echoed inside, as she made herself move, strolling back to the barn and the dancing.

Yes, she too had a wide acquaintance, and was recognized all over these parts, but who could she count as a true friend? Only Rosa, who today was taking up a new life that must surely absorb her interest.

"He does have a magnificent mistress."

Diana's heart missed a beat, but she instantly recovered. "He doesn't worry about passing on his madness through her?"

"Rumor says she is barren."

"Convenient." Diana realized that yet again she was wrapped up in the marquess and his affairs. It seemed like a thorny thicket, snagging her whichever way she turned.

"She's very striking, too," Rosa was saying. "In a foreign style."

Something suddenly struck Diana. "Are you saying the Mallorens introduced you to her? To a member of the demimonde?"

"Of course not. I really shouldn't have called her his mistress. It's only hinted at. She's a scholar and poet who holds select salons. I went to one with Brand."

A scholar and poet. Though well-educated, Diana was neither of those things. A painful little knot formed inside her, and she had the dreadful feeling that it might be jealousy.

Obsessive curiosity was bad enough. Jealousy would be the final ridiculous straw!

"A formidable mind?" she asked, only because she had to say something. "So that is what draws the marquess to a woman."

They had reached the big open doors to the barn, where merry dance music greeted them. "They certainly seem to have a great deal in common," Rosa said. "Elegance. Intellect. They both seem as self-sufficient as silky, aristocratic cats."

"Cats?" Diana queried in surprise. "Hard to imagine Lord Rothgar sprawled bonelessly on someone's lap purring."

Rosa smothered a hoot of laughter. "Oh, I don't know. He must be human once in a while."

Diana forced a grin, but she knew she was blushing. Comments like that made her sharply aware of how little she really knew of the business of intimacy.

Men sprawled on laps? Purring?

Lord Rothgar?

She couldn't help trying to imagine it, but despite