The Fortune Hunter Page 0,29

them. They still treated life as a delightful game, but it was now a game they played as a team.

Verderan and Emily had married just before Christmas and disappeared for a long honeymoon. They had only been back a month and Harry had seen little of them in that time. He was amazed at the change Piers Verderan. No, not really a change, merely a heightening of his virtues and a marked diminution of his vices. His tongue was noticeably less sharp and his notorious temper seemed nonexistent.

Emily Templemore was not a Sophie. She was eight years older and of a much quieter disposition. She and Verderan loved in a quieter, more subtle way, and yet their love was as clear in the air as the perfume of roses.

Harry remembered Emily Grantwich in the days before she and Verderan had sorted out their affairs. She'd been weighed down by concerns, mostly to do with family. It seemed to him Amy de Lacy was similarly burdened. Was it possible he could bring a glow to Amy's eyes like the glow in Emily's?

Chart was looking at him with horror.

"My father's ill," Harry said. "He wants me to go to London and find a bride."

"Lord," said Chart, looking for all the world as if he'd just been told his friend had a fatal disease.

"It's not that bad," said Harry with a wry smile. "Look at Randal and Ver."

"They're six years older," Chart pointed out. "I've no mind to be tied down just yet."

"You don't have to. You've got a healthy father and a younger brother. And you don't have a title to carry on."

"Much to my father's disgust," said Chart. "So you're really going to do it? Almack's, the lot?"

Harry grinned. "Perhaps not." At Chart's look he said, "Amy de Lacy."

Chart frowned. "Are you sure that's wise? After all, what do you know of her other than that she's a raving beauty?"

Harry walked over and got into bed. "We did talk," he pointed out.

Chart extinguished the candles and joined him. "And?"

"She's easy to talk to. She has a sense of humor. She's very sensible. After all, Chart, most girls would have thrown fits to be in such a state, and would probably have rather frozen to death than done the sensible thing and take off their clothes."

Chart was lying back with his hands behind his head. He chuckled. "True enough. Remarkable just how reluctant most females are to strip down, no matter how sensible it might be." He sobered. "Don't bite my head off, old man, but are you sure she didn't hope for something more than talk?"

Harry leaned up on one elbow. "I'm sure. She was in a fine state of nerves."

"Quite reasonably if she'd set out to seduce you. I will credit her with being a virgin. Emily said her family's all rolled up. It wouldn't be surprising if a beauty like that decided to catch herself a good husband by unconventional means." He looked at his friend. "Going five miles for some broody hens sounds a bit rum to me."

Harry leaned back. He didn't like Chart's words, but he had to admit there was some sense to them. "She could hardly have planned the storm. No one expected it."

"True, but she could have planned a broken rein. Look at it logically. She sets out to go five miles for something she could have got closer to home. She'd dressed in a smart gown when they're apparently impoverished. Did you notice that Emily said the beautiful Miss de Lacy is in the habit of wearing extremely dull, unomamented garments?"

"I noticed," said Harry.

"There was a bonnet in the box," Chart added, rather apologetically.

"What?"

"In the box of the dogcart. There was a very smart bonnet - blue silk lining, striped ribbons, the lot. I'll go odds she would have looked very fetching in it."

Harry sighed. The fire crackled. Far off in the hall, the old clock wheezed its way through the twelve strokes of midnight. "It doesn't matter," said Harry at last. "I don't blame her for trying to catch the interest of an eligible parti. After all, life must be miserable if they're as poor as it would appear, especially with some idiot insisting they live like the workhouse poor until they're out of debt. Doubtless that fusby-faced sister."

Chart shrugged. "As you will. Just as long as you're forewarned. Beauty's a damned dangerous thing, and once you swallow the bait you'll have the whole family on your hands." He rolled over and