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said, ‘I am not in the habit of deflowering virgins, respectable or not.’ But in your case...

      ‘Perhaps you would consider making an exception? I understand men are almost obsessed with virginity, which seems strange, but then I know very few men.’ And, by the sound of it, wished to keep it that way.

      He flicked the IOU with one finger, making her start at the sharp sound and glance at him again. ‘This debt is not your problem, Lady Caroline.’

      She bit her lip and Gabriel drew in a steadying breath. Even talking about making love to her was having an uncomfortable effect on him. He could understand that men wanted a virgin bride because they needed to be certain their heirs were from their own seed. But maidens held no attraction for him. Forcing women was revolting and a willing virgin was doubtless a great deal more trouble than she was worth—tiresomely inexperienced with a price to pay in the form of a maddened father with a shotgun. Besides, he expected expertise and sophistication from his lovers.

      And yet, this one... It has nothing at all to do with her virginity. Those blue eyes and that mouth and the stubborn, innocent courage of her... Damn, she is not safe out when she has no idea the effect she has on a man.

      ‘Oh, but it is my problem.’ Lady Caroline was becoming animated now, her blush disappearing as she leaned forward earnestly, trying to convince him, or, perhaps his disordered neckcloth, which is what she was now fixed upon. ‘Mama died ten years ago. Anthony is my little brother and I promised her I would look after him. I love Papa, of course, but he is...difficult. He would regard paying you to buy back the deeds as a waste of money that should go into Lucas’s inheritance, or towards improving Knighton Park.’ When Gabriel did not respond she said fiercely, ‘Anthony is the only one of my family who truly loves me and I love him as though he was my own child, not just my brother.

      ‘You have brothers, I know you have because I looked you up in the Peerage.’ For some reason that brought the colour up again in her cheeks. ‘This morning, I mean. I know, as a man, you can’t feel about them as I feel about Anthony, but you would do anything you could to help them, wouldn’t you?’ It was more a statement than a question.

      Yes. ‘No.’ He was not going to encourage her in this, allow her to see that her promise to her mother meant something to him. What his duty was as a man, as the eldest son, was quite different from hers as a daughter, a woman. ‘Listen to me, Anthony is a boy. He’ll find his own way in the world eventually. He isn’t a child, your responsibility, any more. Your older brother will look after him.’

      She was finally staring at him, although her expression suggested that it was because he had grown two heads. ‘I do not understand you. I love him for himself, but Anthony is also all I have left of Mama. I know from the Peerage that your mother is dead too. Have you no affection for your own family? Don’t you see your parents when you look at your brothers? Surely they are the most important thing in the world to you, even if sometimes you fall out with one of them?’

      All I have left of Mama, she had said. He understood that too well. The blackness swirled down, the memories clamouring. Promise me...the still white hand, limp beside the bottle...

      Gabriel shrugged the images away, unable to acknowledge what lay at the heart of them. He would kill...he would protect his brothers, of course he would. He had. They were his responsibility, his trust. He shrugged again. ‘It is my duty. But I am a man and head of the family.’

      ‘I am so sorry you feel like that, you must miss so much,’ Lady Caroline murmured.

      For an appalled moment Gabriel thought she was going to cry, she looked so upset. ‘You are not going to sell yourself to me in exchange for those deeds. What will your husband say?’ The heavens only knew where this impulse to decency was coming from.

      ‘I do not have one. Yet.’ Lady Caroline’s expression changed from sad to rigid.

      ‘You will, soon enough.’ She must be in her early twenties, he guessed. Twenty-three, perhaps. ‘And a husband means a wedding night.’

      ‘Papa has a number of men in mind for me, but he hasn’t made up his mind yet which would be the most advantageous match. Frankly I would be delighted to give any one of them a shock on the night.’ She seemed to have recovered her spirit, but her gaze had slid away to the fire irons again.

      ‘You do not have to obey him.’

      ‘He is my father, of course I have to obey him. I have no choice.’

      ‘Your duty, I suppose.’

      She nodded, one sharp jerk of her averted head. ‘Duty and lack of other options. My father tends to discourage suitors who do not match his wishes for me.’

      ‘You don’t really want to have sex with me, do you?’ Gabriel smiled as she looked back, startled at the deliberate crudity of his words. He made the expression more wolfish than reassuring and ran one hand over his morning beard, drawing her eyes to his mouth. She stared and then swallowed and his arousal kicked up another notch. Damn it.

      ‘To be frank, rather you, my lord, than Sir William Claypole or Mr Walberton. Or Lord Woodruffe.’

      ‘Hell’s teeth! Has your father made a list of every middle-aged bachelor in society?’ If he had sisters he would not have been willing to match one of them to any of those men, least of all Woodruffe.

      ‘Only of those with lands close to ours who would be willing to exchange them for me.’ When he did not respond she said urgently, ‘Please, Lord Edenbridge. I know you are supposed to be hard and cynical and to care for nothing and nobody, but deep down you must have family feeling. You must, surely, understand how desperate I am.’

      The first part of that description was more or less accurate. ‘You have managed to do a remarkable amount of research on me, considering that it is not yet noon.’

      Lady Caroline blushed again. ‘I have seen you about at balls and so forth. People talk.’

      And you have been interested enough to ask about me? Gabriel laughed inwardly at himself. Coxcomb. Flattered because some attractive girl has noticed you? Women tended to look at him, just as he looked at them. But not well-bred virgins. He had a highly developed sense of self-preservation.

      ‘I will take you up on your offer,’ he said. She gasped as though she had not expected it and the colour fled from her cheeks. ‘I will send the deeds to you when I receive them from your father and you will give me an IOU for your maidenhead, to be surrendered when your marriage is definitely arranged.’

      ‘But...’

      ‘I may be a gamester and a rake with a shocking reputation, Lady Caroline. But I am a gentleman. Of sorts.’ Just enough of one not to barter your innocence. On the other hand, if she thought they had an agreement it would prevent her doing anything else reckless in order to raise money to pay him. He could simply hand her the deeds and he should do just that without any conditions. But the hunter in him enjoyed having her between his paws. Not to hurt, just to play with a little. He was so damnably bored these days. ‘On my honour I will speak of this to no one. What is your decision?’

      * * *

      She had expected to be sent packing with Lord Edenbridge’s derisive laughter ringing in her ears, or to find herself flat on her back in his bedchamber, and had not been able to work out which of those was the worst of two evils. What she had not expected was this reprieve. Which was not a reprieve after all, merely a postponement, she realised as his words sank in.

      ‘I accept.’ Caroline wondered if she was about to faint. She was not given to swooning, but the room seemed unexpectedly smaller and there was a strange roaring in her ears that must be the sound of her blood.

      ‘Please send the deeds to this address.’ She found her piano teacher’s card in her reticule and handed it to him without meeting his gaze. She had tried not to look at him, partly because the whole situation was so mortifying, but also because she knew she blushed every time she saw that rangy, carelessly elegant figure. Looking at his face, so close, would be too disconcerting. ‘Miss

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