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smile creased his face. ‘No such thing, I promise you,’ he assured her. ‘Your candour is most refreshing.’

      Although deeply perplexed, Helena found herself strangely unwilling to allow him to leave before she had discovered the true reason for his volte-face.

      ‘Then, why?’ she persisted, steadfastly ignoring the sound of her cousin’s sharp intake of breath.

      Richard hesitated momentarily then, with a slight lift of his shoulders, said, ‘The fact of the matter is, Miss Wheatley, that I find I am having considerable difficulty in coming to terms with the idea of being—bought off—if you will excuse the expression!’

      She flushed. ‘But I was under the impression that that was the whole point of the scheme!’ she rejoined. ‘Your title for my hand—or rather—the fortune that goes along with it! Why did you offer yourself up if you find the whole idea so repellent?’

      Shaking his head, the earl stepped away from her. ‘I fear that it is far too complicated a matter to go into here, Miss Wheatley so, if you will excuse me, I will bid you “good day” and thank you again for your patience.’

      ‘No, wait, please!’ exclaimed Helena, now in some desperation. The thought of having to tell her father that she had failed to carry out his mission did not sit readily with her and, racking her brain for some sort of inspiration, a possible way out of the dilemma occurred to her. ‘I do have another suggestion—if you will hear me out?’

      Richard gave an impatient shrug. ‘Naturally, I will listen to what you have to say, Miss Wheatley,’ he said wearily. ‘But, I must assure you that it will not alter my decision.’

      ‘You cannot possibly know that until you have heard what I am about to suggest!’ she flashed back at him. ‘Now, do sit down and hear me out, I beg you.’

      Stifling the smile that was threatening to form, the earl returned to his seat where, leaning back, he folded his arms and waited expectantly. He was not a little intrigued as to why the lady should be so anxious to stay his departure since, as far as he had been able to gather from his grandmother, she had given every one of her previous suitors very short shrift before he had been sent on the rightabout. Not that he numbered himself among such fly-by-nights as Barrington, Arnold and Farley, he was quick to remind himself. In fact, having spent some time considering the various snippets of information that the dowager had imparted, it had not taken him long to arrive at the conclusion that Miss Helena Wheatley was, possibly, not altogether enamoured of her father’s plans for her future and might well have been going to considerable lengths to sabotage them. Her initial coolness towards him on his arrival had reinforced this belief and had, in the end, gone some way in strengthening his resolve to quit. Although he was achingly aware of the highly parlous state of his affairs, he could see no reason for compounding an already shameful situation by setting himself up as a target for general ridicule.

      Helena took a deep breath. ‘I completely understand your reticence, my lord,’ she began. ‘But you must understand that I cannot bring myself to tell my father that his efforts have been to no avail. I have, however, come up with a sort of compromise—a solution that may prove to be of benefit to both of us.’

      One of Richard’s brows rose imperceptibly. It was becoming clear he had not been wrong in his surmise. However, he opted not to comment and waited for Helena to continue.

      ‘You must correct me if I have gained the wrong impression, my lord,’ she said. ‘But it is my understanding that, whenever a gentleman’s name is linked to that of an heiress, his creditors seem perfectly content to hold back from their demands—banking, no doubt, on the possibility of acquiring a good deal more in the way of extra interest and so on?’

      The earl stiffened. ‘You are remarkably well informed, Miss Wheatley,’ he drawled. ‘But I still do not see…?’

      ‘I was merely trying to point out that there are certain advantages to be gained from even a short-term relationship—two or three weeks, for instance?’

      At Richard’s continued expression of incomprehension, Helena then leaned forwards and, clasping her hands together, entreated him, ‘What I am asking you, my lord, is whether you would be willing to consider fulfilling some of my father’s requirements for that length of time—just long enough for him to recover sufficiently for me to explain the situation to him?’

      ‘To which particular requirements are you referring?’ he asked suspiciously.

      ‘Well, for instance, if you would be prepared to escort me to just one or two simple affairs—you would have no need to sign anything, of course—I could tell Papa that you did not deem it necessary to put your signature to the document until you find yourself obliged to ask him to furnish you with extra funds—any expense you do incur I can easily reimburse you out of my own pocket.’

      ‘I trust that I have not yet sunk to the level that would require me to accept money from a lady,’ said Richard firmly, as he rose once more to his feet. ‘I am sorry, Miss Wheatley, but, in my opinion, the whole idea is totally impracticable!’

      Her lips trembling, Helena stood up and faced him. ‘I do not believe so, my lord,’ she replied in a toneless voice. ‘But, thank you for hearing me out—I shall not take up any more of your time. Please allow me to see you to the door.’

      Taking one look at her set, white face, the earl was filled with remorse. ‘I am sure that, when you have explained to your father, he will understand the situation, my dear,’ he said kindly, finding himself reluctant to leave the girl in such a dismal frame of mind.

       ‘Then you clearly do not know my uncle!’

      Charlotte Daniels, outraged at Markfield’s casual dismissal of her beloved Helena’s suggestion, had thrust herself between the pair and, ignoring her cousin’s exclamation of dismay, proceeded, in no uncertain terms, to berate the astonished earl.

      ‘How can you be so insensitive!’ she exploded, wagging her finger under his nose. ‘Is it beyond you to see that Helena is out of her mind with worry about her papa? She will not tell you, so I shall!’

      ‘Lottie, please!’ begged Helena, attempting to pull her cousin aside. ‘His lordship wishes to leave!’

      ‘Not until I have said my piece!’ countered Lottie obstinately and, turning back to Richard, she informed him that, contrary to what Helena had given him to understand, Mr Wheatley was, in fact, a very sick man and this latest attack had been described by his physician as extremely grave. If there were to be any hope of a recovery for him, he would be required to remain in his bed for at least two weeks, during which time it was vital that he had no excitation of any sort.

      ‘And, if you imagine that being told that you have left without signing his precious document does not qualify as excitation, ’ she finished scornfully, ‘then I must tell you that you are fair and far out!’

      Somewhat taken aback by the unexpected onslaught, Richard’s eyes travelled slowly from the scarlet-faced female in front of him over to Helena’s frozen expression. The rigid set of her shoulders told him how deeply mortified she was by her cousin’s interference.

      ‘You really should have told me how serious your father’s condition is,’ he said gently.

      She gave a little shrug. ‘Would it have made any difference, my lord? It is clear that you had already made up your mind to refuse his offer before you arrived.’

      ‘That much is true,’ he was obliged to acknowledge, as he stepped towards her and reached out to take her by the hands. ‘Nevertheless, Miss Wheatley, I must point out that being in receipt of such important information might well have caused me to give more serious consideration to your own request—I would not be altogether happy to find that your father’s recovery had suffered any sort of setback as a result of any action of mine.’

      At the gentle pressure of his fingers on her wrists, Helena seemed to feel her heart skipping several beats and, colouring faintly, she stammered, ‘It was not my intention to make you feel under

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