HE engagement party, given by Edward and Charlotte Malory, was a complete success. The whole family and all of their close friends were there. Even Jason’s wife had been persuaded to leave the cures at Bath and be there for the event. Nicholas’ grandmother and Aunt Eleanor enjoyed themselves immensely, and Reggie got the impression that they had despaired of Nicholas’ ever marrying. His mother, of whom he never spoke, was conspicuously absent.

Nicholas was on his best behavior, and everything went beautifully. The party had taken two weeks to prepare, and all the meticulous attention to detail, all the effort paid off.

Alas, smooth sailing doesn’t last. Two months after the party, Regina Malory was at the very bottom of despair. It didn’t help that she had reached this level of misery by slow degrees.

It was all for nothing.

She wouldn’t have believed it possible, not after he had made love to her. She had been so certain he would be happy to marry her after that night. He had been so wonderful, so incredibly patient and tender with her that night. Certainly he had had too much to drink, but was that enough to make him forget the evening?

Oh, they were still to be married. And he always let her know when he was leaving town. He went to Southampton for weeks at a time, claiming business. He always let her know when he returned to London, but in the last two months, she had seen him no more than five times. And those five times were terrible, every one.

He was never late to call for her each time he escorted her to a party, but he’d brought her home only three times. The other two times she had let her temper get the best of her and left without him. It wasn’t that he deserted her to spend the entire evening in the card room or embroiled in political discussions, but he often spent more time with Selena Eddington than with her. When he made an obnoxious fool of himself by following her around, well, that was the outside of enough.

Intentional, all of it. She knew very well he was playing the cad for her benefit. That was what hurt so much. If she for a minute thought he was showing his true colors, well, she would let Tony have at him, just see if she wouldn’t. But he was not a cad. He was waging a ruthless campaign to make her cry off. Just as he had been forced into the engagement, so he meant to force her out of it.

The very worst of it was that no matter how much it hurt, she couldn’t break with him. She no longer had just herself to think of.

Nicholas removed her short black lace cape and handed it to the footman, along with his own red-lined dark cloak and his top hat. Reggie was wearing a white gown trimmed with thin gold tassels along the hem and short sleeves. The neckline was fashionably low, barely covering her breasts, and she was uncomfortable in the gown because of that and because white was reserved for innocent maids.

She had managed to coax her Uncle Edward into trusting her without a chaperon this once. Not since the engagement party had there been any pleasantness between her and Nicholas.

Whatever she had hoped for, she was already disappointed. They had been alone in his closed carriage on the short ride, and he hadn’t tried to get close to her, hadn’t said a single word to her.

She stole a glance at him as they walked side by side to the music room, where a young couple, friends of Nicholas‘, were entertaining the twenty or so dinner guests. Nicholas looked exceptionally fine tonight in a long-tailed dark green coat, embroidered cream waistcoat, and frilled shirt. His cravat was loosely knotted, and he wore long trousers instead of the knee breeches and silk stockings preferred by dandies for evening dress. The material clung to his long legs, revealing the powerful thighs and calves. Just looking at his long, graceful body made her feel embarrassed.

His hair was a riot of short, dark brown waves, with so many golden streaks running through it that it sometimes looked copper, or even blond. She knew it was soft to the touch, knew too that his lips were soft, not the hard, rigid line they had been lately. Oh, why wouldn’t he talk to her?

A gleam entered her eyes. She stopped in the hall with a tiny gasp, forcing Nicholas to stop as well. He turned back toward her, and she bent over to adjust her shoe. Clumsily, she lost her balance and swayed toward him. Nicholas caught her under her arms, but she fell onto him anyway, her hands gripping his shoulders to steady herself, her breasts pressing into his chest. He gasped as though hit in the stomach by a powerful blow. Indeed, it was a powerful blow. Heat surged through his body, and the fire entered his eyes, banking them like smoldering coals.

Reggie’s dark blue eyes smoldered. “Thank you, Nicholas.”

She let go of him and walked on as if nothing had happened while he stood there, eyes closed, teeth clenched, trying to regain some control. How was it that such a tiny incident could snap the tight rein he kept on himself? It was bad enough that the sight of her and her voice and scent took a constant toll, but her touch… that was the one weapon that shattered his defenses totally.

“Oh, look, Nicholas. Uncle Tony’s here!”

Reggie smiled across the room at Anthony Malory, but her smile was as much for herself as for him. She had heard Nicholas’ gasp, felt him tremble, saw the desire in his amber eyes. Deceitful man. He still wanted her. He didn’t want her to know it, but now she did know. The knowledge warmed her, made up for a good deal of his abominable treatment.

Nicholas reached Reggie at the entrance to the music room, his eyes falling instantly on the dark head of Anthony Malory, bent toward the lady he was sitting next to. “Bloody hell! What’s he doing here?”

Reggie wanted to laugh at his tone, but she managed to keep a straight face. “I wouldn’t know. The hostess is your acquaintance, not mine.”

His eyes fixed on hers intently. “He doesn’t often attend these affairs, invitation or not. He came so that he could keep an eye on you.”

“Oh, unfair, Nicholas,” she chided. “This is the first time we’ve come across him.”

“You are forgetting Vauxhall.”

“Well, that was an accident. I don’t believe his intention that day was to keep an eye on me.”

“No. We both know what his intention was that day.”

“My, but you are angry,” she murmured, and then she let the subject drop. She knew why her uncle was there. He had heard that Nicholas was being seen with other women, and he was furious. Apparently he had decided his presence might help.

The young couple at the piano ended their duet, and some of the guests began to rise from their chairs to stretch their legs before the next song began. Bright satin coats and matching knee breeches graced the more fashionable men. The married women were distinguished by bold color, because maidens wore pastels or white.

Reggie knew everyone except their hostess, Mrs. Hargreaves. George Fowler was there with his sister and younger brother. She had recently met Lord Percival Alden, Nicholas’ good friend. She even knew Tony’s current ladylove, who was sitting next to him. And to her profound irritation, Selena Eddington was there, too, her escort an old chum of Tony’s.

“Nicholas.” Reggie touched his arm gently. “You must introduce me to our hostess before George’s sister begins her recital.”

She felt him stiffen under her fingers, and she smiled as she walked ahead of him toward Mrs. Hargreaves. My, but she must make a point of touching him more often, she thought.

The evening didn’t progress as she wished. At dinner, she found herself placed well away from Nicholas at the long table. He was seated next to their hostess, an attractively voluptuous woman, and he put himself out to be charming, captivating his hostess and all the other women around him.

She talked as graciously as she could to George, but it was hard to bubble when she felt so sad. The rakish Lord Percival, on her right, didn’t help at all, continually making comments about Nicholas that drew her eyes to him again and again, forcing her to recognize all the signs she’d witnessed before. Nicholas wasn’t just being charming to Mrs. Hargreaves, he wore the look of a man in hot pursuit.

As the evening wore on, Reggie forgot her earlier triumph in discomfiting Nicholas. He did not look at her once during the meal. She found it difficult to summon even the briefest of smiles for her companions, and she thanked heaven that Tony was not nearby. If she’d had to endure his snide comments just then, she would have burst into tears.

It was with profound relief that Reggie at last retired from the room with the other ladies. She had only a few minutes to compose herself, however, before the men sauntered into the drawing room. She held her breath, waiting to see if Nicholas would continue to ignore her. He made his way straight to Mrs. Hargreaves without giving Reggie a glance.

It was the outside of enough. Her pride wouldn’t let her stay. And if her uncle said even one word to her about Nicholas, she would explode. She couldn’t do that in public.

When she asked George Fowler to take her home, his limpid green eyes widened in delight. Then he said, “But your uncle?”

“I’m rather annoyed with him.” She was and she wasn’t, but it served as an excuse. “And he has brought a lady with him, anyway. I hate to impose on you, though, George. You have your sister with you.”

“My brother can see to her, never fear,” he declared, smiling.

Well, she thought crossly, it was nice that somebody liked her.