Rafe moved down the centre of the long room, passing a group of dandies in blue silk coats, their waistcoats cinched so tightly, he could count the pence in their pockets. As if on cue, they lifted their lorgnettes and scrutinised Rafe’s plain black coat and tan breeches, sneering down their powdered noses at his understated dress. He ignored them as his gaze skipped over a few nymphs surrounding a consumptive-looking youth extolling his latest drivel.

‘Lord Densmore, what a pleasure it is to have you here tonight.’ The Dowager Countess of Daltmouth glided up to him in a cloud of rosewater perfume. ‘I didn’t think you’d come.’

Rafe took her extended hand, nearly folding himself in half to offer a greeting of substance. She’d aged gracefully, her blonde hair arranged to favour her regal nose and high cheekbones. The deep-purple dress flowed over her still enviable curves, revealing a touch of the bosom which had once been the envy of all the ladies. If the lights were lower, Rafe might have mistaken her for a much younger woman. ‘There’s nowhere else in London I’d rather be.’

‘Liar,’ she chided, her thumb brushing the underside of his palm before she let go.

Rafe straightened, cautious of the mature coquette. ‘You’ve assembled an impressive gathering tonight.’

‘Not as impressive as the pillar of the Densmore family.’ Her eyes stroked the length of him, pausing at the buttons of his breeches before rising to meet his eyes. ‘I believe you’ve surpassed even your father in height.’

‘And wit and charm.’ As well, it seemed, as respectability and love for his country.

‘Yes, I greatly admire your charm.’

‘Careful, Lady Daltmouth, or I might mistake your flattery for flirting.’

She laughed like a newly married girl impressing her unmarried friends with her recently acquired experience. ‘I assure you, Lord Densmore, nothing could be closer to the truth.’

‘I’m flattered,’ he lied, more amused than aroused. The woman wasn’t without appeal and if he were eighteen, he might be tempted, but not at eight and twenty. ‘I must warn you, I’m a rogue and not worth trifling with.’

‘I like rogues, they’re so much more interesting than ordinary gentlemen.’ She adjusted the creamy strand of pearls looped around her neck, making the beads rattle together as she settled them against her voluptuous bosom. ‘I hope to see more of you at my card party next week. Perhaps we can knock hands and you’ll find me above you.’

‘I look forward to the challenge.’ He bowed again, but not quite so low. It wasn’t the first time a woman long in the tooth and even longer in the purse had tossed him an offer. He wasn’t about to become a kept man, but he wasn’t about to make an enemy of the Dowager Countess either. Whatever her hungers and family reputation, she possessed connections and he valued them as much as the sovereigns in his pocket.

Her offer delivered, she whirled with the grace of an empress and made for a group of sombrely dressed matrons surrounding a thick-waisted poet. The Dowager Countess tossed Rafe one last suggestive glance before taking her place at the centre of the semicircle. Rafe struggled not to laugh at her imperiousness and her brazen suggestion before another sight knocked the humour out of him.

Cornelia.

She stood just beyond the old crows, near the open window. The evening breeze rustled the sheer gauze of her embroidered blue overdress and the white under-dress hugging the lines of her round hips. Her dark hair was drawn up in a mass of loose curls wound with a black-satin ribbon, leaving the arching line of her neck exposed to tease him. He opened and closed his hand, eager to slide his fingers up the warm skin, dislodge the hairpins and send the tangle of ebony ringlets cascading over her shoulders. There was nothing more beautiful than her dark curls hanging just above the tips of her pointed nipples, the pink buds eager for his touch, her rich, blue eyes wide with anticipation.

He tightened his fingers into a fist before releasing them one by one. Tonight wasn’t about some dalliance from his past. It was about protecting his future and he couldn’t allow the tightness in his breeches to distract him from his goal.

He strolled around the outside of the gathering, watching Cornelia’s gaze slide from one guest to another, sizing up her prey like a wolf waiting to pick off the weakest lamb.

At last her eyes met his, dipping down the length of his body before she flashed him a dazzling smile. Rafe stopped as if he’d hit a wall. He knew this smile. It was a warning, not a welcome.

She settled herself on a nearby sofa as he approached, arranging her skirts over her legs before laying her hands in her lap to greet him like a queen. His ego chafed at her arrogance. How dare she take airs with him? He knew her history, both the real one and the one they’d invented the night she ran away with him from Sussex. Pride demanded he cut her, but he forced himself forward.

‘My dear Cornelia, what a pleasure it is to see you back in London.’ He swept into a low bow, noticing a small stain on one of his stockings before he straightened, careful to keep his smile wide and gracious.