“It’s true. I’ve wasted my life. Squandered it. Wastrel, that’s what they call me and that’s what I am. It doesn’t matter how much I practice gambling, I’ll never get any better because I’m cursed. Lady Luck heard my vow to be the worst duke’s heir in the world, to play fast and loose with my father’s cursed money. She heard it and she never lets me forget it. I’ll never turn my vice into a virtue. I’ve never mastered anything in my life except being a disappointment.”

“Do you truly feel that way?”

“It’s the truth. I was taught that my only purpose in life was to be the duke’s heir. That’s all I learned. And then all I rejected. Just as you learned to perform and gave it up. You could have the world at your feet.”

“I don’t like being the center of attention. I’ll never perform again in public.”

“But why?”

She evaded his question by asking one of her own. “What are your reasons for forbidding Blanche to think of Lord Laxton as a suitor? I asked her why she fell in love with him and she chattered for an hour about how he quotes romantic poets to her and compares her eyes to sapphires and how he’s the only person in the world who truly sees her. She fancies herself in love with him.”

“I know.” He played a bass chord that clashed with Viola’s melody. “I have my reasons.”

“If I am to be their confidante, I should know the potential dangers that they face. I’ve inferred that Laxton did something unforgivable?”

“I overheard Laxton and his friends slandering Blanche and Belinda. Laxton said that Blanche . . . well, he implied that she cornered him in a dark alcove and attacked him with amorous intent.”

“Lady Blanche would never do anything improper. I’m sure of it. I’ve never met a lady more concerned with doing things note perfect and by the book.”

“And he said that Belinda was caught in an amorous liaison behind a tree in Hyde Park.”

She stopped playing. “About that . . .”

He leaned toward her. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“I did hear Betsy accuse Belinda of going behind a tree with a baron. But she didn’t allow him to kiss her. I talked to her about what was right and proper and she promised never to put herself in such a perilous position again.”

West let out the breath he’d been holding. “That’s all right, then. She didn’t actually kiss anyone. Laxton made it sound far more scandalous.”

“What right does he have to slander your sisters?”

“Believe me, he won’t be spreading any more rumors. I took care of him.”