“Oh dear,” Sophia was heard to say. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you. And I wasn’t going to open the door or anything—I just wanted to see if Harriet was about.”

“She’s not in here, if that’s what you mean.”

“Of course I didn’t think—that is, I was just trying to—Oh, bother!” Sophia sighed loudly. “I must find Harriet.”

They never let the poor girl alone. Chase was aware of a strong desire to fix that, to take some of the burden off Harriet’s slender shoulders.

But meeting her gaze, he realized that she would not thank him for such interference. He bit back a sigh.

He smoothed back a thick strand of Harriet’s brown hair from her cheek, noting the silky texture. The light from the lamp glistened on her chestnut locks, bringing out hints of red and gold. She glinted a faint smile up at him, her lips quivering slightly.

Sophia’s voice sounded again, this time closer as if she was pressing her cheek to the door. “I’m sorry to bother you at all, Mr. St. John, but it’s important. Harriet must come downstairs right this moment.”

“This late? It must be ten o’clock.”

“I know. But Mr. Gower has arrived and he says he must speak with Mother immediately. The bank will not wait another day for their payment.”

Chapter 21

Gambling comes in many forms. Some people wager on cards. Some on horses. And some on their own hearts.

Mrs. Brandon St. John, newly returned from her honeymoon, to her husband, as they made their way to Treymount House for an emergency family meeting

A short time later, Harriet paused outside the sitting room and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked as she always did, except a trifle flushed.

Perfectly plain and proper, her gown smooth and unruffled, her hair pinned neatly on top of her head. No one would look at her and know that she’d just been seduced by the most handsome man in the world.

Well, the most handsome man in Sticklye-By-The-River, anyway. Who was to say that there weren’t more handsome men out and about?

She thought of Chase’s blue eyes, of his thick black lashes, of the way his hair fell over his brow, of his muscular arms and shoulders…she shook her head ruefully. What was she thinking? There simply could not be a better-looking man in the entire world.

“Harriet!” Mother bustled up, a worried expression on her face. “Thank goodness we found you.”

Sophia joined them. “There you are, Harri! Where were you? I looked everywhere.”

Harriet offered a casual shrug. “I was in my room doing some mending and I forgot the time.” There. That sounded plausible.

Sort of.

Sophia frowned. “No you weren’t. I looked there. I even looked in your dressing room and in the kitchen and in the barn and in the—”

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Mother said as if exasperated, “it doesn’t matter where she’s been. All that matters is that she’s here now.”