Loretta hid the offense she’d taken at his manner. “Reeve and I were expecting you to present us with a bride today,” she said warmly, taking a certain satisfaction in the way the color drained from Philip’s angelic face. “Reeve struck lucky, you know, and encountered the lass aboard the Victoria. Her name is—” Loretta pretended to search her memory, though in reality Reeve had refused to share that bit of information.

“Maggie,” Philip sighed disconsolately. “Maggie Chamberlin. So she did arrive, then?”

“Yes, she did, Philip,” Loretta said in stern tones, “and pity that it was, there was no one to greet her. Reeve was quite worried, I don’t mind telling you.” She paused, drew a deep breath that lifted her fine breasts and flashed in her eyes. “Too worried, my dear Philip, as far as you and I are concerned.”

The pale amber eyes, surrounded by lashes thick enough to be envied even by Loretta, widened. “I didn’t think she’d actually travel all this way—it was all a game, a flirtation. I thought she knew that!”

“She believed you, evidently, and she’s here. In Sydney. I have reason to believe that she’ll be meeting with Reeve at his offices this morning—if she hasn’t done so already. What do you intend to do about this situation, Philip?”

Philip retreated a step, his Adam’s apple bouncing up and down along his neck. “Do? What on earth can I do, Miss Craig?”

“You can keep your word, insofar as marrying the little twit is concerned. The part about her having a role in a play you can tuck neatly into your—”

“She told Mr. McKenna about that?” Philip choked out, aghast. “The role in The Taming of the Shrew, I mean?”

Loretta bridled, smoothing her dark hair with one hand, her skirts with the other. “I merely guessed that,” she said haughtily. “So you promised her a part in my play, did you? My play? You have some considerable gall, Philip Briggs!”

“It was only—I never dreamed—”

“You will marry Miss Chamberlin, Mr. Briggs, or I’ll have your head!”

Philip reached out and grasped a seatback for support. “You know I can’t marry her. Mother would be impossible, and besides, I couldn’t—I couldn’t be a proper husband—”

“That, Mr. Briggs, is your problem. And Miss Chamberlin’s. It happens that Reeve is quite taken with this girl and I’ll be damned if I’ll have her taking over my man as well as my favorite roles! Is that clear, Mr. Briggs? You either marry Maggie Chamberlin or you’re out of work, and that, believe me, will just be the start of your woes!”

Philip was walking backward up the aisle, loosening and then tightening his string tie as he moved, and though his throat was working, no sound was coming from his mouth.