He shrugged. “As for the secrets, I admit that there have been things I can’t tell you. But I have always cared about you. I care about you now—that’s why I’m warning you to steer clear of the marquis.”

“Are you jealous?” I asked. “Or are you upset that I got over you so quickly?”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all.”

“Funny, but Jean-Paul said the same thing to me, about an hour ago.”

“Then perhaps he is finally developing a conscience, at least about some things,” Darcy said, “although I doubt it. All I can tell you is that you’ll find yourself in even deeper trouble if you stay with him.”

“I’m a big girl now, Darcy.” I faced him defiantly, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “I can make my own decisions and take care of myself.”

“Hardly.” He looked at me angrily. “You go out alone on Toby Groper’s yacht? You hitch up with one of the most notorious men in Europe? You’re arrested for murder? That doesn’t sound much like taking care of yourself, Lady Georgiana.” He grabbed my shoulders. “Georgie, what are you doing? What has happened to you?”

I wished he hadn’t touched me. I fought to stay calm. “Nothing has happened to me, except that I’ve discovered the real reason you’re here.”

“Oh, you have, have you?” He was staring hard at me.

I nodded, biting my lip. I waited for him to say something, to apologize for deceiving me. Instead he said, “In that case, all I can say is that you shouldn’t spread it around too much in certain circles. Not if you’re wise, that is.”

“I don’t know why I’d want to spread it around.” I shook myself free from him, bumped against the bed and sat down heavily.

“Careful,” Darcy said, grabbing at me. “You don’t want to sit on your pearls.”

“My what?” I stood up as my hand touched something sharp. There, lying on my bed, was the missing pearl and diamond necklace.

I stood staring at it as if it had been magically produced by a genie and might vanish again at any moment. “How did it get here?” I asked. “Did you put it there?”

“Me? Of course not. What would I be doing with a necklace like that? Is it yours?”

“It belongs to the queen,” I said. “It was stolen when I fell off the stage at the fashion show.”

“Fell off the stage?” He looked as if he might grin.

“You didn’t hear about it?”

“I’ve been rather occupied with—other things,” he said. “So it was stolen and then returned?”

“It’s amazing,” I said. “Someone at the party must have taken it, then their conscience got the better of them and they returned it.”

“Really?” He was frowning, staring at the door.