I wonder why he’s called ineligible, Chloe thought to herself, watching the lithe, beautiful couple. They were standing very close to each other, and from what she could see of Alex’s face, he was within a hairsbreadth of pulling Charlotte into his arms. Chloe felt suddenly embarrassed. The naked passion on Alex’s face made her own face feel hot. She turned away.

“We have to go to Italy,” Alex said without pausing. “We’ll go to Florence and see the Leonardo portraits … and Rome, the Michelangelos—”

Chloe wouldn’t have been so embarrassed if she could have seen Charlotte’s face. Even as Alex listed the places Charlotte most wanted to visit in the whole world, her irritation grew. She woke up cross this morning, aching inside for something unknown. And with Charlotte’s annoyance grew the conviction that she would not marry Alex. What she felt for him was raw sexual desire; obviously that was not an emotion that a lady cultivated, let alone married someone for. In fact, she had thought with satisfaction of the moment when Alex would ask her to marry him again, and she would politely, but coolly, refuse him. And now he was simply assuming that she would marry him! The gross arrogance of it galled her to the quick. Her face darkened even more.

Alex was no fool. He broke off his list of Italian cities and stared at her.

Charlotte opened her mouth and then closed it again. She could not tell him exactly what she thought of him and his assumptions in front of Chloe and Pippa. Besides, she had been aware for some time that Pippa was precariously perched on the settee, trying to throw her fat little leg over the back. From there she would certainly fall down and hurt herself. So she simply turned about and swept Pippa off the settee.

Pippa opened her mouth to scream and then settled. Charlotte smiled at her hugely. She might not like her papa, but she certainly liked this small, independent spirit.

“I’m the not-nanny, remember me?”

Pippa gave her a small, cautious smile. Charlotte tucked her into the crook of her arm, so she was sitting up and could see where they were going.

“Miss van Stork,” she said courteously. “Since our sitting has been interrupted, shall we join my mother and take some tea?”

Alex’s heart sank. Not only was his love looking like a black thundercloud and cross as a termagant, now she wanted to join her mama. And given what he understood from the Duke of Calverstill this morning, the duchess was likely being talked into the idea of meeting him at this very moment.

He cleared his throat. “Ah, your mother is busy.”

Charlotte swung around. “And how, pray, would you know?”

“Your father told me,” Alex said, rocking back on his heels and looking absolutely imperturbable.