Laura’s impatient tug on her hand reminded her of the new puppy, and with a laugh she followed the exuberant child from the parlor and down the hall toward the kitchen where she could already hear excited yaps. Franco was slower in following, his wary reluctance reminding Ginny so much of his father. There was so much of both of them in these children, and her heart leaped with the prospect of their future together. All would be well now. It had to be….

“Maman!” Laura broke free and raced to kneel beside the small spaniel puppy that bounced enthusiastically against her. “Maman, come and see how soft Silky’s ears are….”

It was the first time one of her children had called her Mother, and Ginny could not stop the happy tears that rolled down her cheeks as she knelt beside the child to stroke the spaniel.

“Yes, my love,” she whispered, “they are very soft.”

Laura slanted her a frowning glance from eyes that were slightly uptilted at the corners, unusual eyes like her mother’s, with the same gypsyish slant that made Ginny’s green eyes so remarkable and exotic.

“But you are crying, Maman….”

“Because I am so happy, my sweet. Only because I am so happy….”

And I hope nothing happens to take that happiness away again….

2

Music swirled above the glittering jewels and gas lamps that brightened the vast ballroom filled with the elite of London. Aristocratic heads turned to watch the striking couple that seemed oblivious to the stares, though they were certainly used to them by now.

Of course, Steve Morgan—also known as Esteban Alvarado—the American millionaire who had somehow been appointed as Mexican ambassador, always stood out in a crowd, with his tall, lean good looks and the air of danger that attended him.

“Yes,” a dowager whispered behind her jeweled fan, “he does look Mexican, I suppose, with his dark skin. And it is said that his grandfather is a rich Mexican landowner descended from Spanish aristocracy, though I think all of them claim a heritage they do not possess.”

“Perhaps,” her companion remarked, eyeing Steve Morgan with an appreciative smile, “he is aristocratic, though if you look at his eyes—” She shuddered deliciously. “So very wicked, those blue eyes, and the way he looks at a woman. Why, it makes one feel disrobed!”