“It’s foolhardy to have those men here when one of them could have dishonorable intentions. I forbid it,” Robert said grimly and knew that was the wrong thing to say at once. The way she stiffened and the icy expression on her face when she lifted it to peer at him made him wish he’d thought more carefully before speaking.

“You forbid it?” she asked silkily. “I’m sorry, Robert, but despite your thinking of me as a little sister, you are not my big brother and don’t have the right to forbid me anything. Besides,” she added dryly, “no one would be stupid enough to call and then try to snatch me away so openly.”

“I may not have the right to forbid you seeing any of these men, but Richard does,” Robert said quietly and glanced to him, fully expecting the man to back him up on this.

Instead, Richard hesitated, then said apologetically, “I’m sorry, but she is right, Robert. If the suitor is among her callers today, he is hardly likely to try to take her away from here under the noses of the whole household. He’s more likely to try another sneak attack as he did using Mrs. Morgan. It should be safe enough for her to have gentleman callers here. Besides, you’ll be here to keep an eye on things.”

Robert frowned, but couldn’t argue with the logic of that. He wanted to, though. The idea of a passel of men trailing through the house to see Lisa bothered him a great deal. And not just because he was worried one of them might have arranged for her to be kidnapped with the intent to ravish her. If he hadn’t gotten there in time . . . The image of some faceless man pawing at Lisa in the see-through gown rose up in his mind. It then turned into Robert himself, caressing and kissing her, suckling at her breasts through the gauzy cloth, licking his way down over her belly as he urged her back onto the bed—

“Then I should go send replies before I bathe and let Bet fix my hair,” Lisa announced, pushing her plate away and standing.

An empty plate, Robert saw and wondered how long he’d been sitting there imagining ravishing her. Little Lisa Madison. The girl he’d looked on as a sister for nearly two decades. Christ, he was losing his mind, he realized watching Lisa leave the room, his eyes dropping over her body as she went.

“Are you all right?”

Robert gave a start at Richard’s question and glanced to him blankly.