It was true. Alice hadn’t the first clue as to how to attract a man with her character, rather than her father’s bank account. And she couldn’t change her dowry, so where did that leave her? Utterly doomed, no doubt.

Then an offhanded comment at dinner gave her an idea. Maddie caught Alice watching Kit and had tried to warn her off. “Kit is the very Devil. With one smile, he manages to turn even the shyest woman into a vixen. It never fails,” Maddie had said.

The words had bounced around in Alice’s brain and, even more curious, she’d continued to observe him. With black hair and dark eyes, strong jaw and elegant nose, he was wickedly handsome. The black evening wear hugged his lean body, showing off wide shoulders and long limbs. Looking at him caused hundreds of imaginary butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

But it was more than his looks. He was comfortable in his own skin, commanding a room the instant he walked inside. During the cocktail hour nearly every woman—young and old—had fought for a scrap of his attention. He’d entertained them with easy smiles and raucous stories, the group hanging on his every word.

During the soup course, he’d winked at an older woman across the table and she offered a bold stare in return, one that burned with hidden meaning. He had flirted right there at the dinner table, out in the open, which Alice found astounding. What conjurer’s magic did he possess to cause women to act this way?

He manages to turn even the shyest woman into a vixen.

And Alice began to wonder about her own dilemma. Was Kit capable of such a metamorphosis . . . even with the most unlikely of pupils?

She needed more confidence, more . . . experience. No man would fall in love with an insipid, timid mouse. If she could transform herself into a girl like Maddie—fun and sociable—then perhaps she could land a handsome husband.

“Alice,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “Your plan is what?”

Was he actually going to make her say it? Uttering the words aloud to this gorgeous, charming man would be humiliating. “Is it necessary for you to know?”

“I’m afraid it is, dear Alice. I cannot aid and abet the tricking of some poor unsuspecting fellow.”

“I am not tricking anyone.”

He picked up his glass once more, long fingers wrapping around the heavy crystal. “That remains to be seen.”

Sakes alive, he was going to force her to say it. She took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. You can do this, Alice. You need to become a vixen, remember? “I am quite shy around the opposite sex. That, combined with my large dowry, attracts a certain type of man, one not interested in me. Do you understand?”

“You are hoping to marry for love.”

“Yes, or as close to love as I can get.”