Reese slipped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Singleton’s a bastard,” he said earnestly. “Break off your engagement. Marry me.”

“You don’t know how badly I want to,” Sophie whispered. “But he’s blackmailing me. My journal contains the names of every member of the Debutante Underground, and he’s threatened to publish the complete list. I simply can’t expose my friends. I must protect them—even if it means binding myself to him.”

Reese laced his fingers through hers. “Soph, you don’t need to do that.”

A tear slipped down her cheek as she thought of Violet, Sarah, Ivy, and all her dear friends. “You don’t understand—”

“It’s a quarter to midnight,” Charles said to his companion. “We must return to the ballroom for the toast. But I will be thinking of you … and I’ll see you again soon.”

“Promise me,” murmured a female voice—a voice that was also disturbingly familiar. But … it couldn’t be. Surely not. “Promise that you’ll arrange for us to meet within the week.”

“You know that I will try,” he said huskily.

“Yes,” the familiar voice replied. “And I suspect it is because I am willing to give you the affection that my sister does not.”

What the devil? Sophie scrambled out from under the table, needing to witness the scene with her own eyes. There, across the room from her, her sister sat on a desk while Lord Singleton stood between her legs, which were hitched around his hips. Mary’s fingers clutched the lapels of his jacket, and his hands were around her waist.

Sophie blinked to make sure that her eyes and the room’s shadows hadn’t conspired to play tricks on her mind, but no. Finding her voice at last, she choked out, “Mary?”

Chapter 36

“Bloody hell,” Lord Singleton spat.

Sophie watched, dumbfounded, as he released her sister, turned, and grabbed a fistful of his hair. Meanwhile, Mary frantically pulled at the hem of her gown so that it covered her legs. Her cheeks turned red as strawberries.

Reese had emerged from beneath the table and stood behind Sophie, placing a reassuring hand at the small of her back. She searched her sister’s face. “You and Lord Singleton?”

“I’m sorry,” Mary said, her voice cracking. “It only happened once.”

Sophie arched a brow. She’d always been able to tell when Mary was lying.

Her sister swallowed and glanced at the carpet. “Twice.”

“You should have told me you cared for him,” Sophie said. Then she turned to Charles. “I should think it goes without saying, but the engagement is off.”

“Let’s not be so hasty,” he said. “Your sister and I had a dalliance. By the looks of it, you’ve had one with Warshire as well.”