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pond. Making little sketches. Your mother thought it was adorable. And wasn't there a rare mouse in the region?"
    "Vole. There's a rare vole in the region," Kit said testily.
    "You see? You know all about it." The earl said delightedly, as if this proved his point.
    All at once, with a sinking feeling, Kit comprehended. "Ah," he said flatly. "I see. I'm to be exiled regardless."
    The earl gave him a smile that managed to be sunny and evil all at once. "Now you're catching on."
    "You can't… exile me simply because I called a man an idiot."
    His father regarded him in placid silence.
    "Or for calling a man… a bastard."
    Serene as a lake, his father's silence.
    "Or for… womanizing?" Kit faltered.
    "Oh, I can," the earl disagreed cheerfully. "For all of them. I warned you once before, Christopher. You now have two choices: you may travel to Barnstable and begin work on the folio, or you can leave for Egypt. Choose."
    His father, Kit realized, was deadly serious. And when his father was deadly serious, no amount of reasoning could penetrate his resolve, which was how Kit had found himself installed in a military academy with head-spinning speed after his duel so many years ago. Kit stared at the earl, and his mind's eyes drew him a painfully vivid picture of the hard-won countess, and all of the myriad, glorious pleasures and comforts of the ton , shrinking inexorably from view as his ship drifted from English shores.
    And as for Barnstable and The Roses… well, Barnstable was just a few hours' hard ride from London, but it might as well have been Egypt, simply because it wasn't London.
    "You need me here. I'm the best agent the crown has."
    He was absurdly gratified when his father didn't disagree with this patently unprovable statement. But he also didn't relent.
    "Egypt or Barnstable, Christopher. And if you choose Barnstable, I want you to make a thorough job of that folio. Every plant, every creature… I want them carefully, lovingly documented. You have one month in which to accomplish it, after which we shall review your continuance in his Majesty's Secret Service. If I hear of you womanizing, if I hear of you doing anything other than working on your assignment, if I see you in London during that time, if I hear of you being anywhere near London… I will personally escort you on to a ship bound for Egypt where you will then take up a quiet little government post Do I make myself clear?"
    Silence fell like a gavel.
    Kit decided he could at least do this with a little dignity. "I choose Barnstable," he said quietly.
    "Good. I should miss you if you went to Egypt."
    And then his bloody father actually smiled .
    Kit would not be softened by fatherly expressions of affection. "If I complete the assignment to your satisfaction before a month is over?"
    "You may return," his father said placidly. " If you're confident you've completed it to my satisfaction. You can take a day to prepare for your journey. And now, you may go."
    Kit pushed back his chair and stood—all gingerly, of course.
    "And son…" his father's voice was idle in a way that told Kit his next words were in no way meant idly. "I don't need to tell you again to leave the issue of Morley alone, do I?"
    His father knew him too well. "Of course not sir. I thought it was understood."
    "You always were a clever boy, Christopher."

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    Chapter Two
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    The large ormolu library clock measured off seconds of incredulity.
    "With… without resources?" Susannah repeated, just in case she hadn't heard her father's solicitor correctly.
    "Penniless." Mr. Dinwiddy mercilessly enunciated each syllable. "That's what 'without resources' means, Miss Makepeace."
    Bewildered, Susannah swiveled her head about the library, as if searching for help, for some clue to the man her father had been.
    His throat had been cut, they said. Such a violent, dramatic punctuation mark to a life so quietly led. And all morning Susannah had graciously accepted murmured