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more than simply cast a glance in his direction, her hauteur evident. Betsy was absorbed in the view out to the gardens and didn’t seem to notice him standing there, but the youngest, Carole, actually offered a tentative smile.
    They were different from each other in personality, but in looks they had all inherited their father’s fairness and elegant bone structure. Given his dark skin and ebony hair, he could hardly believe that he and the three of them shared a common parent
    There was also more that separated them. And he wasn’t referring to their two very different continents. They were English ladies. He was hardly an aristocrat by any standard except that of his birth.
    Yet they were irrevocably tied together. He could care less about estates and wills and monetary gain, but when he’d received the letter informing him of his father’s death, he did care about his half sisters enough to cross the Atlantic to make sure he saw to their futures. He could have entrusted solicitors to deal with the details, but quite frankly, his mother’s people instilled in every member of the tribe a sense of responsibility for the welfare of them all. Family was everything.
    This was why he’d come to England.
    It was no surprise that Lily spoke first. “We’re here,” she said rigidly, as if he couldn’t see them clearly. At twenty-two, she was the oldest. Looking at her he wasn’t sure why she hadn’t married yet. Her hair was a glossy chestnut brown, her skin flawless and pale, and her eyes a clear blue. He wouldn’t describe her as a raving beauty, but she was certainly very pretty, and he knew from his meetings with his father’s solicitors that she had a generous dowry.
    James had described her as far too independent by nature, and maybe it was true. She certainly made no secret of her lack of desire to come to London, but Jonathan had insisted, since he could hardly supervise new wardrobes and the other—to him a mystery—nuances of what it took to launch a young lady into London society on his own. They had one aunt who was a possibility as a chaperone, but she suffered from a disease of the joints and was currently still in Essex, unable to make the journey.
    So it was up to him. At least Lillian had been through a launch into society before. He needed help of some kind, and if she wasn’t willing to do it for him, she needed to do it for their two younger sisters.
    “Your arrival is duly noted.” He strolled in and headed for the brandy decanter. When dealing with three females who were virtually strangers and not necessarily friendly, a little fortitude was not a bad idea. “How was the journey?” he inquired politely.
    “Tolerable.”
    He picked up a glass, dashed some of the amber liquid into it from the decanter, and took a healthy sip. It allowed him a moment to decide how to respond. After all, he didn’t know his half sisters well, and culturally they were an ocean apart from him. “Glad to hear it.”
    Three pairs of blue eyes regarded him with what was probably well-deserved disparagement for such an innocuous comment.
    His smile was crooked. “Let me rephrase. I am delighted that all three of you have decided to join me here in London, for without you I am uncertain that I will behave myself with the decorum associated with the earls of Augustine.”
    “Word has it,” Lily said with frosty propriety, “you have already failed there, my lord.”

Chapter 3
    I t was very difficult to live a lie, and more so when facing down her older brother, his dark inquiring gaze seeming to go right through her.
    She was such a fraud.
    Lily sat up so straight her spine ached and with effort controlled the inner desire to burst into tears. Jonathan, the new Earl of Augustine, looked at her in question, and truly, she wasn’t even sure why she’d brought the challenge up.
    She didn’t hate him. How could you hate someone you didn’t know? She did despise what he represented, which was their father’s