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the most talented mouth— ”
    “Are we to play cards or not?” Gavin interrupted with a voice of steel. He’d heard
     enough—and more.
    They turned to him with identically stunned expressions. Vance had the good grace
     to look a bit sheepish.
    “Of course. Can’t blame a man for wanting to reminisce about such pleasure, can you?”
    Gavin shuffled the cards and began to deal. “Any woman you find so pleasing you should
     consider wedding, particularly one who was an innocent.”
    Lord Vance recoiled. “Marry a half-Persian whore? She’s all well and good for a tumble,
     but really… Miss Melbourne is no more innocent than any of us here, I daresay.”
    Gavin stared at the young rake, at odds with himself. On the one hand, Vance likely
     told the truth about Kira Melbourne; she probably had opened her thighs for him and
     others before. And though the information disturbed him, she likely deserved her despicable
     reputation. But he did not believe any woman deserved to be gossiped about with such
     blatant disrespect. Clearly, though, Vance did not care how badly anyone thought of
     Miss Melbourne.
    The distasteful observation aside, Gavin knew he must prove Vance’s salacious claim—somehow—then present his proof to James posthaste,
     so the boy might act appropriately. Otherwise, scandal would engulf his family again , and equally distressing , Gavin would continue to suffer this peculiar lust for a woman who was, for him, strictly
     forbidden.
    * * * *
    “You’re looking out of sorts.”
    Unsure how to reply to her observation, Gavin turned to the woman at his side, Cordelia
     Darrow, Dowager Countess of Litchfield.
    After a moment’s thought, he settled for evasion and sent her a fond smile. “I am
     merely tired.”
    He and Cordelia made their way through an elegant ballroom framed by gold brocade
     drapes. White plaster arches abounded with dancing cherubs while pungent flowers mixed
     with perfume to fill the humid air. The vast room was decorated by the gathering of
     London’s finest, the ladies swathed in every conceivable color.
    Gavin sensed all eyes upon him and Cordelia. Seemingly oblivious, she rested her hand in the crook of his arm and
     cast a blue-eyed gaze of skepticism his way.
    With her pale blond e hair arranged tastefully atop her head and her elegant blue lace-trimmed gown draping
     her tall frame, Cordelia looked cool and regal—but then, she always did. It was one
     of the many reasons Gavin admired her. A wealthy widow at a mere twenty-four, Cordelia
     was the ton’s most popular hostess and a mark for unmarried men, rich and poor alike.
    He and Cordelia would marry someday. Everyone assumed so, even Gavin himself. While
     he disliked her penchant for gossip, Cordelia was, in every other way, perfect for
     him—well bred, well liked, clever, a friend even, though he’d never considered a female thus before. She
     understood that marriage was a business arrangement. Between seeing to his sisters’
     futures and being a partner in a new railroad, he simply had not had the time to propose
     properly. But he would.
    “Tired, are you?” Cordelia’s eyes danced with mischief. “Well, playing cards with
     Lord Vance until very nearly dawn would exhaust anyone.”
    He turned to her with a sardonic smile. While Gavin had expected her to learn of the
     incident eventually, he’d thought it would take a bit more than eighteen hours.
    Cordelia answered him with a tinkling laugh. “Don’t be put out with me, Gavin. And
     before you ask, I have my ways of learning these things. I take it he gave you—and
     anyone who would listen long enough—an earful about the scandalous Miss Melbourne.”
    Gavin tread carefully. No one beyond the family knew yet of James’s unfortunate, and
     hopefully temporary, engagement. If Cordelia learned of it, he feared that London
     would be abuzz by morning. He wanted to delay the news until he could decide how to
     handle the disreputable