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K it closed the door to Mary’s parlor. The picnic was a start. Ladies loved eating out of doors. Being alone with her in a romantic spot would be the perfect way to begin their courtship.

He made his way down the stairs, opened the green baize door, then descended to the lower level.

Simons and the housekeeper were sitting around a long dining table in close conversation.

The cook supervised a kitchen maid turning meat on a spit in the fireplace, while keeping her attention on numerous pots on the stove.

“Excuse me for disturbing you.” The housekeeper’s eyes grew wide and she shot out of her seat.

Though the butler’s expression didn’t change, he was standing before the housekeeper.

Kit waited for the woman to compose herself, then said, “I have planned an outing for her ladyship to-morrow.” He focused on the cook, who stood arms akimbo with a wooden spoon in her hand, glaring at him.

He eyed the spoon warily, remembering exactly what it felt like to have his knuckles whacked with one of those, and he didn’t wish to repeat the experience.

Not that the cook would. He was the master here .

. . Still, it didn’t hurt to tread lightly.

“If you could make up a picnic basket to be ready in the morning, I would be in your debt.”

The woman’s countenance softened a bit. “Yes, sir. I know just what her ladyship likes.”

He noticed the cook didn’t ask what he liked. Ah well. As far as the staff was concerned, he was the errant husband and Mary a paragon. “Simons, send a message to the stables to have my curricle ready after breakfast.”

The butler bowed. “Yes, sir.”

Kit inclined his head slightly before retracing his steps and reaching his bedchamber.

Hopefully Piggott had had the forethought to have a bottle of brandy ready.

Nevertheless, considering how it could have gone, it had been a successful day, and he was looking forward to spending time alone with Mary.

“Sir.” The valet handed Kit his letters. “You left these in her ladyship’s parlor.”

“Thank you.” He opened the letter from home.

My darling Son,

Your father told me all . I have never been so shocked in my life.

Your grandmother is completely unrepentant, and I have suggested that if she wishes to organize the lives of others, there are several very good charities who would appreciate her efforts.

I sincerely hope she does not attempt to arrange marriages for your sisters or brother.

They would not take it nearly as well as I know you are.

Your father asked me to relay to you that he has involved himself in the Chancery case and will bring pressure to bear. He asks if there are any other offices he may perform to assist you.

Please tell your wife to be, for I will not mention names, that we welcome her into our family and look forward to meeting her. Poor girl!

With much love,

Mother

Leave it to Mama to get to the heart of things, and relieve him of two concerns.

She would now probably busy herself concocting some believable story for the ton .

He’d write back, asking her to send him a selection of family rings suitable for a wedding ring and have Papa search for Mary’s uncle as well as contact Barham about the marriage settlements.

“Do I have time to bathe?”

“No, sir, her ladyship is in the bathing chamber. I’ll have one drawn for you before you retire. I have water set up for you to shave.”

Kit thought back to Mary’s reaction at seeing him in the corridor, before she scurried off. He’d like to see that look again. Even more, he would like to join her in the bath. First things first. “Find out for me her ladyship’s favorite area, or the most romantic one for a picnic. ”

“Of course, sir. I shall ask Miss Mathers.”

All Kit required now was a bit of luck and his famous address. He’d be leg-shackled before he knew it.

“Gawain, it is not good enough!” Cordelia Tolliver’s shrill voice cut through the cool air of her modest Cambridge home. Red splotches mottled her normally perfect complexion.

“Mama . . .” As much as he loved his mother, Gawain would have been happy to strangle her at this point.

“I have searched everywhere. Lady Mary has disappeared. As I told you before, by the time I ascertained she was not in Bath, more than a month had elapsed.” Unfortunately, the maid he’d used for information was now never alone.

Someone must have discovered she had been meeting him.

“When I returned to the dower house, she wasn’t there, either. Nor is she in London.”

His mother glared at him without saying a word.

“Then I chased the old lady to every watering hole in England.” Something had to satisfy her. After all, he wanted the marriage as much as his mother did.

“Did you look for her at Lady Eunice’s residence and at all her children’s estates?”

“Yes.”

“Gawain, the longer you wait, the more we risk your father discovering what we’ve been doing, and then she will slip through your fingers. Not only that, but the Chancery court is bound to rule before too much longer,” his mother ended on a sob.

At least she’d stopped screeching. “I am well aware of that.” He rubbed his temples. “It’s as if she has dropped off the end of the earth. Perhaps she went abroad.”

Mama cast her eyes at the ceiling. “With whom? Her allowance would not cover extensive travel.” Her face brightened. “Unless she ran off with some man and married. Then the money is ours.”

Even his father would not allow such a blatant disregard of Mary’s father’s will.

Gawain stopped scowling. He wanted Mary as well as the money.

How else was he to gain entry into the upper levels of the ton ?

On the other hand, once he had the funds he would be a good catch and might not need his cousin.

That would make his life easier. He could marry the daughter of an impoverished peer.

A calm, biddable lady who would be happy to have him as her husband.

“If only she had, but she’s not stupid. The gentleman would have to be as rich as Croesus to make her give up her inheritance.

” But . . . the money . . . Of course. Why in the bloody hell hadn’t he thought of it before? “How does she get her allowance?”

“I’m not sure.” Mama turned a blank face to him. “I would imagine she draws on her account at Hoare’s.”

The ache in his head eased. “Then we must discover a way to find where the funds are sent.”

A smile lit his mother’s still lovely countenance. When she was young, she had been called The Incomparable . The only way his father got her to marry him had been by lying about his expectations. “Oh, my love. That is an absolutely brilliant idea.”

“You keep Papa busy, and I shall go through his papers this evening. Then I shall write to the bank in Papa’s name, asking for the information.”

“Oh, no need, darling,” Mama said with a wave of her hand. “He’s off chasing rocks somewhere.”

His father was always off somewhere studying giant stones. If it hadn’t been for that, this whole scheme Mama had hatched would have fallen apart. He leaned down and bussed her cheek. “I’ll find Cousin Mary.”

Mama squeezed his hand. “Soon you’ll be married, and we’ll have what we were cheated out of all those years ago.”

He couldn’t give her the title she had coveted for so long, but he could get the money. Perhaps then she would finally be happy.

Mary paced her parlor. It had been extremely nice of Kit to offer to court her.

Even though she knew he could not be, he had even acted as if he was interested in her.

Still, she must have a plan in the event she and Kit did not suit.

After he left her parlor, she studied her copy of Debrett’s and confirmed her suspicion that Mary was the most common girl’s name in England.

It was then the solution to her problems came to her.

Not a perfect one, a better option than being forced into a loveless marriage.

She’d been out of Polite Society for so long, few would recognize her, and other than her very close friends, it seemed no one in the ton knew exactly who Lady Mary Featherton was.

She could go abroad and live. She would need a companion, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

Her brother supported dozens of poor relations.

She would merely hire one of them. Once she came into her inheritance, she would find a way to tie it up in a trust so restrictive that no fortune hunter would want her, including Gawain.

After a couple of years, if she hadn’t met a gentleman she wished to wed, she could return to England.

Her grandmother had assured her not all men wished to marry young women. She only hoped Grandmamma was right.

Mary penned one letter to her brother’s man of business and another to Barham, explaining everything that was going on, what she wanted done, and authorizing him to act in her behalf.

That was much better than waiting until her twenty-fifth birthday.

When she’d sealed them into a packet, she summoned her groom, Terrey.

A few minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. “My lady, you wanted me?”

She handed him the package. “I need this sent to London as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll get them off to catch the mail coach right away.”

He closed the door behind him, and it was as if the weight of the world had lifted from her shoulders, almost as if she could float in the air.

For the first time in years, she felt free.

Now she could be courted without knowing whether or not she would actually marry Kit.

What a wonderful position to be in. And if she was unable to love him, Mary would make plans to travel the Continent.

Phoebe and Caro would help her make the arrangements.

An hour later, Mary stared into the mirror, fidgeting as her dresser arranged her hair.

“Do be still, my lady.”

“I am.”