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L aurence made his way through the castle by way of the kitchen in the hopes he wouldn’t encounter guests and have to explain his current appearance.

Georgina had been glorious in all her righteous indignation that he would dare to steal a kiss from her, as a young lady should be.

But he hadn’t expected her to push him into the lake, no matter how much he deserved the set down.

Even so, he wasn’t necessarily angry with her but more on the side of impressed.

There weren’t many ladies of his acquaintance who would dare to make objections to him, nor put him in his place.

That a woman would be up to the task was…

well… a pleasant change, and all things considered, a nice surprise.

Yes… she was even more beautiful up close than when he’d seen her from a distance. Not to mention—having met her and realizing there was more to her than beauty—winning a wager with John now seemed childish. She wasn’t a beautiful object to be won, but a person who deserved more of his respect.

Something about her spoke to him, much to his disbelief. The chit was making him look at women in a whole new way. Astonishing, really. Even Portia hadn’t managed to do that, and she was a force with which to be reckoned.

But she was his sister, so she wasn’t a woman, exactly. Oh, bother. He was getting into the weeds, here. Probably because he still had water in his ears.

He squished along the passageway to his room, still musing.

The thing about it was, if Georgina could stand up to him upon their first encounter, then she might just be up to the task of becoming his duchess.

It was certainly still too soon to form any conclusion about if they might one day suit.

Yet, if the rise and fall of her chest, the way her lips had parted, along with the interest he knew he’d seen—had to have seen!

—in those wide blue eyes was any indication that she could develop feelings for him, then he would keep the possibility open.

“Good heavens,” a woman’s voice sounded out in the passageway. “What happened to you, Your Grace?”

He turned to answer the woman and saw that it was the countess. Lady Georgina’s mother. “A misstep, my lady, and nothing to worry over. The mistake was mine,” he answered. He deserved what he had gotten from this woman’s daughter.

“I will send servants up to your room immediately with hot water for a bath. Would you care for breakfast to be sent up as well, or will you dine with us this morning?” she inquired with a tilt of her blond head.

Even if they hadn’t been previously introduced upon his arrival at Brockenhurst, Laurence would have been able to tell immediately that the lady was Georgina’s mother.

The resemblance was uncanny. The woman was older, of course, but still as lovely as her daughter.

He gave a slight blow. “I would be delighted to dine with you and your guests this morning after I have made myself presentable,” he replied, with the thoughts of seeing Georgina again so soon. She wouldn’t be able to escape him so easily this time.

After the countess said she would see to having someone sent up, he left her and returned to his bedroom. He didn’t expect to see John lounging in a chair by the window.

“Bloody hell,” John cursed, although he began to smirk at Laurence’s disheveled and wet appearance. “Dare I ask what the devil happened to you? Or have you taken to bathing out of doors?”

Before he could answer, there was a knock and a bevy of servants rushed in with the requested hot water for his bath.

They carried it to the adjoining anteroom where, he presumed, there was a tub.

“Leave your wet things, my lord, and a maid will take them down to the laundry once you’re through,” the butler said as the other servants filed out.

He then bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Laurence began stripping off his clothes, leaving John settled in his chair to resume reading the newsprint he held.

Laurence left the bathroom door open so the two men could converse while he began to scrub the smell of the lake water from his body with a pleasantly scented soap.

“Well? Are you going to tell me what happened?” John’s voice sounded from the other room.

“I made an attempt to kiss Lady Georgina and this was the result,” Laurence admitted.

John’s chuckle only served to rankle him, but not enough to erase what he was coming to see as admiration for the lady’s reaction. And beauty. She was like nothing he’d ever experienced. “Be careful, or you might end up with the same result,” he warned John.

“What did she do? Throw a bucket of water on you?”

“No. She pushed me into the lake,” Laurence answered, holding back his own chuckle as he began rinsing the soap from his body and hair.

John’s chuckle turned to outright laughter. Laurence glowered in irritation, not that John could see him from the bedroom.

“Bested by a mere girl! How ever will you live this down, Your Grace?” John chuckled merrily.

“I’m certain you will remind me of this incident for the remainder of the house party.

” Finished with cleaning himself off, he rose from the tub to take the towel left near at hand and dried himself off before wrapping it around his hips.

He then went into the other room to find clean clothes and to confront John.

“Probably far longer than the duration of this party,” John mumbled with a snort of amusement.

Laurence tossed his friend a look. “Our second wager is off,” he muttered as he began to dress.

“I don’t see why,” John declared with a grin. “It’s all good fun, old man.”

Laurence shook his head. “Not at the expense of the young lady. My sister has already warned me to not be reckless where Lady Georgina is concerned. That goes for you as well.”

John leaned back in the chair, crossed his legs, and laced his fingers over his belly, looking as casual as a cat caught in the cream. And not at all threatened. “Maybe I’m looking for a wife?” he purred.

Laurence frowned. “No. You’re looking to keep yourself entertained while you’re here. You are certainly not looking for a wife.”

John rolled his eyes before responding, proving to Laurence that he’d hit the mark. He unclasped his hands and raised them in the air. “And you are?”

Laurence tucked in his shirt. “I never said that. But I will say that I’ve decided our wagers are in poor taste.

” He thought again of how he’d considered women as nothing but pawns in their betting games and a wave of shame washed over him.

He’d never considered them from this angle before and now that he did, he decided, it was beneath him to be so callous.

John replied, with a shrug, “I say our wagers still stands. As a matter of fact, I’ll meet you downstairs. Andrew Norwood was going to introduce me to his sister.”

Laurence wasn’t given any time for a sharp retort as John quickly left the bedroom before he could even don trousers. He began to rush to make himself presentable. The sooner he got downstairs, the better his chances were to protect the lady.

Still, it took several attempts before his cravat was acceptable as he stood in front of the oval mirror inspecting his reflection.

Deeming his appearance worthy of what his valet could have performed if he had decided to bring the man with him to this house party instead of leaving him at home, Laurence took one last look at the green silk of his waistcoat and nodded.

The garment had been a Christmas gift from Portia last year and when she had presented the gift, she had told him it would bring out the color of his eyes.

He had to agree, not that he was overly concerned what others thought of his features.

He had been told often enough of his good looks, and he could easily shrug off the compliments.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to think more of the praise since most of it was said in the hope of earning some moment of recognition or creating an impact of some sort.

Either way it was usually uttered by petty women who only saw how the title of duchess could advance their place within Society.

Lady Georgina, he realized with an unexpected flush of recognition, hadn’t mentioned his good looks to him at all. In fact… she hadn’t said much, except to call him a braying ass.

He grinned and left his bedroom to make his way down the drafty passageway of the castle.

While most of the rooms had been modernized, clearly there were still renovations that needed to be made, and the corridors were one of them.

As he hurried toward one of the turrets containing the stairs, candles sputtered in the sconces on the walls and when he finally made his way to the dining room, the warmth of the room was welcome.

His eyes scanned the room and before he could cross the floor, Georgina’s mother excused herself from the couple she was speaking with and made her way before him. She bobbed a curtsey and he bowed in return.

“You made impeccable time, Your Grace,” she said with a soft smile. “I was just going to ask everyone to be seated.”

“It would be my pleasure to escort you to your place at the table, Countess.”

She inclined her head. “That would be lovely but first, let me introduce you to my daughter.”

Of course. He wondered how she would behave, now that they were among people—and that there was no lake in which to dunk him.

Fighting a smile, Laurence held out his arm and the countess placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

Since he was well aware of who the countess’s daughter was, he began making his way to the young lady’s side.

That John was standing next to her with another lady he had yet to meet only made Laurence more aware that his friend was only interested in two things from his association with Lady Georgina: to steal a kiss, and to win their original wager.

Sometimes Laurence wondered why they remained friends.