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Mary was sitting on the bed, her knees bent up and clasped by her arms, her stockinged feet balancing on the very edge of the mattress, toes peeping from beneath the hem of her dress.

‘You look charming, my love.’ Andrew’s head rested on the back of the copper tub. ‘Why not get into the water with me?’ He deployed his roguish smile.

‘When my entire family would be guessing why I was late for dinner. Thank you, I shall resist.’

‘We could eat up here.’

‘You have just won their favour; do not antagonise them now.’

He sat upright, then stood, the water streaming down his naked body. ‘So, I escaped jail, but I am sentenced to their company.’

‘You are.’ She smiled, knowing his nakedness was another ploy to win her over. Her eyes followed his movement, her heart longing to give in.

‘Why can we not dally here? We could lie on the bed and feed each other in the way of ancient Romans.’

‘Or…’ She uncurled her legs and slid from the bed, smiling at him as she reached for the towel and threw it at him. ‘You could stop procrastinating and dress. Then we can go down to dinner.’

He caught the towel.

‘Just remember, Andrew, I am on to you now. No shocking my family and hiding behind deviltry. I want them to know you.’

Laughter was his answer as he rubbed the towel across his chest.

When they eventually progressed to dinner, the smooth satin of Mary’s dress caressed her skin, in a way that made her feel both beautiful and elegant.

‘You look gorgeous, by the way,’ Andrew whispered through the edge of his lips, his eyes on the footmen in the hall below.

When he offered his arm to her before they left the room, he said, ‘You may take me to my sentence.’

‘It is not a sentence. Please do not upset them,’ she had chided.

‘I will behave, Mary, I promise, no nonsense.’

Despite his promise, her heart beat in a firm, fearful pace as she heard the hum of conversation.

‘How many are here?’ he asked.

‘All my uncles and aunts and their families, and my older cousins with their husbands. The younger children are in the nursery, but the older children will be dining with us. The boys are back from college.’

‘We are speaking of a horde then, and your father?’

‘Of course.’

Andrew stopped halfway down the stairs and took a deep breath.

‘Andrew?’

He took another breath, and sighed it out, then lifted her hand from his coat sleeve. ‘You asked me to show you how I feel. This is how I feel right now.’ He pressed her hand to his chest, over his heart. She could feel the pulse even through his waistcoat and her glove.

She smiled reassuringly. ‘If you are nice to them, they will be nice to you.’

‘I think I should speak to your father alone first. If I go to the library would you fetch him?’

‘Why?’

‘Because I need to put things straight, sweetheart.’