She had tried not to think what that might mean and she refused to do it now. Instead, when she glanced toward the door, she saw Jonathan Parker striding toward her and there wasn't the least hint of a smile on his face.

"I can't believe you are here," he said, "in a dreadful place like this. When your father told me, I thought he had gone mad."

Luc stepped up beside her. "I brought her, Jon. I know it was a good deal to ask. I was fighting for my brother's life. I thought perhaps if Lee were here, it might make a difference."

Jon glanced down at Caleb, who seemed to be sleeping more peacefully than he had before. "Did it?"

"Yes. It looks as if my brother will recover. My family owes Miss Montague a very great debt."

Jon's amber gaze lingered on Caleb. "I've always liked your brother. I am glad to hear he's going to make it." He returned his attention to Lee. "Nevertheless, this is not a place where you should be. You are betrothed to me and in little more than a week, we are to marry. I'm here to see you safely back to London."

She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay with Caleb. But Luc was looking at her with pity, as if he knew that now that his brother would live, things would return to the way they were before.

"Come," Jon said. "I took the liberty of collecting your things from the inn. The carriage is waiting."

She forced herself not to look at Caleb, simply accepted Jon's arm and let him guide her out of the hospital. They didn't speak again till they reached his carriage.

"I realize you have feelings for Captain Tanner. But he is a soldier. Once he is fully recovered, he will be returning to war."

She stared down at the hands she clutched in her lap. "I know."

"I'll make you happy, Vermillion, I swear it. Once we are wed, you will see."

She raised her eyes to his face. "Lee," she said softly. "I would rather you called me Lee."

Jon bent his head and lightly kissed her. "Of course, dearest." His knuckles brushed along her jaw. "In time you will realize that this is for the best. It's your destiny, Lee. It always has been."

Lee didn't answer. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. Then again, she was tired and depressed. She ached inside and she simply wanted to be alone. Instead, she bumped along in the viscount's carriage, so exhausted she finally tipped her head back against the velvet squabs and fell asleep.

All the way to London she dreamed of a tall man in a scarlet uniform boarding a ship to return to Spain.

For the next six days, she hoped to hear from Caleb but no word came. Instead, a note arrived from Lucas, saying that Caleb was recovering well, that he was completely lucid and rapidly mending. He had been moved to Selhurst Manor to complete his recuperation. There was nothing to indicate Caleb wished to see her. Instead, Lucas wished her felicitations on her upcoming wedding and promised that he would attend.

Lee carefully folded the note and tucked it into her jewelry box. Nothing had changed. She should have known better than to hope for a miracle after the ones she had already been granted. Instead, Friday night, Beatrice pampered her with a bath scented with sandalwood oil and insisted she go to bed early.

Tomorrow was her wedding day.

Lee prayed that God would give her the courage to go through with it.

It was a nearly moonless night. A layer of dense black clouds hung over the streets and a thin mist hung in the air. The courier accepted the wax-sealed sheet of foolscap and slid it into the small leather pouch beneath his arm. Earlier, he had received a message telling him about the pickup and advising him this would be the last he would receive for some time.

Reggie Bags didn't care. He liked the coin well enough, but the risk was bloody steep. Already two of his mates had been caught, one of them killed when he tried to escape John Law. Reggie wasn't a man with much of a conscience, and he was Irish, not bloody English, so that part didn't trouble him, but riskin' his neck this way... well, part of him was relieved his employer had decided to pull in his horns for a bit.

In the meantime, Reggie had a message to deliver and if he wanted the rest of his blunt, he would have to see it done.

He moved away from the rear of the tavern, off into the dark London streets toward the stable down in the East End off Smithfield Market, where he had rented a saddle horse. It was a long ride to Dover, but once he got there, he would leave the message in the usual place and his part in this rotten business would be done. He wasn't sure what would happen after that, but he figured from Dover, a man could row a small boat quietly across the channel to Calais and deliver the message to someone there. All he had to do was get to the coast.

A noise somewhere behind him filtered into his brain and Reggie stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, but when he looked, all he saw was darkness. Still, he had a nose for trouble and the scent was heavy in his nostrils now.

His heart hammered like a kettledrum as he hurried along the mist-slick streets and disappeared into a deserted alley. He paused a couple of times to look back over his shoulder, but no one was there. Then, just ahead of him, a shadow loomed out of the darkness and a tall man with curly black hair stepped in front of him.

"Hello, Reggie," the man said. "I believe you have something I need."

Reggie took one look in those cold blue eyes and his knees started to wobble. "Yes, sir," he said. "I believe I do at that."

"What the devil do you think you're doing?" William Tanner, Earl of Selhurst, strode toward Caleb, whose muscles strained in an effort to lift himself out of the deep feather mattress in his upstairs bedchamber at Selhurst.

"I have to go to London, Father. I need to speak to Colonel Cox." Caleb reached over and tugged on the bell pull to ring for his valet and that small effort made perspiration pop out on his forehead.

"Are you insane? You are barely well enough to eat. Your body needs time to recover. You can scarcely hie yourself off to London!"

Just then former footman Harry Prince, recently promoted to Caleb's valet, came dashing into the room. "You rang, sir?"

"I need a uniform. There's a clean one in the armoire. Help me get it on, will you, Harry?"

"You can hardly stand," William argued, his worry mounting. "What could possibly be so urgent you cannot remain in bed for another few days?"

Caleb's features shifted and an implacable expression appeared on his face. "I'm resigning my commission, Father. I'm leaving the army. I realize you probably won't approve, but this is something I've had a good deal of time to think about. I might have done it sooner, but there was a battle to be fought. There was the matter of duty and honor and the debt I owed my country. That debt has been paid and the duty I owe now is to myself."

The valet rushed forward to help him into his navy blue breeches. The effort cost him and he sank down heavily on the bed.

"Even should that be your decision," William said, "why can't you wait? It's obvious you're in no condition to travel. In a few more days-"

"I want to see Lee. There are things I need to say to her. Things I've already waited too long to say."

Lee. Vermillion Durant. William had been afraid of this from the moment Lucas had arrived with the girl at the hospital. "Things? What sort of things... ?"

"To start with, I want to thank her for helping to save my life. Luc told me how she stayed at my bedside for hours on end. There is no other woman like her and I mean to tell her so. And then I am going to ask her to marry me and pray that she will accept."

William's jaw imperceptibly tightened. He had been worried from the start that Caleb was in love with the girl. But a marquess's daughter or not, she was a bastard child with a blackened reputation and hardly a suitable match for his son.

He glanced up at the clock on the mantel. At two o'clock this afternoon, Vermillion Durant would marry Jonathan Parker. Luc had wanted to tell his brother about the marriage, but William had refused to let him.

"Not until he is back on his feet," he had said firmly. "As soon as he is, I will tell him myself. If he still wishes to intercede, he may do so then." Luc had argued, but concern for Caleb's health and William's words had finally convinced him.

"He'll want the girl to be happy and he knows marrying Nash is her best chance."

But William had never told Caleb about the marriage and he didn't mention it now. By the time he did, it would be too late.

By then, Vermillion would be Jonathan Parker's problem and Caleb would be free to make a more suitable match.

"I'll have the carriage brought round," William told him. "It will take you a while to reach Whitehall. I don't like your color. I think it would be best if I went along."

Caleb didn't argue. William could see he was trying to conserve his strength. As he walked out the door of the bedchamber, he thought of what Caleb might do when he discovered Vermillion belonged to another man, and a shiver ran down his spine.

You are doing what is best for your son, he told himself and headed downstairs to summon his carriage.

Lee finished dressing in her bedchamber at Lord Kinleigh's town house near Portman Square. Her friend, Elizabeth Sorenson, hovered over her, helping with the final details.

All morning the household had been frantic, the servants in an uproar as they scurried about completing last minute preparations before the family's departure to the chapel at Westminster where Lee and Lord Nash would be wed.

"Sit here, Miss," Beatrice commanded, barking orders like a sergeant in the army. "I need to finish weaving the ribbons into your hair."

Lee sat down in front of the mirror above her dresser and Elizabeth followed her across the room.

"You look beautiful," the countess said, surveying Lee's cream silk gown. Lee wished her aunt could have come, but it wouldn't have been seemly for her to appear in the marquess's house. She still wasn't sure Gabriella would come to the church.

Elizabeth knelt down to straighten Lee's train, her fingers sliding over the wide embroidered band of pale blue roses that decorated the skirt, the bodice, and the small puffed sleeves. Beatrice twined small blue roses and matching satin ribbons through her upswept hair, then Elizabeth fastened a single, square-cut diamond, a gift from Lee's future husband, around her neck.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing," Lee said, speaking the words she had repeated to herself a thousand times.

Elizabeth took her hand. "Of course you are. Jon is handsome and charming and he cares for you so very much. He wants children and so do you. It's a good match, Lee. And in time, you will surely fall in love with him-just as Charles has fallen in love with me."

Lee didn't remind her friend it had taken nearly ten years for the two of them to find happiness together. Still, her choices were limited. She could no longer stay at Kinleigh. The discord she caused was making all their lives miserable and she didn't want that.

"He's a good man," Lee said, more to herself than Elizabeth. "I'll do my best to make him happy."

"Jon is in love with you. He has been pursuing you for months. All you have to do to make him happy is repeat the vows that will make you his wife."

Lee made no reply, just finished the last of her toilette and made the final preparations to depart for the chapel at Westminster. She prayed that in time, marriage to Jonathan would make her happy, too.

A measure of Caleb's strength returned as the carriage rolled toward London. He had a great deal to do and he was eager to see it done. Two days ago, he had sent a message ahead, advising the colonel of his decision to leave the army and requesting an appointment to see him. The interview was scheduled for one o'clock.

"I still think you should have remained abed," his father grumbled from the other side of the carriage. The coach wove its way through the crowded London streets but traffic was heavy and their progress was slow.

"I've waited long enough," Caleb said. "My enlistment is up and I am resigning my commission. I want to advise Colonel Cox in person of my decision. I've also written a letter to General Wellesley, thanking him for his support. Cox can see it delivered."

"And the girl? She is the reason for your sudden change of heart, is she not?"

"In part I suppose she is. Perhaps if I hadn't met her, I would have remained in the army. Now that I have, there is no way I can stay. Not when I have been given a gift few men are lucky enough ever to possess."

Caleb's eyes searched his father's face, hoping for a hint of understanding. "Mother has been gone for years, but I still remember the way you used to look at her. Do you remember that, Father? Do you remember how much you loved her?"

The earl sat up a little straighter on the tufted leather seat. "Your mother was special. There has never been any woman like her and there never will be."

"Perhaps not. But when I look at Lee, I see a treasure any man would cherish. I see a chance for the sort of happiness you and Mother had, the sort I never thought I would ever find for myself."

His father said nothing, but an odd look began to come over his features. "You love her that much?"

"More than my own life. I want to marry her, Father. I want us to raise a family together. I want that more than anything in the world."

The earl's eyes slid closed and he leaned back against the carriage seat. "Sweet God, forgive me." He straightened, took on the look of authority Caleb recognized only to well. "There is something I need to tell you, son. I think I may have made a very grave mistake."

But just then the carriage rolled up in front of Whitehall and a footman jerked open the door. "We're 'ere, Captain Tanner."

"I'll be back in a minute, Father."

"Caleb, wait!"

But he was already down the iron stairs and limping along on the lion-headed cane he had borrowed, heading toward the office Colonel Richard Cox occupied at Whitehall.

Cox was waiting. "Come in, Captain." He motioned for Caleb to sit down in a chair in front of his desk. "I'm glad to see you up and about. How's the leg?"

"I'll probably be left with a bit of a limp. Other than that, it's mending very well. I take it you received my letter."

"Yes, I did."

For the next few minutes, Caleb reiterated his reasons for wanting to leave the army.

"You're being promoted, you know. As of today, you are Major Caleb Tanner."

Caleb smiled. "That's nice to hear, but it really doesn't matter. My enlistment has been up for some time. I'm resigning my commission as of today."

"Are you certain this is what you want to do?"

"Very certain."

"All right, then-"

"Colonel Cox!" The door swung open and Mark Sutton strode into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but I believe we've found our man." Sutton flicked only the briefest glance in Caleb's direction. "Last night, our efforts finally paid off. As we suspected, Reggie Bags was carrying the false information we fed to one of our suspects."

"Who's Reggie Bags?" Caleb asked.

"One of the couriers who was passing information," Sutton answered.

"Major Sutton has what seems to be an endless supply of sources," Cox explained. "We have had Bags under surveillance for the past several weeks."

"Last night we were waiting for dear old Reggie." Sutton handed the colonel a folded piece of foolscap, the wax seal broken. "You know which man received this information?"

The colonel nodded as he skimmed the page. "Jonathan Parker, Viscount Nash, advisor to the Lord Chancellor of England."

Caleb's heart slammed to a very sudden halt. "It can't be. There has to be some mistake. Why would Nash turn traitor?"

"No mistake, I'm afraid," Cox said. "Personally, I was hoping we were wrong. But the fact is, the man got himself into very deep financial straits. He was able to keep his problems secret far longer than he should have been. The money he was being paid extricated him from his debts, but to continue his role would mean even greater risk than he had already been taking."

"I imagine that is the reason for his upcoming marriage," the major added. "Aside from his attraction to the girl, she has a good deal of money, enough to end his problems, at least for a while."

"Nash is getting married?" Caleb said, feeling the first stirrings of alarm.

"That's right," the major said. "I figured you knew, as you and the lady were once involved."

"When?" he said with growing urgency. "When is the wedding?"

"Two o'clock."

"Today?" he practically roared.

"Easy, Captain. Lord Nash may wed the girl, but he will never consummate the marriage."