The conservatory, constantly filled beyond its capacity over the years, had finally been moved away from the house several years before. Behind the stables now, it was a huge glass-roofed building, nearly 'the length again of the main house and rectangular in shape. Its two longest walls were also mostly glass, and in the winter especially, they were usuallv clouded with moisture from the humidity within, caused by dozens of braziers scattered about and kept burning day and night.

Derek was slinging off his jacket as soon as he stepped inside, the heavy scent of flowers, earth, and fertilizer over powering. And it was a chore finding his father in such a mammoth place, when there were usually a half dozen gardeners also present.

But he did finally locate the rose beds-and Jason Malory, bent over some exquisite white blooms that he'd been transplanting. A stranger would be hard-pressed to deduce that this was the Marquis of Haverston, with his shirtsleeves rolled up, a fine coating of dirt up to his elbows, splotches of it on his shirt-another white lawn shirt ruined beyond redemption-and a streak across his damp forehead from when he'd absentmindedly wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

He was big, blond, and green-eyed, as were most of the Malorys. Only a select few had the black hair and cobalt-blue eyes of Derek's great-grandmother. She was reputed to have Gypsy blood, though neither Jason, nor any of his brothers, had ever confirmed this.

Derek had to clear his throat a couple of times to announce his presence, Jason was so consumed with his task. But when the big man finally turned to him, his handsome face lit up in a smile, and he gave every indication that he was about to hug his son in greeting.

Derek jumped back, put up a hand with an appalled expression. "If you don't mind, I've already had my bath for the day”

Jason glanced down at himself and chuckled. 'Point taken. But it's good to see you, lad. You don't visit often enough these days." "And you don't come to London often enough," Derek countered. "True."

Jason shrugged and headed for a nearby water pump to thrust his arms into the filled tub beneath it, dozens of watering cans stacked all around it. The closest flowers got an extra spray as he shook the water off in their direction. "Business-and weddings-are about all that can drag me to that congested city," Jason added. "I rather like the congestion m'self."

Jason snorted. "'Spoken like any young pup, with the', amusements that can be found there. You're taking after my brothers James and Tony in that respect”

There was censure in that remark, however lightly phrased, but not enough to cause Derek alarm. "But they're married," he replied with feigned horror. "Egad, I certainly hope I haven't fallen into that trap without noticing." "You know what I meant," Jason grumbled, his expression going stern.

The nice thing about being the son of the austere, seriousminded head of the family was not having to curb the urge to tease or banter with him, as other members of the family might do. Derek had learned at an early age that his father might always give the appearance of being stem, but his bark was most times much worse than his bite, at least where Derek was concerned.

Derek grinned unabashedly. After all, who didn't know that James and Anthony Malory had been two of London's most notorious rakes, and neither of them had settled down until they were in their mid-thirties.

'Coursc I do," Derek said, still grinning. "And when I'm their age, I'll likely have made you a grandfather twice over. But that's a ways off, and until then, I rather like following in their footsteps-without the scandals they were known to create, of course."

Jason sighed. He'd raised the subject, and as usual, Derek had lightly sidestepped it. So he got on to the matter at hand. "I expected you yesterday." "I was on the way to Bridgewater yesterday. Your messenger had to track me down there, and as it happens, he arrived just as I did, not giving me time to even grab a bite to eat before I had to leave again to get here." "Bridgewater, eh? So you are keeping abreast of your properties. Couldn't tell it, according to Bainsworth. Had a missive from him that he's been trying to reach you for a week with no luck. Claims the matter is urgent. That's why I sent for you."

Derek frowned. It was true he hadn't gone through his mail recently, but with the season being in full bloom and with so many invitations coming in, the huge pile had proven too daunting. However, he didn't like the idea that Bainsworth was still running to Jason with any problems that arose, The properties in the north that Bainsworth managed had been signed over to Derek. His father no longer had any dealings with them. "Perhaps it's time I hired my own secretary. But Bainsworth, as I'm sure you remember from your own experience, can get excited over the smallest mishap. Did he happen to mention what he considered urgent?" "Something about an offer that was submitted to buy the Mill, with a time limit on it, which was why he was desperate to locate you."

Derek swore under his breath. "Perhaps it's time I found a new manager as well. The mill isn't for sale. Bainsworth knows that." "Not even for a very lucrative offer?" "Not for twice what it's worth. Not for any reason," Derek said emphatically. "I didn't accept the properties to turn around and sell them off."

Jason smiled and clapped him on the back. "Glad to hear it, lad. Truth to tell, with the man coming to me, I thought it might be an offering you were aware of, so I didn't think it could wait until I saw you later in the week at the wedding. But now we've had this little chat, I'll know better next time-if there is a next time." "There won't be," Derek assured him as they headed to-I' ward the exit together. "Speaking of weddings-"

Derek chuckled. "We were speaking of weddings?" "Well, if we weren't," Jason grumbled, "we ought to be, with Amy's wedding only four days away." "Will Frances show up, d'you think?"

That Derek referred to his stepmother by her given name' wasn't a matter of disrespect. It was merely that it had always felt bloody awkward calling her "Mother," when he barely knew her.

Jason shrugged. "Who knows what my wife will do. God knows I don't," he said with marked indifference. "But you know, son, it occurred to me the other day that my brother Edward, younger than me, is seeing his third child married this week, while I-" "He's marrying off his third girl," Derek was quick to cut in, knowing full well where his father would like to lead this discussion. "His boys ain't getting leg-shackled yet. And that's quite a difference there, when girls do get married right out of the schoolroom, but boys bloody well don't." jason sighed again, having that line of reasoning thwarted. ,,just seemed , unbalanced there." 'Father, you have only one son. if you'd had more, or some daughters, I'm sure you'd have most of them married off by now too. But don't compare one child to Uncle Edward's brood of five." ,,I know I shouldn't."

They fell silent on the walk back to wasn't until they'd reached the breakfast room, where an assortment of dishes was being kept warm on the sideboard awaiting their arrival, that Derek's curiosity got the better of him. "Do you really want to be a grandfather already?"

Jason was startled by the question, but after giving it a moment's thought, he said, "Yes, actually, I do."

Derek grinned. "Very well, I'll keep that in mind." "Excellent, but-ah, don't be following in James's footsteps in that regard too. The bloody wedding is supposed to come first, the babies after."

Derek laughed, not because James Malory's daughter had been born less than nine months after his wedding but because it was a rare occurrence indeed to see his father blushing, and he knew why he was in this case. Having made that statement, Jason had realized immediately his faux pas. Derek was a bastard, after all, and there wasn't anyone who knew the Malorys who wasn't aware of that fact.

Jason was scowling now at Derek's humor, and as was frequently his way, he turned the tables around with the remark "By the by, who's the chit you brought home the other night to the London house?"

Derek rolled his eyes. He always found it amazing, the things his father knew about that he shouldn't know about, and how quickly he knew about them. "Just someone who needed a little help."

Jason snorted. "I had conflicting reports, Hanly calling her a tart, Hershal calling her a lady. Which was it?" "Neither, actually. She's had a superior education, prob'ly better than most ladies, but she's not gentry." "Merely caught your interest?"

There was no merely about it, but Derek would prefer his father didn't know that, so he said with an expression of indifference. "Yes, something like that." "You will refrain from bringing her home again?" "Certainly. That wasn't very wise of me, I admit. But really, Father, she's nothing to concern yourself over. You won't be hearing about her again." "It's the servants that I don't want hearing about her, neither those in London nor here. This family has supplied more than enough gossip for the mills, enough for several lifetimes. We don't need to be contributing anymore."

Derek nodded, in perfect agreement. After all, other than the fact of his birth, he'd always managed to keep his affairs discreet enough that no scandal had ever been attached to him. He prided himself on that fact. And intended to keep it that way.

DEREK NEVER DID GET BACK To BRIDGEWATER. HE HAD stayed the rest of the day at Haverston to visit with his father, and had left the next morning to return to London to go through his mail and get a long letter off to Bainsworth. And as long as he was there, he started checking on a house to rent for Kelsey.

It would have been much easier if he could have gone to his Uncle Edward. Edward owned property all over London that he rented, and more than likely had available just what Derek was looking for. But Edward would ask what he required it for, and that wasn't something he wanted to divulge to the uncle who was closest to his father. With his other two uncles, there would have been no problem. They would have understood perfectly, having each kept countless mistresses themselves-at least previous to their marriages. But Edward was a family man, had always been a farnily man.

Unfortunately, his uncles Tony and James didn't own rentals in the city, or if they did, they left them to Edward to manage, as he did all of the family's investments. So Derek was forced to go through a normal search, and that had him running about the city, looking at town houses that were either too large, too expensive, or in need of too much repair. By the time he found just what he was looking for, it was the day before his cousin Amy's wedding. So there was no point in hieing off to Bridgewater then, just to turn right around and return to the city.

On the other hand, there was no point in keeping Kelsey in the country any longer either, when he had a signed sixmonth lease on a town house for her that came fully furnished and was ready for immediate occupancy. The only thing still needed for it was a small staff of servants, which she should be involved in the hiring of anyway. So he sent off a missive to his driver to fetch her back to the city.

Actually, he was too eager to see her again to wait until after Amy's wedding, when he would be free to fetch her himself. This way, she would be ensconced in the London flat by the next night, and they could get around to starting their relationship on a more intimate level a day sooner.

It wasn't often that the entire Malory family gathered under one roof at the same time. Even the two newest members of the family, James and Georgina's daughter Jacqueline, and Anthony and Roslynn's daughter Judith, were tucked away upstairs so their mothers wouldn't have to return home to feed them. Reggie's son was up there too, though he was old enough to feed himself now.

Reggie looked around the room at her expanding family. The other newest member of the family was, of course, the bridegroom, Warren Anderson, well and truly leg-shackled now, after that beautiful wedding ceremony they'd all just come from. Reggie smiled fondly at the newlyweds across the room. They made such a lovely pair, Warren taller than of the Malorys at six feet four, with his golden brown hair and light lime-green eyes, and Amy, a stunning bride all in white, with her black hair and cobalt-blue eyes.

Reggie had that same coloring, as did Anthony and Jeremy, and Reggie's mother, Melissa, who'd died when Reggie was only two. The five of them were the only ones in the family who had taken after Reggie's great-grandmother. Everyone else was on the fair side, mostly all blond and green-eyed, with only Marshall and Travis taking after their mother, Charlotte, with brown hair and eyes.

The reception was in Uncle Edward's mansion on Grosvenor Square. Large, jovial, always good-humored, unlike the rest of her uncles, Edward was beaming proudly even as he patted the hand of his wife, Charlotte, who was quietly sniffling beside him. In fact, Aunt Charlotte had cried all through the ceremony. But, then, Amy was her youngest child-although, come to think of it, Aunt Charlotte cried at all weddings.

All of Reggie's other cousins were scattered about the room. Edward's brood included Diana and Clare, with their husbands, and Amy's brothers, Marshall and Travis. Reggie's cousin Derek, Uncle Jason's only child, was talking with her husband, Nicholas, and her uncles Tony and James. Derek and Nicholas had been best of friends ever since their school days, long before Reggie had ever met Nicholas and fallen hopelessly in love with him. But she had to worry anytime her two youngest uncles were around her husband.

Reggie sighed, wondering if they would ever get along. Not likely. In Uncle Tony's case, he hadn't thought Nick was good enough for her, Nicholas having been a rake. In Uncle James's case, well, feelings ran a little deeper, since Nick had unfortunately had a run-in with James on the high seas during James's pirating days. James had lost that battle, and his son Jeremy had been injured in 'it, though not seriously. But that had been the start of many confrontations between those two, the last serious one ending with Nicholas SO soundly beaten he'd nearly missed their wedding; James had ended up in jail and nearly hung for piracy.