She"d approached him on the wide lawn behind the large manor house where he"d been throwing sticks for his dog to chase. She wouldn"t raise her head to actually look at him so he could see her face. Pretending to be shy, no doubt. Her white pigtails tied with pink ribbons lay over her bony shoulders. Her little bonnet was a mass of white and yellow flowers. Her rose-and-white gown was made of the finest linen money could buy, he was sure. Such a darling little girl, anyone might think—until they got a peek at the little monster"s eyes.

He knew their parents were watching them from the terrace. His father had called out to him, notifying him of the Millers" arrival, and was probably seething because Richard hadn"t immediately run back to the house. But the girl had been sent down to join him instead. Surely he"d been on his best behavior despite his resentment at having to meet the fat purse he was being forced to marry.

Had he actually said something about it? He couldn"t recall, but she"d amazed him when she"d unexpectedly burst into tears. He did recall wondering what the deuce had brought that on, so it must not have been anything he"d said. But the girl"s tears hadn"t lasted more than a minute before she suddenly flew at him with her fists flying, and one of those fists had struck his groin, probably unintentionally, but it had brought him to his knees. That put him more or less on her level, unfortunately, so she kicked him in exactly the same spot, that time quite intentionally he was sure, and thus began the war.

Her father had been appalled and had rushed down to tear her off him, but not before she"d bloodied Richard"s lip as well while he"d been groaning on the ground. She"d screamed at Gerald Miller that she didn"t want to marry a damned Allen. Her mother had been red-faced with embarrassment and speechless. Gerald had actually turned to Milton and said, “Perhaps this wasn"t such a good idea after all.”

Milton had scoffed at the concerned father and made light of it, assuring him, “Children will be children. Mark my words, they won"t even remember this incident when they"re older. And it"s too late to reconsider. The engagement has already been announced. Your daughter will reap the benefits even before the marriage. The moment the contract was signed, she gained entrée to the ton. So do try and teach her some manners before they meet again.” It was so typical of Richard"s father to react that way. Gerald Miller wasn"t pleased. It wasn"t the last time Julia"s father tried to persuade Milton to tear up that contract. At one point he"d even offered to pay the entire promised dowry to end it. But Milton had grown even greedier by then. The Miller name appeared often in the papers because of some new business deal, acquired property, or other success, and Milton crowed every time he read something about the Miller family"s good fortune because it would soon be his. Richard had hoped for a while that Gerald Miller would break the contract anyway, but, apparently, the harm it might do to his business reputation as well as the social scandal his wife, Helene, feared had stayed his hand.

If Julia had ever learned any manners, she certainly never displayed them around Richard.

He had a scar on his ear from when she"d tried to bite it off. His nose had been disfigured for life when she"d broken it and he"d been too ashamed to admit it, so no doctor had been summoned to fix it. Not once did they ever get along on those visits, which, thankfully, were infrequent. But always in the forefront of his mind was the knowledge that he was going to have to marry that little monster. Just because his father wanted the enormous dowry and the access to the Miller fortune that would come with her. Why in the bloody hell didn"t he try to marry her if he wanted her in the family that much?!

He"d actually asked his father that question one of the many times he"d tried to get out of that contract himself. “Don"t be ridiculous, boy,” Milton had chided him. “You see, her father loves her. He"s not going to saddle her with a man even older than he is.”

“But they"re marrying up, so why should that matter?” Richard had demanded.

“Because Miller is a rare commoner. He isn"t a social climber. He"s so rich he doesn"t care about titles or the opportunities that would open to him with an aristocrat in the family.”

“Then why did he even agree to this mismatch?”

“The females in his family apparently feel differently about it. If I hadn"t found out when I researched their family that one of the Miller women had bought herself a lord to marry a few centuries ago, and another did the same thing just two generations ago, I probably wouldn"t have had a leg to stand on. But I used that information as the cornerstone of the deal. The Miller line will go forward as aristocrats now, once you produce some offspring, exactly what they tried but failed to do before. Miller"s wife was certainly thrilled with the betrothal. Still, Gerald might not have committed his daughter to a marriage partner at so young an age if you didn"t take after your mother and weren"t such a fine-looking lad that his daughter couldn"t help but be pleased with you.”

“She"s not pleased with me a"tall, she despises me as much as I do her!”

“Which makes not a jot of difference, boy. Her mother agreed with me that it would be a fine match, which clenched the deal.”

That was the bottom line, a deal that was going to make the Allens as rich as the Millers, and Milton wasn"t giving that up for any reason, least of all because the young couple couldn"t stand each other.

But Milton had added that day, “So grow out of this ridiculous animosity you two have developed. She"s still a child. She"s not old enough yet to be attracted to you. When she is, you won"t see the spitfire anymore.”

In that prediction, his father had obviously been wrong, so it was just as well that Richard hadn"t held out for that false eventuality. Julia had been attracted to him today, right up until she realized who he was and then turned into the she-devil that he remembered so well. But even if his father had been right, and as an adult now he had to allow he might be able to woo her out of her animosity, it was pointless to try because he still wouldn"t have her. He wasn"t about to give that bastard who"d sired him and put him through hell what he wanted most—the means to bring the Millers and all their wealth into the Allen family fold.

Having told Ohr most of that, Richard ended with, “No one was happy with that engagement except my father, and he wasn"t the one getting married. But I didn"t just leave England because of her. It wasn"t even mostly because of her. I left because I wanted to live my own life, not have my father live it for me. And I hated him too much to make him happy with that marriage.”

“I"ll get us a coach,” was all Ohr said to that.

Richard almost laughed. That was so typical of Ohr. He was a firm believer in fate. He never interfered with it. He might make suggestions, he might point out things he thought were being overlooked, and he"d offer help. But he wouldn"t try to change someone"s mind once it had been made up. That would be tampering with fate.

“I think horses will get us there more quickly,” Richard said.

“Me on a horse?” Ohr asked. “You"re joking, right?”

Richard grinned. “I guess I am.”

Chapter Fifteen

JULIA HAD GONE DIRECTLY home and locked herself in her room. She"d thought about finding Carol. She really needed someone to talk to. But she was in such a state that she feared she might unintentionally lash out at anyone. She didn"t really want her friend or anyone else, including the servants, to see her like this.

She was beyond upset. Agitated, enraged, and feeling some potent fear, she couldn"t even sit down she was trembling with so much emotion. Her worst nightmare was back, now when she was so close to unlocking that chain his horrid father had wrapped around her neck when she was just a baby.

But she hadn"t dreamed it. She"d seen him with her own eyes, heard his nasty remarks, felt the rage overcome her the way it always did in his presence. Eleven years had passed since she"d last seen him, and except for his appearance, he hadn"t changed, not even a little. The proof was in the first thing he"d said to her when he"d recognized her. Wring her neck? And he hadn"t been joking! Once, when she was a child, he"d held her over a balcony railing two stories up just to terrify her.

But she had changed. She no longer took offense so easily. She no longer let anger rule her actions. She no longer let anyone upset her so much that she wanted to hurt them the way she"d always wanted to hurt him. She"d outgrown that kind of impulsive behavior. Look at her today. She hadn"t tried to scratch Richard"s eyes out. She"d run away from him instead. The sensible thing to do!

But her anger wouldn"t go away. Was he back to fulfill that horrid contract? Or had he never even left England? That remark he"d made about falling in love with Georgina Malory last year implied he"d been here then, and London was certainly a big enough town to disappear in.

Had he been in town all these years, laughing at her for being stuck with their engagement without his having to actually marry her?

That would be so like him, despicable rogue that he was! But she could live with that. As long as his father didn"t find out about his presence and drag them both to the altar. She certainly wouldn"t tell the earl that his son was back in England. She would proceed with having Richard declared dead. Gabrielle Anderson knew he was alive, but Julia wasn"t sure if Gabrielle knew who he really was or simply knew him as Jean Paul, as she"d called him. But Gabrielle was only visiting and would soon be gone anyway. And the Malorys, who might know him by sight, didn"t know him by either name! So she could proceed with her petition.

She"d just have to make sure that horrible contract was destroyed in the process.

Could it still work? As long as no one else knew of his existence, why not? And with the contract gone, Richard wouldn"t have to hide anymore. Actually, she ought to make a deal with him to make sure it happened exactly like that—no, good Lord, what was she thinking?

Knowing him, he"d reveal his presence in England just long enough to thwart her plan, then disappear again. She"d have to wait another ten years before she could try again!

But whether he"d been in England all along or was just visiting as he"d mentioned, he obviously had no intention of marrying her. He hadn"t gone home. The earl would immediately have sent her notice if he had. Instead Richard had gone to a London ball to moon over his love! And even though he was in love with someone else, he"d admitted that he"d tried to seduce her! It was so like an aristocratic rake to be ruled by rampant carnal instincts. Why should she be the least bit surprised that that was what Richard had turned into?

How could she have been attracted to him? She was disgusted with herself for thinking him charming even for a moment! What a pathetic, desperate old maid that made her! His charm was probably just as fake as he was, with his pretense of being a Frenchman. How could she have even found him handsome today when his appeal was so superficial? Nothing about him on the inside was handsome. He was mean, spiteful. He was the worst sort of snob, the kind who couldn"t keep his mouth shut about his supposed superiority. He"d always looked down on her, thought she wasn"t good enough for him, and let her know it. Good grief, the memories were flying at her. She"d thought she"d put all that behind her, never thought about those days.

But then Richard Allen hadn"t been around to remind her.

Chapter Sixteen

YOU MUST BE SO excited,” Helene Miller said to her daughter. “He"s such a fine, handsome lad.

And a lord! You"ll be a lady just like your aunt Addie was!” Julia"s mother was certainly excited about it. She so rarely made up her mind about anything, but, apparently, this engagement was the one exception because she"d been in favor of it from the beginning. Julia was excited about it, too, mostly because her mother"s excitement was contagious. As long as all she and her mother did was talk about it, Julia was content. The earl"s son did sound like a wonderful boy. But marriage was so far off. Honestly, she"d rather have a new doll than a husband.

She"d never not known about this splendid boy she was promised to. His father actually sent progress reports to her father, and Gerald related them to her. Lord Richard was doing well in school. Lord Richard got a new dog. She wanted one, too. Lord Richard caught a huge fish in his lake. Why had no one ever taken her fishing? Her parents wanted her to feel as if she knew Lord Richard before she met him. It seemed to work.

But meeting him was so far off that she never really thought about it. Then the day arrived soon after her fifth birthday, and her reaction wasn"t the least bit expected. On that long ride to Willow Woods, the Earl of Manford"s estate near Manchester, she got so nervous that she broke out in a rash that splotched her cheeks bright red. Her mother cried when she noticed.

Gerald had chuckled at them both for being silly. Julia couldn"t even say why she was so nervous. Because she wanted Richard to like her and was afraid he wouldn"t? Because he"d never truly seemed real to her until then?

Julia almost had to be dragged into that big mansion in the country. Then she was awed by the size of Willow Woods as they were led through some of the rooms on the way to the earl and she caught glimpses of other rooms. Her home was big, but not like this. Here every single room was large, and the entire house was spread out wide as well as tall. Everything blended in so well, antique paintings that had to be centuries old, huge crystal chandeliers, muted wall coverings that you barely noticed. Nothing was gaudy and glittering like the fancy French decor her mother preferred.

She"d met the earl before, but she had only the vaguest memory of his visiting once just prior to her fourth birthday to see how she was turning out, since he hadn"t seen her since she was a baby. He hadn"t brought his son with him on that visit. The boy wasn"t there at Willow Woods when they arrived, either. He was outside with his dog. She was so relieved! She almost cried.