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not take it amiss, I hope, when I say that such a reprehensible connection will not do for an innocent young lady like yourself.”
    “Surely you refine too much upon it.” Loveday sought to restrain her temper. Lady Laurent, at least, had never heard of her various unladylike exploits.
    Charmain gave a tinkling little laugh. “You must allow that I know more of the world than an impressionable puss like yourself! Jasper will ill-use you and cause you endless mortification. He doesn’t care a button for you, that’s obvious, but will allow you to fritter away your chances. Do you wish to end up on the shelf? Even if you did succeed in getting him to the altar, it is inevitable that he will play you false.”
    Loveday remained silent, but her thoughts were quite unsuited to a young lady of gentle birth.
    “I see that I must resort to plain speaking,” Charmain lamented. “Even now your betrothed is not indifferent to me, and has arranged numerous assignations. Strange behavior, is it not, in a man about to be wed? Furthermore, I think it exceedingly strange that Jasper hasn’t mentioned this betrothal to me.”
    Loveday hoped her burning cheeks would be attributed to maidenly confusion. Dillian, whose sharp ears missed little, moved to her side.
    “It has not yet been announced.”
    “But my dear child,” Charmain protested, “I am his particular confidant. Jasper tells me everything!”
    Dillian proceeded to effectively dispel her carefully cultivated air of genteel ladylikeness. “Not quite everything, it seems,” she said.
     

Chapter 5
     
    “Don’t tease yourself, child.” Isolda’s tone was bracing. “I assure you I am well pleased that you’ve taken such efforts with Dillian. In truth, I am very much obliged to you.”
    Loveday’s head ached, and she wanted nothing more than to be left alone with her chaotic thoughts. Instead, Isolda had come to her chambers so that they might talk undisturbed.
    “Dillian’s unfortunate background and sad instability provide her little chance of forming an eligible connexion. It is the most lowering reflection that she possesses Vere blood. I daresay it is quite remiss in me to allow her to attend Charmain’s soiree, but I am persuaded it will do the chit no harm.” Isolda shot a keen glance at Loveday. “I daresay you think very poorly of me, and believe that I have treated the girl shockingly.”
    And have you not? thought Loveday, as she made a polite disclaimer. She had come to believe that Dillian’s eccentric turns weren’t to be wondered at, considering the unnatural treatment to which the girl had been subjected.
    “No, no,” protested Isolda, “you may be frank with me. It’s nothing but the truth, after all, as I am sure you must admit.”
    “Well,” Loveday commented carefully, “it’s true that I had remarked upon your indifference toward her. Dillian’s so-called lack of stability seems to me nothing more than the natural consequence of an unrestrained childhood.”
    Isolda raised a thin white hand. “Dillian has found a staunch champion in you. Don’t blush, child; I find your concern quite praiseworthy. My only worry is that you may come to grief over the matter, for the sad truth is that Dillian will never be as other girls her age.”
    “Perhaps not,” Loveday replied. “She is admittedly given to odd fantasies, but I personally find her refreshing.”
    “And you wonder that I do not? Remember that the miserable creature caused the death of both my husband and my son. Is it to be thought wonderful that I find her presence a sore trial?”
    Loveday looked at the old woman’s flashing eyes. “Dillian was but a baby then. Surely you cannot blame an innocent child for what happened.”
    “She should never have been born.”
    Loveday was startled by Isolda’s venom. Loathing twisted the aristocratic features, briefly, and then the duchess smiled.
    “Forgive an old woman’s fancies, child,” she said. “I have always