“No.” Farring shook his head. “I’ve known plenty of libertines. Nasty men. Debauched, corrupted creatures. Incapable of respect, of humility, and of…dare I say it?Love.”
She swallowed hard. “What’s Rayne, then—in your estimable opinion?”
“Rayne’s capable of those things but has no idea how to get out of his own way.” Farring pondered a moment. “He’s what you might call a lost soul.”
“Hardly.”
“Remember—I know things about him you don’t. For instance, the Grange hasn’t a trace of feminine influence, as if his mother, who barely lived long enough for him to know, never existed. As for his father—I doubt anyone ever saw him smile…when they saw him at all. You see…” Farring adjusted his glasses. “Nothing in Rayne’s experience prepared him foryou.”
“And?”
“And, Rayne wants you, thinks he shouldn’t have you, and is now at sixes and sevens. Tell me you didn’tfeelhis confusion. Tell me something behind his gaze didn’t tug you beneath your ribs?” He caught her chin, preventing her from looking away. “It did, didn’t it? That’s why you, wee warrior fiend, went all soft.”
“You”—she removed his hand—“need a vocation.”
“I have one.” He hooked his thumbs in his waistcoat pockets. “I help people. Same as you.”
She lifted her right brow.
“You think I haven’t noticed? You’re hardly subtle, my dear.”
Farring pushed aside a few wedding gifts and sat on the billiards table, clutching the edges and swinging his feet, looking like anything but a ducal heir in his third decade.
“Here’s the only question that matters,” he continued. “How outrageous an action would you take, if you were assured success?”
She scowled. “Define success.”
“Please. We both know the answer. Rayne, wrapped around your little finger—a personal and social triumph.”
“Didn’t you hear me? IsaidI never—”
“Make the same mistake twice,” he interrupted. “Exactlymy point. Last time, youbelievedhim when he told you he held you in no regard. You’re about to make the same mistake again.”
“He doesn’t.” Pain seared her chest. “Hisactions just proved—”
“I didn’tseethe play, but I sure asheavenheard the dialogue.Taken, Rayne said.” Farring leaned forward. “Taken.”
She’d never forget the way Rayne had spoken the word—hard and low and rumbly as crushed stone. “I haven’t a reason in the world to believe him.”
“How many men flee their perfectly comfortable lives for the wilds of some uncivilized nation just to preserve the reputations of ladies for whom they have no particular regard?”
“Uncivilized? He was in New York City!”
“Pardon me.” He touched his chest. “I should have saidcompletelyuncivilized.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“I’m incorrigible, I know.” He drummed his fingers against the table. “And I’m also heartily sick of intervening in the lives of the rest of the card suit, blinded as they are to their own need. Since your own meddling has proven equal to the task, this time you’ll do the intervening all on your own.”
“You? What did you have to do with Bromton and Katherine, Markham and Clarissa?”
“More than you know, my dear, more than you know.” He tilted his head. “Though you were a help, I credit. But that’s beside the point…we’re talking about youandRayne. You cannot lie to me about how you feel. I rode with you the day after Rayne left, remember?”
She remembered too well. She’d been grateful for Farring’s ear, for his shoulder, for his seemingly endless supply of clean handkerchiefs. She’d poured out her heart. Told Farringeverything. And, in return, he’d soothed and coddled until she’d found calm.
Later, he’d even assured her social success by convincing his influential mother to allow her to make her curtsy with his sister, Horatia.
“You”—she narrowed her gaze—“were just keeping me occupied the whole time, weren’t you? Why? Were you ‘preserving’ me for Rayne?!”
