He hated having to be her secret. Were he to have his way, she’d have nothing to hide from his friends. She belonged here. Hell, she belonged across from him, at the other end of the table.
Rather than ducking away from Ash, he’d much rather be facing the vision of Hera’s sparkling eyes, her smoothly coiled hair, and the expanse of pale skin below her throat that, tonight, showed a hint of cleavage before disappearing into a becoming lavender muslin dress.
For the past two weeks he’d been doing his best toshowher how good they were together. From time to time, he caught a glimmer that suggested she shared his dreams, but that glimmer had not yet turned to consistent glow.
Shestillrefused to believe.
Now, he’d run out of time to prove he was sincere through actions alone.
He must speak to her tonight. With any luck, their next meeting would mark the end of this “farce” and the beginning of a true betrothal. Having decided, he turned his attention back to the conversation just as Delmare completed his story.
“Well!” Pen exclaimed. “What a magnificent tale!”
“Yes,” Chev agreed. “With much to be commended in all of you.”
Hurtheven lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug, as if, without much effort, he’d bested a lion on multiple occasions.
Alicia shivered. “I will never,everbe able to thank you enough, my dear Mrs. Montrose. Iknowwhat you risked. I will be forever in your debt.”
“No,” Hera replied quietly. “It is I who am in yours.”
Alicia’s tremulous smile suggested Hera had risked more than just her life. But what more had anyone to hazard than their very existence? And what of Hera’s answering gaze—equally heavy with obligation?
Had they left something significant unspoken?
But no—he frowned—Ash’s glower simply had him seeing things ineveryone’sexpressions, whether real or not.
“Delmare,” Fee added, “said Uncle Heven was just like Heracles. He vang...I meanvanquisheda lion, too, you know.”
“Vanquished is a very good word, Fee,” Alicia commended.
“You see?” Chev spoke to his wife. “I told you Hurtheven would have to face Herculean Labors before he’d see the light.”
“You did.” Pen lost her fight to suppress a smile. “And I believe”—she glanced between Hurtheven and Hera—“hehasseen the light.”
“Light?” Hurtheven’s frown deepened.What light?
“Oh, just idle talk.” Pen waved her hand. Then, she turned to Hera. “You must have all been exhausted by your ordeal.”
“Mrs. Montrose fainted,” Fee explained. “And so, Uncle Heven—only he was Uncle Papa then—made us all spend the night.”
“Did you...Uncle Papa?” Ash asked darkly.
Hurtheven cleared his throat. “A rather infamous occurrence—a lion in a courtyard. I thought it best to further disguise our identities by inventing a closer relationship.”
“But what about the penny?” Felicia asked.
“Hardly relevant to the story,” Hera interjected. She turned to Ash. “You would have been so proud of your children, Your Grace.”
Ash’s gaze softened considerably. “Iamvery proud of my children. And like my wife, very grateful to you.”
Hurtheven noted that he had not been included.
Chev leaned back in his chair. “There are, in fact, other interesting parallels between Hurtheven’s many feats and the Labors of Heracles. I’d scarcely be surprised if he told us he’d introduced man-eating birds on the estate.”
“Weren’t themaresman-eating?” Penelope asked.
“As I recall,” Alicia winced, “the labors involved a few different kinds of man-eating beasts.”
