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“Mama’s miniature? I couldn’t!”

“You must.” Cassie replied. “For courage.”

“Look at us all!” Millie rolled her suspiciously damp eyes, threw up her hands, and then shook her head. “We’re making a ridiculous fuss. Lenora is only going three blocks away.”

“Millie, may I speak to you for a moment?” Eliza nodded toward the far end of the hall.

While Cassie secured the necklace around Lenora’s neck, Millie and Eliza moved to the side of the room and exchanged whispers.

Cassie nestled the locket between Lenora’s collarbones. “There.” She placed her hands on Lenora’s shoulders and turned her toward the nearest inlaid mirror.

Lenora examined her reflection. Yes, in appearance, she was very like their mother. Was she also likely to commit the same blunders?

“Now you have Mama’s courage to carry with you,” Cassie said.

Courage? What courage had their mother ever shown?

The man her mother had loved and married ended up treating both her and her offspring with resentment and contempt. And yet their mother had never once spoken a word against her husband.

In fact, she’d made excuses for his absences. And she’d blamed his outbursts on his high standards, as if wild rage or snide mocking were appropriate punishments for a child’s transgressions.

Lenora admired Asquith in part because of his stoic calm. But if she convinced him to marry, would he, too, end up holding her in contempt?

The possibility made her stomach churn.

“Don’t worry,” Cassie threaded her arm around Lenora’s waist. “Remember, it’s only Asquith.”

Yes. Only Asquith.

Her very heart.

***

Asquith looked up at D’Acre House’s impressive façade. The imposing pillars had never made him feel small or uncertain before, but they did now.

He forced himself to get on with his task—collect Lenora and then deliver her to his mother. A simple transaction. Not difficult in the least.

Except someone had exchanged the soles of his boots for lead.

Had only a fortnight passed since he’d stood in this very spot, there to deliver the last of his wards’ things ? How satisfied he’d been with the arrangement.

He could uphold his legal responsibilities—financial oversight and the formal sanctioning of any significant romantic pursuits—while Adrian took charge of the Wainwrights’ daily needs. The sisters had been delighted by the prospect of being together. Moreover, Asquith hoped that Adrian and Eliza’s example might inspire the marriage-reluctant Millie.

He’d been grateful. Unlike last Season, he would not have to endure dinners his mother orchestrated to give the girls, as she put it, polish. Nor would he have to plan outings deemed suitable for young ladies. And, most importantly, he would not have anyaccidental run-ins with Lenora. He’d thought the stable meetings were his sole remaining challenge.

But his mother had thrust him back into temptation’s snare.

His mother and Lenora.

As Asquith climbed the stairs, Adrian’s ancient porter, Mr. William, greeted him at the door. He then ushered Asquith into a vestibule that opened into the entry hall and offered to take Asquith’s coat and hat.

“No,” Asquith replied. “My visit will be swift. Is Miss Lenora ready?”

“I believe she and her sisters have gathered just inside the hall.”

“All of her sisters?” The deuce! “The duchess has come over, too?”

Mr. William nodded.