The Handmaiden's Necklace. Kat Martin

      Dani sighed. She couldn’t help thinking of the little girl, Maida Ann, and the little boy, Terrance, from the orphanage. They were happy with the tiniest trinket, the least bit of affection. Terrance would have treasured the carved wooden horse Mrs. Clemens had given to William. Maida Ann would have loved the doll Sophie had tossed into a corner.

      Dani looked down at the two blond heads in front of her. Getting the children to accept her as their mother was going to be a Herculean task. She would do it—even though she suspected that neither Richard nor his mother, or even the children themselves really cared if she succeeded.

      Mrs. Clemens bustled toward her, a large woman as tall as Dani with blond hair going gray. “Richard’s driver is here to pick up William and Sophie and take them home. Their nurse will be waiting when they get there.”

      Dani turned to the children, still bickering over the little carved horse. William tugged the toy from Sophie’s small hands and she started to cry.

      “It’s all right, sweetheart,” Dani said. She hurried over and retrieved Sophie’s toy from where she had tossed it, then returned and knelt in front of the little girl. “Here’s your new doll. You can take her home with you if you like.”

      Sophie took the doll and slammed the porcelain head against the wall, smashing it into a dozen pieces that rained down on the carpet. “I don’t want a silly old doll. I want a horse!”

      Mrs. Clemens took hold of Sophie’s hand. “You mustn’t fret, dear. Grandma will get you a horse the next time you come over.” The look she cast Dani told her not to argue. Both mother and son seemed to believe that the way to make William and Sophie behave was to give them anything they wanted.

      Dani hoped that in time she would be able to convince Richard that what he and his mother were doing was not in the children’s best interest.

      She turned at the sound of her fiancé’s voice as he walked up behind her. “I’m sorry I had to leave, darling. In my business, sometimes these things happen.”

      He had said he had forgotten an important business meeting and had no choice but to leave, but Dani smelled the faint aroma of liquor on his breath. He had stopped by his house and changed into his evening clothes, dark blue breeches and a light gray tailcoat over a silver waistcoat, and as always, looked extremely handsome.

      And the way he was looking at her, his hazel eyes moving over her high-waisted green silk gown, said he was pleased with her appearance, too.

      He tipped his head toward William and Sophie, who were ignoring him as if he weren’t there. “The trials of being a parent. It’ll be such a comfort to know you’ll be there to take care of the children.”

      “Will I, Richard? Will I actually be taking care of them, or will I simply be their nursemaid?”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “I’m just not sure we are going to agree on how much William and Sophie ought to be indulged.”

      Though the smile remained on his face, Richard’s features subtly tightened. “I’m sure we can work something out—as long as you keep in mind that these are my children. Where they are concerned, I am the one who will make the decisions.”

      Angry heat rushed into her cheeks. She’d been afraid that was the position Richard would take. She opened her mouth to argue, but guests had started pouring into the house and this was obviously not the time or place.

      Richard’s smile softened. “Let’s not fight tonight, darling. We’ll discuss all of this tomorrow, work everything out. In the meantime, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

      He turned a little, revealing the presence of a tall man watching them from a few feet away. “When I told Mother you had a fellow countryman—a duke, no less—visiting here in the city, she invited him to join us.” Richard stepped back, allowing her to see the man behind him, but Dani had already spotted Rafael.

      Her chest constricted and her heart began a too-rapid beat. Dear God, why was Rafe torturing her this way? Surely he knew how uncomfortable his presence made her. She had loved him once. Didn’t he know that looking at him now reminded her of times long past? Reminded her of what might have been?

      “Miss Duval,” Rafe said, capturing her gloved hand, making a formal bow as he brought her fingers to his lips. “A pleasure to see you again.”

      Dani ignored the little tremor that ran up her arm. She didn’t know why he had come. She only wished he would leave.

      It wasn’t going to happen, she realized as he conversed with Richard, made polite conversation with Aunt Flora and Mrs. Clemens, then accompanied the group in to supper.

      Rafael was seated at the head of the table, as he would have been back home, but Mrs. Clemens sat to his right and Jacob Wentz to his left. The remainder of the guests took their places.

      Dani sat next to Richard, farther down the table, Aunt Flora across from them. Rafael made polite conversation with his hostess and spoke often to Richard and several of the other men, but even as Dani stumbled through the lavish meal, she could feel his eyes on her.

      She did everything in her power not to look at him, but dear God, time and again her gaze searched for his and she seemed unable to look away. There was something in those intense blue eyes, something hot and fierce that shouldn’t have been there. Something that stirred old memories of the way the two of them once had been.

      She remembered the day nearly five years ago that they had walked together in the apple orchard behind Rafe’s country estate, Sheffield Hall.

      Laughing at something she said, he had lifted her into the swing that hung down from the branches, then bent his dark head and kissed her, softly at first, but with such barely leashed passion she could still recall the feel of his lips moving over hers, remember the masculine taste of him.

      The kiss had grown hot and wild, and Dani hadn’t stopped him when his hand found her breast. She remembered his soft caresses and the sensual tug of heat that flowed through her body, the way her nipples hardened beneath the bodice of her blue muslin gown.

      The way they were hard even now.

      Dani flushed.

      “Darling, you weren’t paying attention,” Richard scolded. “Did you hear what I just said?”

      Her face was burning. She prayed that in the flickering light of the candles in the silver candelabra on the table, Richard wouldn’t be able to see the color creeping into her cheeks.

      “I’m sorry. My mind must have wandered. What were you saying?”

      “I said that the duke has agreed to join our bird hunting party next week.”

      She managed to smile, but it wasn’t easy. “That is…that is wonderful. I’m sure he’ll enjoy himself.”

      “I was thinking that we would make a weekend of it. Jacob’s country house is quite large and he has invited all of the ladies to join the men.”

      Her stomach squeezed into a knot. More time with Rafael. What in God’s name did he want? “That sounds…very…pleasant.”

      Obviously pleased with himself, Richard turned back to the conversation he was having with the duke and the other men, and Dani concentrated on her food. Why was Rafael intruding in their lives this way?

      Danielle didn’t know, but she intended to find out.

      Rafael endured the seemingly endless evening, determined to discover as much as he could about the man Danielle intended to marry. It was midnight by the time he returned to his suite at the William Penn Hotel. When he got there, he found Max Bradley waiting.

      Sitting in the darkness, Max rose as Rafe reached over to light one of the whale-oil lamps, and Rafe swore a soft curse.

      “I wish you would stop doing that. It’s extremely disconcerting.”

      Max