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deep emerald
    green gown shimmered brilliantly in the light of the ballroom.

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    But it was not Isabel's unusual looks that madeVictoria regard her with a certain wistful envy. It was the
    freedom conferred upon her by her age and her status as a widow thatVictoria secretly admired. A
    woman in Lady Rycott's position was far less subject to the close scrutiny of the ton thanVictoria was.
    Lady Rycott was even free to indulge in discreet affairs.

    Victoriahad never met a man with whom she had wanted to have an affair, but she would have liked
    very much to have had the freedom to do so if she chose.

    "Good evening. Lady Rycott."Victoria looked down at the woman who stood several inches shorter
    than she. Are you acquainted with the earl?"

    Isabel shook her exquisitely shaped head. We have not yet been introduced, unfortunately. He has only
    recently entered Society, although I hear he has been active at the gaming tables in the clubs for some
    time now.

    "I heard the same thing," Annabella said. Bertie says the man is an excellent gamester. Very
    coolheaded."

    "Really?" Isabel glanced across the room to where the earl was still standing with Lady Atherton. He's
    not at all in the way of being handsome, is he? Still, there is something quite intriguing about him."

    Handsome?Victoria could have laughed aloud at the notion of using such an insipid word to describe
    Stonevale. No, he was not handsome. His face was strong, harsh even, with a sharp blade of a nose, an
    aggressive jaw, and an unrelenting awareness in those gray eyes. His hair was the color of a moonless
    night sky, shot with silver at the temples, but none of it added up to handsome. When one looked at
    Stonevale, one saw quiet, controlled, masculine power, not a fine dandy.

    "You must admit," Annabella said, "that he certainly wears his clothes well."

    "Yes," Isabel agreed softly. He wears his clothes exceedingly well."

    Victoriadid not like the assessing look Isabel was employing as she surveyed the earl, but there was no
    denying that Stonevale was one of those rare men who was not dominated by the elegant tailoring that
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    was so fashionable. His powerful shoulders, flat waist, and strongly molded thighs needed no padding or
    camouflage.
    "Perhaps he will turn out to be rather amusing," Isabel said.

    " Yes, indeed," Annabella agreed cheerfully.

    Victoriaglanced again at the tall, dark figure beside Lady Atherton. Amusing may not be quite the right
    word." Dangerous was the right word. ButVictoria was suddenly willing to experiment with this dash of
    danger; the social whirl of the ton, which lately she depended upon more and more to fill up the long
    hours of the night, was no longer enough. She needed something else to help her hold the restless
    nightmares at bay. The Earl of Stonevale might be just the tonic for which she had been searching.

    "Dearest Lucas, what did you think of her? Will she do?" Lady Atherton gazed up at Stonevale with an
    anxious expression in her beautiful, gentle eyes.

    "I think she will do nicely, Jessica." Lucas sipped champagne from the glass in his hand, his eyes moving
    across the crowd.

    "I know she is a bit old."
    "I, myself, am a bit old," he pointed out dryly.
    "Nonsense. Thirty-four is an excellent age for a man intent on marriage. Edward was thirty-three when I
    married him."
    "Yes, he was, wasn't he?"
    Jessica Atherton's eyes were instantly filled with a heart-wrenching contrition.

    "Lucas, I am so sorry. How clumsy of me. You must know I did not mean to hurt you."

    "I'll survive," Lucas finally spottedVictoria in the crowd. He kept his gaze on the tall figure of his quarry
    as she stepped out onto the dance floor with a plump, elderly baron.Victoria obviously enjoyed dancing,
    although she appeared to restrict her partners to very young, socially awkward