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Chapter 1

Fifteen servants wearing the traditional blue and silver livery of the Earl of Cameron left Havenhurst at dawn on the saes that Lady Elizabeth's uncle, Mr Julius Cahout England

The recipients of thesein common: They had once offered for Lady Elizabeth's hand in e

All fifteen of these gentlee, exhibited shock at its contents Some of them were incredulous, others derisive, and still others cruelly satisfied Twelve of theeous suggestion, then they hurried off in search of friends hom they could share this unsurpassed, delicious piece of incredible gossip

Three of the recipients reacted differently

Lord John Marchman had just returned fro when the Havenhurst servant arrived at his hoe "I'll be dae stated that Mr Julius Ca his niece, Lady Elizabeth Cameron, suitably and immediately wed To that end, Mr Ca to reconsider John's previously rejected offer for Lady Elizabeth's hand Cognizant of the year and a half that had passed since they had been in each other's company, Julius Cameron volunteered to send his niece, properly chaperoned, to spend a sennight with John so that they ht "renew their acquaintance"

Unable to believe what he was reading, Lord Marche twice h his sandy hair, he glanced distractedly at the wall beside him, which was completely covered with his most prized possessions-the heads of the animals he'd hunted in Europe and abroad A lazed eyes; beside it a wild boar snarled Reaching up, he scratched the esture that expressed his gratitude for the splendid day of hunting that particular prize had afforded him

A vision of Elizabeth Caly before his eyes-an incredibly lovely face with green eyes, cao, when he'd irl he'd ever seen After , unaffected seventeen-year-old girl that he'd dashed off to her brother and offered for her, only to be coldly rejected

Evidently Elizabeth's uncle, as now her guardian, judged John by different standards

Perhaps the lovely Lady Elizabeth herself had been behind this decision; perhaps their two s in the park had meant as much to her as they had to him

Getting up, John wandered over to the third wall, which held a variety of fishing poles, and thoughtfully selected one The trout would be biting this afternoon, he decided as he renificent honey-colored hair Her hair had glistened in the sunlight, re scales of a beautiful trout as it breaks the water The analogy seemed so perfect and so poetic that Lord March, and put the fishing pole down He would compliment Elizabeth's hair in exactly those words, he decided, when he accepted her uncle's offer and she came to his home next month

Sir Francis Belhaven, the fourteenth recipient of Julius Ca in his bedchaown, hisfor him in his bed across the room