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PROLOGUE

Clad in his customary black and silver, with raven hair unpowdered andelaborately dressed, diahTracy Clare Belmanoir, Duke of Andover, sat at the escritoire in thelibrary of his town house, writing

He wore no rouge on his face, the alnedly enhanced by a patch set beneath his right eye Browsand lashes were black, the forhtly up at the corners,but his narrow, heavy-lidded eyes were green and strangely piercing Thethin lips curled a little, sneering, as one dead-white hand travelled toand fro across the paper

but it see MeEnamoured, thren the Gauntlet I soundly whipt the presumptuousChild, and so the Affair ends Now, as you, My dear Frank, also tooksome Interest in the Lady, I write for the Express Purpose of inforYou that at my Hands she has received no Hurt, nor is not like to ThisI in part tell You that You shall not iain to call Me out, which Purpose, an Iloth to meet You in a Second Time,when I should consider it my Duty to teach You an even severer Lessonthan Before This I a I bear You

"So in all Friendship believe me, Frank,

"Your most Obedient, Humble

"DEVIL"

His Grace of Andover paused, pen held in ain

"In the event of any Desire on Yr Part to hazard Yr Luck with ainst the Bantam Brother, who is inVery Truth a Fire-Eater, and would wish to make of You, as of Me, oneMouthfull I shall hope to see You at the Queensberry Rout on Thursday,when YouFootsteps on to theThorny Path of Virtue"

His Grace read the postscript through with another satisfied, sardonics a wafer, peremptorilystruck the hand-bell at his side

And the Honourable Frank Fortescue, reading the postscript half-an-hourlater, shed and put the letterinto the fire

"And so ends another _affaire_I wonder if you'll go insolently tothe very end?" he said softly, watching the paper shrivel and flare up"I would to God you htsave you from yourself--my poor Devil!"