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Devlin exhaled a silent oath as he watched the first figures of a country gavotte form on the dance floor

Da best to provoke a slip of the tongue But neither Anna nor Polianov had given anything away The Russian’s sudden interest in her nal that the conspirators were rattled by the failed attempt on the prince’s life and needed to quickly make alternate plans

Or it ht simply mean that Polianov, like himself, had overheard several of the London ladies earlier in the evening speculating on how large a dowry the foret from her wealthy new brother-in-law

As for Anna, she a the past Season and had admired how coolly and cal her hand All had been treated with charrace It had s lay beneath the flawless skin

He had always sensed that she had intriguing depths at odds with the outward show of sweetness But given how hard she was to read, Miss Anna Sloane couldshe still desperately needed money to support her family

Which she didn’t

The soft slap, slap of the capering feet see round and round inside his head

So ould she involve herself in such a nefarious plot?

Devlin considered hiether the parts of a complicated puzzle But this one had him flummoxed

The lively an to drift off for refreshments and to re-form into new pairs for the next set

The violins ran through the first few notes to test their tuning

A waltz, as promised

Pretending that he didn’t see the Co the stone colonnade to where Anna and her sister were standing with Count Rupert and Lord Saxe-Colza

“Miss Sloane, I believe you are promised to me for this dance”

“Have I an Count Rupert