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educated and intellectually insatiable woman he had known since he was a child.
    Brother and sister embraced. “This is indeed a moment of inherent male chauvinism. You are not invited to the Stag, but St. Xavier is.”
    “I’ll think about allowing him out,” she teased, “although I have much better plans for him tonight.”
    Stephen thought he blushed. “That is beyond polite conversation,” he said mildly.
    “I abhor polite conversation.” She shrugged, smiling at him. “In fact, I have just come from a meeting of the People’s Advocacy for Textile Workers.” Then she pinched his cheek as if he were a small child. “I know you will donate to the cause of a labor union. By the way, I have been hearing odd rumors about you, Your Grace. Are you on the verge of a betrothal?”
    He started, amused. “Don’t you know better than to listen to idle gossip?”
    “I thought the gossip unlikely, but one never knows.” However, Ariella looked at him closely. “Is someone on your mind, Stephen?”
    “If there was, he would tell me ,” Alexi said. “His best and possibly only friend.”
    Stephen couldn’t help thinking about Alexandra Bolton, who was very dignified, even while about to swoon. “The gossips have been claiming that I am on the verge for years,” he said coolly. “It is wishful thinking.”
    Alexi laughed, rather wickedly. “You are staring at that brunette.”
    Stephen gave him a languid look. “I am simply concerned that she might not be feeling well.”
    “Really?” Alexi snickered. “And she isn’t eighteen—how refreshing.”
    He gave Alexi a quelling look.
    “Are you two arguing?” He turned at the sound of Elysse’s voice, and she threw her arms around him, embracing him hard. “We have only just got home, Stephen. Why are you arguing with my husband?” she demanded.
    “Because he is impossibly opinionated and his opinions are always wrong,” he said. As a child, Elysse had been spoiled and snooty, as well as demanding, and she had been prone to putting on airs. They had often tired of her behavior and excluded her from their outings. She had certainly changed, but perhaps being abandoned at the altar and deserted by her new husband for six years had caused her to rethink her ways. In any case, he was truly fond of her now. And last night Alexi had shared his spectacular news—Elysse was expecting their first child. “I see that Hong Kong has agreed with you.” He kissed her cheek. “Congratulations, my dear.”
    She beamed. “It is my husband who agrees with me, and my condition is one of the reasons why we came home now. Alexi has missed you, and so have I. But I see you two are already bickering like small boys.”
    “We are usually at odds,” Stephen said. “Which you already know, as you have seen us sparring since we were small boys.”
    “And neither one of you ever wins,” she reminded them both, her violet eyes stern. “So who was that woman who fainted in your arms?”
    Before he could answer, Ariella cut in. “That is Alexandra Bolton. Her mother was a good friend of Aunt Blanche’s,” she said, referring to Lady Harrington, “but after she passed away, the family has fallen on hard times. I haven’t seen her in years, and it is wonderful to see her and her sisters out and about.”
    “Is she widowed?” Stephen asked, well aware that she hadn’t worn any rings.
    Both women looked at him. “I don’t think she was ever married,” Ariella said, her brows lifted. “But I am not sure. Are you plotting your next seduction?”
    He stared calmly at her. “A gentleman does not kiss and tell.”
    “Don’t you dare!” she said, instantly outraged.
    Before he could change the subject, a man behind them said, “Who is about to be seduced?”
    Stephen turned in surprise as Elysse’s brother spoke. He was friendly with Jack O’Neill, but he hadn’t seen him in two years—O’Neill had been in America. “Ariella has a vivid imagination, or have you