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wits.
    Horatia blinked, her brown eyes warm and sleepy. Her pink tongue flitted out to lick her lips and he all but dragged her back into his arms.
    She batted her lashes. “I’m sorry… You just startled me.”
    “No. It is better this way. We can’t… This never happened. Do you hear me?”
    “But…” Horatia touched her lips, her eyes drawn up to his face, unable to look away.
    Lucien had to put distance between them, and not just physical. “Listen to me, Horatia. I’m a hot-blooded rake, I got carried away. You should not have encouraged me.”
    Her eyes flashed with barely hidden fire. “Encourage you ? I did nothing of the sort.”
    “You licked your lips and gazed at me with longing. It makes a man unable to resist you. It was clear you desired a kiss and I felt compelled to oblige.”
    “You kissed me out of pity ?” She looked torn between hurt and anger.
    He hesitated, but only a moment. “Yes.”
    Horatia’s voice shook and her eyes darkened with tears. “Pl…please leave.”
    “Happily.” He left her room, slamming the door.
    Can’t that man ever shut my door normally?
    Horatia buried her face in her pillows and took several deep breaths, but it did no good. She fought the urge to cry, but tears still ran down her cheeks. It was then that Mittens sauntered out from under the bed, jumped up and nestled against Horatia’s stomach, purring.
    There was something comforting about the animal’s unconditional love. Only after stroking the cat’s satiny fur did she finally calm down, but it was a long while before she could look rationally at the problem.
    Over the years she’d heard whispers from maids and footmen about his sort. And of course, her brother’s warnings always rang inside her head. “Never trust men, Horatia. If someone asks to show you the garden at a ball, run and find me. You don’t want to end up with someone like Lucien. They’ll steal your innocence, break your heart and ruin any chance of a decent marriage. Word gets around and for us, reputation is everything.”
    Lucien didn’t want an innocent woman. He wanted a wild and wanton creature in his bed. If she were to ever catch his attention it would require something drastic. After today, she was positive that he had some small attraction to her. If she could just get close enough to him to make him act on it… But she couldn’t get close to him. Most of the time he seemed to have enough sense to stay away from her. If only there was a way she could trick that stubborn marquess into seeing her as a woman, not his friend’s sister.
    Horatia’s eyes fell to the open drawer of her vanity table. A silver loo mask lay in the drawer, a piece from a masquerade earlier that year. It spawned an idea. She needed to be someone else, the type of woman he would seek out.
    But how to go about it? It would have to be in a location far away from her brother’s watchful eye. Someplace dark, perhaps at night so she would have less of a chance of being seen. If she could interact with Lucien in a place where she could wear a mask, he might not know it was her. The risk was high that he would recognize her after talking to her, but if she had it her way there wouldn’t be much talking.
    All she needed was a chance to convince him that she was worthy of his attention. She wanted to be the seductress he made her feel like. Perhaps if she proved she was passionate, he would offer for her.
    I’m such a peahen . The bitter thought struck her like a hard slap. Lucien wouldn’t offer for her. He’d use her and then move on. Then again, he’d come close to marriage once. Why not once again? And a tiny voice in her head whispered that ruination at Lucien’s hands would be worth it. Even if she spent the rest of her life as a lonely old spinster, one night with him outweighed a lifetime with someone she had no feelings for.
    Forcing herself to focus on her idea, she evaluated her choices of clandestine meeting spots. This plan had all