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and I work hard, answering summons across the county. Meanwhile, my children are growing up. I am deprived of seeing the smiles and tears that constitute their lives. I will continue to be deprived, if I want a better life than this for them.”
    Dr. Walker rose to pour more port from the decanter. “I’ve no doubt you have your opinions about the way I have provided for Penelope, my lord, but I assure you she has been educated and raised as befits her status. Do not judge us by the current condition of our dwelling.”
    “Dr. Walker,” he replied, putting his glass down on the low table in front of the settee. “Let me make one thing clear to you. I did not come here expecting Penelope to have a large dowry, and I do not need her to have one. My family has had its share of financial difficulties, and I understand the consequences of such a situation. All I ask is to be given the respect due me as your stepdaughter’s fiancé, and we shall get along nicely.”
    The man looked surprised and then distinctly suspicious. “I thought you’d forgotten about my Polly. I don’t know what game you are playing, Ravenstone, but if you hurt my stepdaughter in any way, you will deal with me.”
    He narrowed his own eyes with impatience. “I’ve come here to marry Penelope, and I intend to do exactly that.”
    Dr. Walker stared into his glass. “I confess I’ve become quite worried about her,” he whispered after a moment. “The men in the village are too ignorant to recognize her wonderful qualities.” He gave Lucas a speculative look. “Her defense of you in the drawing room encourages me. If you’re here to do your duty, my lord, I won’t stand in your way. Polly needs a husband. She deserves to have her own family. She can’t go on living this way for long.”
    “She doesn’t seem to agree with you, sir, but I’ll change her mind if you’ll let me.”
    The other man turned, glass still in hand, and started to extend his other hand. “Well, that settles that then, don’t you think?”
    “Not entirely,” he said, rising to his feet as well. “There are some things I would like to know, sir, if you would be so kind as to answer my questions.”
    Dr. Walker’s gray brows rose in astonishment, but he nodded and dropped his frame on the faded green wingback chair adjacent to the settee.
    Lucas watched the doctor sit down and get comfortable before walking to the hearth to stoke the fire, which had nearly died down. “I would like for you to tell me what you know of the current Baron Maitland,” he said in a no-nonsense voice as he concentrated on prodding the fire with a poker. “Why has he not provided for Penelope and her mother? One would think Penelope’s father left some provision for them in his will.”
    “None whatsoever, my lord.” Dr. Walker sighed. “I know Edmund Maitland was your father’s friend, but the truth is he rarely visited Eleanor and his daughter while he was alive. He spent his days in London and died in a carriage accident with his mistress when Penelope was ten. We started calling her Polly after I married her mother, to make the transition to her new life easier.”
    His hand stilled in the act of putting the poker away. “And the current baron? Is he in residence at the moment?”
    “I think he is,” Dr. Walker replied. “He’s been known to ignore the London Season and stay in the country sometimes. Are you planning a visit?”
    “I doubt there is any need to visit the baron,” he said with cool satisfaction. “I’m content to let sleeping dogs lie for a little bit longer. He will hear of the wedding soon enough.”
    “Then why were you so concerned about the baron?”
    He turned to face Dr. Walker. “Because I believe Penelope’s father, with the current baron’s help, deliberately hid my fiancée from me when my family’s fortunes took a downward turn.” He knew his smile was cold. “It will be interesting to see Maitland’s reaction when he finds out I’ve