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butler, walking over to the window.
    “Set it down, Dawson. And you may retire.”
    ‘Thank you, my lady.”
    Tony turned around and looked Claudia in the eye. “I understand completely, Lady Fairhaven. I am sure you wish me in Jericho right now. I promise I will not bother you again. I cannot spare you the gossip, but it will die down, I assure you.”
    There was no trace of the bewildered boy in Tony’s eyes. They were a man’s eyes, bleak and despairing, but at least facing things as they were.
    “Don’t leave, Tony,” said Claudia softly as he turned to go.
    “I am sure I have hurt you, Claudia, and I wouldn’t have done that for the world. I do have a great affection for you. I want you to know that. And we both have felt the attraction between us. But I also need your money. God help me,” he groaned, “I never thought I would end up the rankest fortune hunter. But at least I can leave you alone from now on.”
    “So that I can fall prey to a fortune hunter who doesn’t care about me? Or even desire me?” asked Claudia with a crooked smile. “Someone like Mark Halesworth?”
    “Mark Halesworth! God forbid!”
    “You know,” said Claudia, pointing at the portrait of her husband, “I almost think that Justin made his will in such a way that the title and fortune might be brought together. He may have meant well, but I could never marry Mark.”
    “I hope not, Claudia. Even I would be better than Fairhaven.”
    “Much better, Tony,” she agreed.
    “What are you saying, Claudia?”
    “I think I am going to ask you to marry me, Tony.”
    “You are mad!”
    “No. I am quite sane and serious. But there is a condition.”
    “Yes?”
    “You would have to give up gambling. I will not marry someone I cannot trust.”
    “And could you trust me now, if I made you another promise?”
    “I think so. Because if you marry me, you would have no more reason to return to the tables. As my husband, you will have all the money you need to restore Ashford and take care of your mother. But if you break this promise, Tony, I will break our engagement. I promise you that as faithfully as I promise my love.”
    Tony didn’t move. He couldn’t. He knew he should do something. What? Sweep her into his arms and rain kisses on her face to thank her? It would have felt despicable to take advantage of such generosity. No, he would begin this betrothal honestly, or not at all.
    He put his hands on her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. “Claudia, I will make that promise. And not only for Ashford, although that is part of it. I won’t begin this with a lie. Nor can I even begin to thank you right now. But I can tell you that I care for you very much and that I find it difficult at this moment to resist your lips. But I want to prove these things to you slowly, day by day.”
    “Then your answer is yes?”
    “My answer is yes.”
    Claudia let out a long breath. “That was very unwomanly of me to propose, I know…”
    “I am glad you did. I don’t know when I would have had the courage. But I must go, or I will break my first promise and have to kiss you.”
    “I wouldn’t mind that broken promise, Tony,” Claudia whispered.
    “I know, my dear, but first I need to redeem the other.” Tony squeezed her hands and turned to go.
    “Wait, my dear. You have forgotten something.” Claudia walked over to her husband’s desk and, opening the drawer, took out three hundred pounds.
    Tony blushed. “I hate to take this.”
    “But you must.”
    “Unfortunately I must,” he admitted. “I will redeem my vowels tonight.”
    “You may tell all your creditors that they will be fully paid over the next two weeks.”
    ‘Thank you, Claudia.”
    “Good night, Tony,” she said, smiling at him.
    “I will call on you tomorrow. Good night, my lady,” he added, caressing her with his voice.
     

Chapter 10
     
    After Tony had gone, Claudia perched on the arm of the sofa and looked up at her husband’s likeness. “I