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before so embarrassing a lady.”
    “As I thought you were already aware, dear Kate, I’m not reckoned to be a gentleman. Don’t you believe me a thief and a rogue? Besides, what well-brought-up young lady would splash around barefoot in a woodland pool with such recklessness?”
    Heat flooded her cheeks. “If you would be kind enough to leave, sir, so that I could recover my shoes without further impropriety, I would rectify my foolish behavior this instant.”
    “An impetuous action, once taken, cannot be rectified though, can it? Even if I were to leave this instant, you would still know that I had found you out.”
    “Then you wish to mortify me?”
    His glance swept over her. “It’s my humble opinion, Miss Hunter, that you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
    She decided deliberately to misunderstand. “I’m all wet, sir! And I’m standing over my knees in water. If that falls within the bounds of what’s considered acceptable in polite society, then you’ve been moving in very different circles than I!”
    “In Paris,” he continued blandly as if she hadn’t spoken, “the ladies of the court are deliberately dampening their muslins the better to display their charms. The custom has not yet, regrettably, taken hold in England. Perhaps you can start the new fashion?”
    “I’m not interested in the fashions in Paris. Are you going to just stand there making small talk and leave me trapped in this pool?”
    Dagonet walked forward to the edge of the water. “Of course not! I thought I might join you. It does look deliciously cool and inviting.”
    Catherine backed away. “You wouldn’t dare!”
    He smiled with real humor, as if her perception of his desire was nothing but illusion. “I would dare a great deal, Kate. But if you would never forgive me, the pleasure would hardly be worth it, would it?”
    “My opinion of you cannot matter a whit!”
    Surely he would not really step into the pool with her? Why must she do such crazy things? It had been a stupid risk to take. Such behavior could only invite the wrong interpretation. And to be discovered by Devil Dagonet! He was said to be a complete libertine. Hadn’t he already kissed her without regard to her feelings?
    The memory of that sensation, sweet and desperate, was her undoing. Catherine blinked back sudden tears. She took one more step back and lost her footing. With a resounding splash, she fell back into the water. She came up gasping, pondweed streaming from her face.
    Yet Dagonet had already turned away and was reaching for his coat. Only the splash arrested him. In one powerful movement, he flung the jacket aside and leaped into the water. He caught her by the hands and pulled her to her feet.
    “Miss Hunter! You are too precipitate. This pool is hardly deep enough for swimming.”  He swung her into his arms and carried her to the bank, where he set her down on the grass. “I wish you’d waited until I could have removed my boots. It’s hardly comfortable to ride with one’s feet swimming in pond water.”
    He frowned with mock reproof, but his eyes were bright as he swept up the shawl that she’d left earlier beside her parasol and wrapped it carefully around her shoulders.
    Catherine trembled. “If you hadn’t interfered, sir, neither of us need have got this soaking.”
    Water ran from her muslin skirts to pool about her bare feet, turning the grass to mud between her toes. She was wet to the skin. She supposed she must be grateful for the cover that the shawl provided, but his shirt was also stuck to his chest, clinging to broad shoulders and strong arms. Firm, smooth muscles, like a fine horse, like a wildcat, like a statue of a young, naked man .She bit her lip and looked away.
    “Too true!” he said. “I’m amply rewarded for my disgraceful lack of sensibility. My breeches and boots are saturated. You’ve only to go back to the house and the sun is so bright you’ll be dry before you get there, but I must travel in