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Authors: Victoria Vane
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hear of the subscription
race for mares.”
“Ah, but you do not perceive my modus operandi .”
“What do you mean?”
“I purchased this property to expand my racing stud and am
in need of superior broodmares. How better to find the best than
to see them run?”
“Devious, indeed!” She laughed. “But won’t winning mares
come at a premium price?”
“Price is little object when I want something.” He gave her a
meaningful smile. “But there is one thing I don’t understand. If
what you say is true, why did your husband not enter this horse?”
“Because my husband seems to have very fixed notions about
the inferiority of females . ”
“Following the general principles of nature, I would have to
agree with him. However, one does upon occasion discover some
most remarkable specimens among your gender.” His gaze swept
slowly over her, creating a wave of heat in its wake. “You are
aware the entry fee is two hundred fifty pounds?”
“Yes,” she said. It was a small fortune, yet a much larger one
awaited the winner. “That is why I have come to you privately. I
would like to keep this matter quiet. Just between us.” Reaching
behind her neck with trembling hands, Diana fumbled to unclasp
the double strand of pearls. The action thrust her breasts upward.
DeVere’s eyes were fixed on her motions the entire time, an ap-
preciative smile hovering over his mouth. His pupils flared with
greater interest when the pearls suddenly released and dropped
into her bodice.
His lips twitched. “I don’t suppose you require any assis-
tance?”
47
Her stomach fluttered and she felt the heat of color suffuse
her cheeks. “No, my lord. I can manage, thank you.” She retrieved
the necklace and held the warm pearls in her hand for a long mo-
ment, gauging their weight against her decision. At length, she
dropped them in her lap in front of him. “They are a family heir-
loom,” she said. “The clasp is diamond. I don’t have an appraisal,
but I assure you they are worth at least half the subscription fee.”
“And the other half?”
“My mare, Cartimandua. She carries premium racing blood,
and you’ve just said you wish to improve your racing stud.” Di-
ana prayed she would not have to make that sacrifice.
DeVere stared down at the pearls with a confounded frown.
“A necklace and a horse? Do you take me for a pawnbroker, mad-
am?”“No,” she said. “I take you for a gentleman. One who might
be inclined to assist a lady in need.”
“You appeal to my sense of chivalry?” DeVere laughed. “How
droll to imagine anyone thinks I have one!”
“I know you are aware of my tenuous circumstances. My hus-
band has us on the brink of ruin.”
DeVere frowned, neither confirming nor denying the state-
ment. “And how came you by this information?”
“I have no desire to discuss it.” She evaded his question. “But
the way I see it, this race is my only hope of recovery. Of keeping
what is rightly mine.”
DeVere took up the necklace, lacing the pearls between his
fingers as if admiring their luminescence. He looked into her face
with an intense and assessing expression, a combination of inter-
est and calculation that sent a scintillating shiver of awareness
through her.
“Your only hope?” he murmured. “Surely not. You lack imagi-
nation, my dear.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. But perhaps I really do .
Her breath seized when DeVere’s hand left the back of the
settle. He trailed his fingers gently over her skin from her bared
shoulder to her nape where he toyed with a loose curl. He ma-
neuvered behind her, pearls in hand. “Oh, but I’m sure you do.”
The light touch of his fingers whispering over her skin as he
replaced the pearls sent flares of sensation plummeting to a place
deep in her belly. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed with acute
48
Victoria Vane
awareness of his all-too-masculine and too-close presence and
race for mares.”
“Ah, but you do not perceive my modus operandi .”
“What do you mean?”
“I purchased this property to expand my racing stud and am
in need of superior broodmares. How better to find the best than
to see them run?”
“Devious, indeed!” She laughed. “But won’t winning mares
come at a premium price?”
“Price is little object when I want something.” He gave her a
meaningful smile. “But there is one thing I don’t understand. If
what you say is true, why did your husband not enter this horse?”
“Because my husband seems to have very fixed notions about
the inferiority of females . ”
“Following the general principles of nature, I would have to
agree with him. However, one does upon occasion discover some
most remarkable specimens among your gender.” His gaze swept
slowly over her, creating a wave of heat in its wake. “You are
aware the entry fee is two hundred fifty pounds?”
“Yes,” she said. It was a small fortune, yet a much larger one
awaited the winner. “That is why I have come to you privately. I
would like to keep this matter quiet. Just between us.” Reaching
behind her neck with trembling hands, Diana fumbled to unclasp
the double strand of pearls. The action thrust her breasts upward.
DeVere’s eyes were fixed on her motions the entire time, an ap-
preciative smile hovering over his mouth. His pupils flared with
greater interest when the pearls suddenly released and dropped
into her bodice.
His lips twitched. “I don’t suppose you require any assis-
tance?”
47
Her stomach fluttered and she felt the heat of color suffuse
her cheeks. “No, my lord. I can manage, thank you.” She retrieved
the necklace and held the warm pearls in her hand for a long mo-
ment, gauging their weight against her decision. At length, she
dropped them in her lap in front of him. “They are a family heir-
loom,” she said. “The clasp is diamond. I don’t have an appraisal,
but I assure you they are worth at least half the subscription fee.”
“And the other half?”
“My mare, Cartimandua. She carries premium racing blood,
and you’ve just said you wish to improve your racing stud.” Di-
ana prayed she would not have to make that sacrifice.
DeVere stared down at the pearls with a confounded frown.
“A necklace and a horse? Do you take me for a pawnbroker, mad-
am?”“No,” she said. “I take you for a gentleman. One who might
be inclined to assist a lady in need.”
“You appeal to my sense of chivalry?” DeVere laughed. “How
droll to imagine anyone thinks I have one!”
“I know you are aware of my tenuous circumstances. My hus-
band has us on the brink of ruin.”
DeVere frowned, neither confirming nor denying the state-
ment. “And how came you by this information?”
“I have no desire to discuss it.” She evaded his question. “But
the way I see it, this race is my only hope of recovery. Of keeping
what is rightly mine.”
DeVere took up the necklace, lacing the pearls between his
fingers as if admiring their luminescence. He looked into her face
with an intense and assessing expression, a combination of inter-
est and calculation that sent a scintillating shiver of awareness
through her.
“Your only hope?” he murmured. “Surely not. You lack imagi-
nation, my dear.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. But perhaps I really do .
Her breath seized when DeVere’s hand left the back of the
settle. He trailed his fingers gently over her skin from her bared
shoulder to her nape where he toyed with a loose curl. He ma-
neuvered behind her, pearls in hand. “Oh, but I’m sure you do.”
The light touch of his fingers whispering over her skin as he
replaced the pearls sent flares of sensation plummeting to a place
deep in her belly. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed with acute
48
Victoria Vane
awareness of his all-too-masculine and too-close presence and
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