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same amount of time.’
    She looked at him blankly for several moments, and then her eyes widened as the full import of what he was saying became clear to her. She licked suddenly dry lips. ‘But you believe it will only be for a few days?’
    Dominic studied her closely. ‘Possibly a week.’
    ‘A week?’ Her echo was distraught.
    Alerting him to the fact that she was in all probability completely financially reliant upon the money she earned each night at the gambling club—her clothes certainly indicated as much! It also proved, along with her determination to remain in London ‘for the present’, that her situation at home must be dire indeed… ‘There is no reason for you to look so concerned, Caro,’ he assured her. ‘Whether you wish it or not, for the moment, it would appear you are now under my protection.’
    Her eyes went wide with indignation. ‘I have absolutely no intention of becoming your mistress!’
    Any more than it was Dominic’s wish to take her—or any other woman—as his mistress…
    His parents had both died when he was but twelve years old. Neither had there been any kindly aunt to take an interest in him as there had with Nathaniel. Instead Dominic’s guardianship had been placed in the hands of his father’s firm of lawyers until he came of age at twenty-one. During those intervening years, when he was not away at school, Dominic had lived alone atBlackstone Park in Berkshire, cared for only by the impersonal kindness of servants.
    It would have been all too easy once he reached his majority, and was at last allowed to manage his own affairs, to have been drawn into the false warmth of affection given by a paid mistress. Instead, he had been content with the friendship he’d received from and felt for both Gabriel and Nathaniel. He knew their affection for him, at least, to be without ulterior motive. The same could not be said of a mistress.
    ‘I said protector, Caro, not lover. Although I am sure that most of the gentlemen here tonight now believe me to already have that dubious honour,’ he pointed out.
    She stiffened at the insult in his tone. ‘How so?’
    ‘Several of them witnessed you throwing yourself into my arms earlier—’
    ‘I was in fear of my life!’ Two indignant spots of colour had appeared in the pallor of her cheeks.
    Dominic waved a dismissive hand. ‘The why of it is not important. The facts are that a masked lady is employed at my gambling club, and tonight that lady threw herself into my arms with a familiarity that was only confirmed when she called out my name for all to hear.’ He shrugged. ‘Those things are enough for most men to have come to the conclusion that the lady has decided on her protector. That she is now, in all probability, the exclusive property of the Earl of Blackstone.’
    If it were possible, Caro’s cheeks became even paler!

Chapter Four
    F or possibly the first time in her life, Caro was rendered bereft of speech. Not only was it perfectly shocking that many of the male members of society believed her to be the exclusive property of Lord Dominic Vaughn, but her older sister, Diana, would be incensed if such a falsehood were ever related to her in connection with her runaway sister, Caroline!
    Caro had left a note on her bed telling her sisters not to worry about her, of course, but other than that she had not confided her plan of going to London to either Diana or her younger sister, Elizabeth, before fleeing the family home in Hampshire two weeks ago, before their guardian could arrive to take control of all their lives. A man none of the Copeland sisters had met before, but who had nevertheless chosen to inform them, through his lawyer, that he believed himself to be in a position to insist that one of them become his wife!
    What sort of man did that? Caro had questioned in outraged disbelief. How monstrous could Lord GabrielFaulkner, the new Earl of Westbourne, be that he sent his lawyer in his stead to offer marriage