"I will admit that I am quite curious about the events that took place in Chillingham," he said mildly.

"They caused a great deal of nasty gossip, I can tell you that," Ivybridge said darkly.

Caroline whirled to face Adam. "I will tell you exactly what happened."

The door opened again before she could continue. Julia and Richard walked into the room.

"Lady Southwood." Ivybridge sprang to his feet with a great show of deference and bowed deeply to Julia. "Madam, might I suggest that you take your leave? I'm sure you will not want to listen to this extremely unpleasant conversation. Your delicate female nerves—"

"Do not concern yourself with my nerves, Mr. Ivy-bridge," Julia said coldly.

"I assure you, my wife has very steady nerves, Ivy-bridge." Richard raised a brow at Adam. "What the devil is going on here?"

"Caroline was just about to tell us the details of a great scandal in which she was involved three years ago," Adam said.

"How thrilling." Julia took a seat and assumed an attentive expression.

"Nothing like a good scandal," Richard agreed. He took up a position near the mantel.

The door was flung open yet again. This time Emma and Milly stormed into the library. Their expressions changed from anxious alarm to outrage when they caught sight of Ivybridge

"What is that bastard doing here?" Milly asked.

"Such language." Ivybridge looked deeply pained. "I did try to warn you, Hardesty." He settled himself back into his chair. "The entire family lacks any sense of propriety."

Emma looked at him with utter loathing. "You have come here to try to ruin Caroline again, haven't you?"

"Mrs. Fordyce was just about to tell us the entire tale." Richard gave Caroline an inviting look. "Please continue."

Ivybridge's mouth thinned with annoyance. "I do not know what you hope to gain by embarrassing yourself in this extraordinary fashion, Miss Connor. You will only make things worse."

Julia was immediately intrigued. "Is that your real name? Connor?"

"Yes," Caroline said.

"Go on," Adam said to Caroline.

"I shall try to keep my version of events as brief as possible," she said. "Mr. Ivybridge has a large estate outside the village. His family has held land in the neighborhood for some time."

"Six generations, to be exact," Ivybridge said with the arrogance of a man who knows that he occupies one of the higher rungs of the social ladder.

"Three years ago Ivybridge decided to marry," Caroline continued. "It was no secret in the village that his goal was to find a wife who could bring him some additional property in the vicinity of Chillingham. So he hunted for a wife among the local gentry. For a brief time, he paid court to Miss Aurora Kent, the daughter of another well-established

family in the area. But for reasons of his own, he chose not to make an offer."

Ivybridge tut-tutted. "Family finances proved not to be as represented,^" he explained in a confidential tone to Wilson and Adam.

"In other words, the lady's inheritance was not rich enough to suit you," Caroline said icily. "You withdrew from that quarter and fixed your interests in a different direction."

"My lovely Helen," Ivybridge agreed, his satisfaction plain. "It proved to be an excellent match."

"She was not only quite pretty, she came with a hand-some property that bordered the Ivybridge estate," Caroline said. "But there was a small problem with Miss Aurora Kent, who did not take kindly to being cast aside."

Ivybridge grimaced. "My change of plans evidently affected the lady's nerves in a rather peculiar fashion. She began acting decidedly odd. Actually showed up at my house on two occasions, unescorted during both instances, I might add. Demanded to know whom I had chosen to take her place. There was a dreadful scene in the course of the second visit. Threats were made"

Adam's stomach clenched. "Aurora Kent was mentally unbalanced?"

"Afraid so." Ivybridge shuddered. "I had a very close call, I can tell you. When I think of how close I came to marrying that woman, well, it still sends shivers through me."

"Ivybridge perceived, quite rightly, that Aurora Kent was not entirely sane," Caroline said. "When he withdrew his offer, she became a woman obsessed. He concluded that it would be most unwise to give her the name of his real intended"

"I feared she might do some harm to Helen," Ivy-bridge said, once again looking to the men in the room for understanding and approval. "Obviously I had a duty to protect my future wife from a madwoman."

^"So he gave Aurora Kent my name instead" Caroline's gloved hands tightened into small fists at her side. "He told that poor, demented woman that he intended to marry me. And he never even had the courtesy to let me know what he had done."

Ivybridge's face pinched in rage. "How dare you accuse me of putting you in harm's way?"

"That is precisely what you did," Caroline said. "You wanted revenge"

"Nonsense," Ivybridge said swiftly. "You are inventing more fiction here."

Caroline's gaze was unwavering. "You were infuriated because I had repulsed your lecherous advances. When you saw an opportunity to punish me for turning down your despicable offer to make me your mistress, you seized upon it."

"How dare you accuse me of making unwanted advances?" Ivybridge glanced nervously at Adam and then just as quickly looked away. "You invited my attentions with your unconventional behavior. Always wandering about the countryside on your own without a respectable chaperone—what did you expect a gentleman to think?"

All of the oxygen seemed to have been sucked out of Adam's lungs. He dared not move. He knew that if he did not control himself utterly at this moment, he would surely kill Ivybridge.

"It is true that I was in the habit of going off on long walks to think through my plots and ideas," Caroline said. Her mouth tightened. "Things are different in the country. Manners are more relaxed. No one in the village took any notice of me except you. And you were furious that day when I refused your advances. Later, when Aurora Kent showed signs of becoming quite dangerous, you pointed her in my direction."

"What happened?" Julia asked.

"Aurora followed me one afternoon," Caroline said. "I swear, she stalked me as if she was a hunter and I was the quarry."

"Dear heaven," Julia whispered.

Ivybridge rolled his eyes. "Such a melodramatic imagination. No wonder Miss Connor became a sensation novelist."

Caroline looked at Adam. "Aurora came upon me while I was sitting beneath a tree, making some notes. I saw at once that something was terribly wrong. She was dressed in only a nightgown and a pair of shoes. I spoke to her, asking her if she was ill. She did not seem to hear my question. She just kept repeating the same words over and over again."

Adam could not abide the cloudy veil of old terror gathering in her eyes. He straightened and crossed to where she stood in the center of the room. He put his hands gently on her bare shoulders.

No one moved or spoke. Even Ivybridge seemed suddenly bespelled.

"What did she say?" Adam asked Caroline, speaking to her as if they were alone.

"She said, You have to go away. Don't you see? He will come back to me if you go away."

When she repeated Aurora's words, her voice changed subtly, sliding into an eerie singsong. She was falling back into the memory, he realized, reliving a nightmare. Beneath his hands, her skin had gone cold. He could feel the shivers arcing through her. Very carefully, he tightened his fingers, forcing her to take notice of him.

"What happened next?" he asked into the crystalline silence.

Caroline watched him as if she were trapped in a whirlpool and he held the rope that she could use to pull her-self to safety. "She had been clutching a carving knife be-hind her back. She brought it out, raised it high and rushed at me. She tried to kill me, Adam"