"That would not matter a great deal, my lord. I shall simply retire to the country somewhat ahead of schedule. Society will soon forget about me."

"What about me, Prue?" Sebastian asked gently. "The ton will not forget my role in all this very quickly, I assure you. Thornbridge, for one, will undoubtedly decide that his initial suspicions concerning my presence in his wife's bedchamber were correct. He will very likely come after me again with his pistol."

Prudence caught her lower lip between her teeth and peered at Sebastian. "Do you really believe he would do that?"

"I would say it is highly probable."

"I had not thought about that. What are we going to do, my lord?"

"Finish the Season as an engaged couple," Sebastian said calmly.

"When June arrives, you may return to Dorset and I shall continue on about my affairs. The gossips will gradually lose interest."

"I take your point," Prudence said, thinking it through carefully. "Sometime during the summer I shall quietly announce that I am crying off. By fall everyone will have forgotten about the matter."

"Very likely."

"Yes, it just might work." Prudence frowned in thought. "It means that for the next two and a half months we shall both be obliged to carry out the pretense of being engaged."

"Do you think you can act the part of a happily engaged lady that long, Prue?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I have never tried my hand at amateur theatrics."

"I am certain that with a little practice, you will soon get the hang of it."

"Do you think so?" Prudence tilted her head to one side and gave him a shrewd glance. "What about you, my lord?"

Sebastian's mouth curved faintly. "There is no need to concern yourself, my dear. I assure you that I can handle my role. A talent for playacting is in my blood."

"Yes, that's right, it is, is it not? You are extremely fortunate that your mother was an accomplished actress." Prudence sighed. "I am really very sorry about all this."

"Look on the bright side," Sebastian suggested. "Perhaps now your pest of a brother will stop issuing a challenge every time I dance with you."

"There is that, I suppose." Prudence cleared her throat discreetly. "There is just one small point concerning last night's events that I wish to have clarified before we go forward with this pretense of an engage­ment."

Sebastian smiled. "Allow me to guess what that small point is. You probably want to know precisely what I was doing in Lady Thorn-bridge's bedchamber."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I would like an explanation. I do not believe for one moment that you had an assignation with her. I have observed you closely of late, my lord, and last night was not the first time that I've seen you mysteriously disappear for a while from a ballroom. As far as I could determine, you were not meeting anyone on those occasions."

Sebastian glanced at her with an expression of cool admiration.

"You've been very observant. But I cannot say I'm surprised. You are a most amazing female."

"I am not at all certain that is a compliment. Now, are you going to tell me what was going on last night?"

Sebastian's amber eyes gleamed briefly as he considered the ques­tion. "Did you really believe I had become a cracksman?"

Prudence narrowed her gaze behind the lenses of her spectacles. "It occurred to me, my lord, that in a misguided attempt to alleviate your ennui, you might have resorted to a somewhat unfortunate hobby."

"In other words, you thought I might have turned into a jewel thief. I am crushed to learn that you hold me in such low esteem."

"Well, I wasn't altogether certain that was what you were about," Prudence said quickly. "After all, it is not as if you need the money. Everyone says you are as rich as Croesus. So what were you doing in Lady Thornbridge's bedchamber?"

"You were partially correct in your initial assumption. As I tried to tell you, I was looking for a necklace. A very particular necklace."

"What?" Prudence gazed at him in astonishment. "I do not believe it."

"It's quite true. The necklace did not belong to Lady Thornbridge, however."

Prudence was immediately intrigued. "Whose necklace was it?"

"It belongs to a certain lady of the ton who gave it to Lady Thorn-bridge."

"Why did she give it to her?" Prudence asked.

"She had hoped to purchase Lady Thornbridge's silence," Sebas­tian said softly.

"Her silence?" Prudence leaped to the obvious conclusion. "Lady Thornbridge was blackmailing this woman?"

"Precisely. When Lady Thornbridge demanded another piece of jewelry in exchange for further silence, however, the victim realized there would be no end to the demands. She decided to see if anything could be done to stop Lady Thornbridge."

Prudence frowned. "The victim came to you about this matter?"

"No, she consulted a Bow Street Runner named Whistlecroft. Whistlecroft decided to contact me. He and I have worked out an arrangement, you see. He has instructions to bring some of his more interesting cases to me."

Prudence was enthralled now. "And he came to you with this case?"

"Yes."

"How exciting," Prudence breathed. "Did you find the necklace last night?"

Sebastian's arrogant smile contained more than a trace of smug satisfaction. "Yes, as it happens, I did."

"Where is it? What have you done with it?"

"It was returned to its rightful owner this morning. Whistlecroft handled that end of the business. I prefer to remain anonymous in such matters. No one else except you, Whistlecroft, and a friend of mine named Garrick Sutton knows about my little hobby."

"I see. I can understand why you wish to keep your hobby a secret. But what about Lady Thornbridge? Won't she make good on her blackmail threats once she realizes her victim is no longer cooperat­ing?"

"I doubt it."

"Why not?"

"Because before I was so rudely interrupted by you and Thorn-bridge, I had time to leave a note in Lady Thornbridge's safe, in place of the necklace. She will discover it soon enough."

"A note?" Prudence asked. "What did it say?"

"Merely that an anonymous party was aware that Lady Thorn-bridge's pedigree was not quite what Society and Lord Thornbridge believed it to be. To put it bluntly, Prue, Lady Thornbridge came from the gutters and she would be ruined in Society if that fact were ever revealed."

"The gutters?"

"She is an exceedingly clever, ambitious little creature who has fought her way up in the world. I do not fault her in the least for creating a respectable facade that has fooled the ton and landed her a wealthy husband."

Prudence chuckled. "In other words, she worked hard for what she's got and you respect her for it, but you cannot countenance her falling back into her old ways, is that it?"

"Not when she chooses a victim who has also fought her way out of the stews and into Society. Lady Thornbridge has everything she wants now, so there is no need to resort to blackmailing another lady of the ton who has a background similar to her own."

"Quite right." Prudence nodded briskly in agreement. "You told her that in your note?"

"Yes."

"But how did you learn Lady Thornbridge's secrets?" Prudence asked.

"I have my methods of investigation, just as you have yours."

Prudence recalled his recent disappearances from various ball­rooms. "Your methods must be clever, indeed, my lord. Lady Thorn-bridge has succeeded in fooling the entire ton, yet you found her out. Brilliant, Angelstone. Absolutely brilliant."

"I had a feeling you would appreciate my efforts."

"I most certainly do." Prudence laughed in delight. "You handled the whole thing very well, my lord."

"Thank you."

"But won't Lady Thornbridge guess that it was you who left her the note?"