"Dear God, Troth, don't do this! Don't." She was lithe and incredibly strong, capable of thwarting an assault by half a dozen dangerous men, yet he didn't dare use any of the filthy fighting tricks he'd learned in unsavory places for fear of injuring her. With his own strength far below normal, he had to pin her down by sheer body weight.

As he sprawled on top of her, immobilizing her limbs and the lethal knife, he said desperately, "How have we come to this, when there was so much kindness between us? "

She stopped struggling, her breathing harsh. "B-because you're sorry you ever met me." She began to weep with utter desolation.

"It's you who have reason to curse meeting me." She didn't resist when he pulled the knife from her hand and tossed it aside, then sat up and drew her across his lap, rocking her against him. "Swear that you'll never try that again, Troth. Killing yourself isn't the answer no matter how bad things are."

"What's the point of living in a world where I belong nowhere?" she said through tormented sobs. "At least in Canton I had a place, even if it was one I didn't like."

Guilt gnawed at him like a prison rat. "If I'd had the means of killing myself in Feng-tang, I would have done it-and that would have been a mistake. The last months haven't been good, but they've been better than Wu Chong's dungeon, and God willing, in time things will be better yet. They will improve for you, too."

"But you belong here. I don't. I never will."

He stroked her silky hair, where auburn highlights glowed against the darkness. "I don't blame you for wanting to leave Dornleigh-it's dismal at best, and I've been worse than useless. I'm sorry. It was my place to provide for you, and I've failed."

"Your place!" She sat up, eyes snapping again. "We owe each other nothing, Lord Maxwell. I took you to Hoshan, you brought me to England. We have each done what we promised and are free to go our separate paths."

"Surely there was more than obligation between us on the journey to Hoshan." Aching, he studied her beautiful, exotic face, the long eyes swollen by tears. "But I was a fool to think that becoming lovers could ever be as simple as it seemed then."

Her gaze dropped. "Being lovers was simple-marriage never occurred to me. Yet after that ceremony, I… I began to think of you as my husband. But it was never real, was it? You were right-no one had a reason to challenge the marriage when you were thought dead. Now you're alive, and I was never your wife."

"The ceremony was as real to me as it was to you. At the time, it seemed like a wonderful idea." He touched her cheek, then dropped his hand when she flinched away. "Come back to Dornleigh, if only for a little while. I can't bear for us to separate in anger."

Her eyes closed, tears seeping out again. "No. I tried so hard, but nothing I do will ever be good enough. I'll never be an English lady because I'm a Chinese whore."

"Don't call yourself such an ugly name! It's vile and horribly untrue."

"Not to your father."

"He's wrong."

"But still your father."

That was inarguable. "Why the devil do you want to be an English lady? I haven't asked it of you, and I doubt that Dominic and Meriel did."

"I've spent too much of my life being despised for being different," she whispered. "I thought that in Britain I could blend in better. But I'm just as foreign here as I was in China."

He took her hand between both of his. "Some people hate anyone who is different from them. Others are charmed and fascinated by such differences. Which people would you prefer to have as your friends?"

She gave a surprised little hiccup. "I… I never thought of it that way."

"Understandable, given that you've spent much of your life feeling like an outsider. I won't lie to you, Troth. Anywhere you go in Britain, you'll attract attention because you look different. But given a chance, most Britons are fairly tolerant. Wherever you choose to live, you can cultivate a circle of friends who will love you for the rare and appealing woman that you are."

"You make it sound easy."

"Not easy, perhaps, but not impossible, either." His hand tightened around hers. "Return to Dornleigh and we'll find a way for you to gain your freedom without ruining your reputation."

Her mouth curled. "Dornleigh was designed by the devil to oppress spirits."

"Then change it. You told me about… feng shui, was it? The art of harmonious placement. You have my permission to make Dornleigh into a happier place. In fact, I'll be delighted at any improvements you make, since I'm facing a life sentence there."

"I doubt that Lord Wrexham would approve of my altering his home."

"He will grant permission-I guarantee it. He's also decided it's time to go to London and the House of Lords. He'll leave the day after the reception."

She gnawed on her lower lip, intrigued, then shook her head. "What's the point? The sooner I leave, the sooner any scandal will die down. If I go to Scotland under my own name, who will know or care that I was temporarily Lady Maxwell? "

He didn't want her to leave. But his selfish desire wasn't a good enough reason to ask her to stay. "I think I've found a way for us to separate without scandal. No one except my closest family knows exactly what happened between us in that cell, and they won't discuss our private business with outsiders. We pledged ourselves with a very old form of wedding ceremony, but there is another Scottish custom called a handfast."

"A handfast?"

"It's a trial marriage to determine if two people will suit. At the end of a year and a day, they may go their separate ways if one or both partners chooses."

"What if there is a baby?"

"The father is liable for the child's support. Often the couple decide to contract a permanent union, but if they don't, they can separate with no stigma attached and find new mates later."

"The Scots have odd marriage customs," she said dryly. "How does that help us?"

"We can say that I wanted to help you leave China, so I made you Lady Maxwell by handfast. At the end of a year and a day, you're free to go. In the meantime, it explains why you've been introduced as Lady Maxwell-for now it's true. We haven't been… cohabiting, so it should be easy enough to say that we simply contracted a temporary marriage of convenience to help you."

She glanced askance when he mentioned cohabitation, but said only, "You have a devious mind, Lord Maxwell.''

"Thank you."

Her mouth curved. "That wasn't a compliment."

"It's been a hard year. I'll take compliments where I find them." Glad to see her with a suggestion of a smile, he rose and helped her from the floor. "This version of events may not be literally true, but it's close enough to the spirit of what happened, and it provides an explanation that doesn't injure your reputation."

"I'm not important enough to have a reputation, but handfasting does sound more respectable than a false marriage."

"Does this mean you'll return to Dornleigh until the year and a day have passed?" That would give him more of her company. "Think of the pleasure you'll have turning that mausoleum upside down and making it more livable."

Her eyes narrowed with calculation. "I suppose I can bear it that long. During that time, will you take me to Scotland? It will be easier if you are with me."

If she wanted to seek her father's relatives, Lady Maxwell would be received more courteously than plain Miss Montgomery. "It will be my pleasure, though we should wait a few weeks until the weather improves. While we're there, I'd like to take you to our house in the Highlands. Staying at Kinnockburn will teach you as much about Scotland as your father's stories."

"If I return, it won't be as a decorous English lady." she warned. "I've spent most of my life pretending to be something I'm not, and I'm weary unto death of pretense."