"Because a woman enjoys the physical attentions of a man does not necessarily mean she is a loose jade. Of course, I do not mean she should encourage just any man," Aurora told her sister, "but it can be no sin with a husband, or an affianced husband. Why should a woman not take her pleasure too? I can find no wrong in it."

"Perhaps it is me," Calandra admitted. "I just don't enjoy being pawed and invaded by a man. Any man. It isn't just Valerian. While I was in London there were several gentlemen who approached me in a less than seemly fashion. I enjoy being admired and envied, but I will not be touched by a lustful man."

"I am astounded, then, that you are with child," Aurora spoke boldly to her sibling. She did not really expect an answer.

"My husband forced me," Cally said, surprising her. "He wanted an heir, and that I wasn't willing was of no importance to him."

Aurora was thoughtful as she considered her sister's words. If Cally didn't want her husband, how could he be aroused by her enough to spill his seed? She must ask St. John about such behavior. Perhaps the duke enjoyed resistance. It was a distasteful and frightening thought that a woman's desires and wishes were not paramount to such intimacy.

Aurora had no opportunity to inform her brother-in-law of her impending marriage, for the dowager had already told him, as she discovered when she sat down to dinner. The old lady had been so delighted, she could not contain herself long enough to allow Aurora to announce her own good news. The duke took the news impassively.

"I wish you happiness," he said.

"And you will give an intimate little dinner to announce Aurora's betrothal, Valerian," his grandmother said. "Just the immediate family and the Bowens, of course. Calandra is hardly even up to that, but we must do it for propriety's sake. Elsie Bowen will trumpet the news all about the county, I am certain. We will achieve our aim without incurring any vast expense in doing so," she chuckled. Then she turned to Aurora. "Of course, if your sister were not so fragile right now, we should have a very grand ball to announce your coming marriage, but we shall soothe everyone's feelings by inviting them all to the wedding. It will be the grandest occasion the county has seen in years. Valerian will, naturally, foot the expense, won't you, my dear boy?"

"Of course," the duke said dryly but without enthusiasm.

"Are you not happy for me?" Aurora asked him pointedly.

"If you are happy, Aurora, then I must be happy for you even if I believe you could do better" was the reply.

"Better?" Her voice was sharp. "With one of those London fops Cally was forever pressing upon me? I am astounded that you think so little of me, Valerian, to believe that I would be that shallow. St. John suits me quite well. He is a country gentleman, and I prefer being a country lady. And he is very passionate! His kisses set my heart afire! I am the luckiest girl in the world!" She glared at him, daring him to contradict her or criticize St. John.

"God deliver me from a romantic virgin in love for the first time," he mocked her. "I am assuming, of course, that you are still a virgin and have not been silly enough to let my cousin seduce you. He is quite a notorious rake, you know. Or perhaps you do not know. He has fathered at least three bastards to my knowledge."

"Valerian!" His grandmother's handsome face was flushed with her annoyance. "You are being deliberately provocative and most indelicate."

"How nice to know St. John's seed is so potent," Aurora said sweetly. "I am very eager to begin a family. Does he throw sons or daughters the most, Valerian?" She smiled brightly.

Mary Rose Hawkesworth gasped at the girl's boldness as George Spencer-Kimberly stifled his laughter. The duke and his grandmother were going to find out that Aurora was a formidable opponent when irritated, aroused, or otherwise annoyed. No one had ever called his sister a biddable female. He would miss her when he returned to St. Timothy with his bride, but Besty Bowen was a more predictable female, like his mother, and he far preferred such a girl for his wife.

"Be careful, my dear Aurora," the duke said coldly, "else you be mistaken for a coarse strumpet."

Standing suddenly, Aurora threw her wineglass at him and stormed from the dining room. The duke laughed, both amused and amazed by her actions. Then he nodded to Peters to see the disarray was cleaned up, and turned his attention back to his dinner plate.

"You are really quite impossible, Valerian," his grandmother remarked. "Frankly, I would have thrown the entire wine carafe at you. It was well within Aurora's grasp. She was rather restrained, I thought."

George could no longer contain his mirth, and burst out laughing.

The tension broken, the trio continued their meal, while upstairs Aurora was sending Martha for a tray, for she was ravenous, her anger and her excitement both fueling her appetite. When George stopped by later on to bid her good night, Aurora was just finishing her meal.

"He laughed at you, you know," George informed his sister.

"He can go to the devil," she muttered.

"You must restrain your antipathy toward Valerian, Aurora, lest people gain the wrong impression," her brother gently warned her.

"What impression could they possibly obtain other than the fact I dislike Valerian's arrogance?" she demanded.

"They might think that you were in love with him," George said with devastating forthrightness.

"What?" Aurora grew pink. "How can you say such a thing, George? It is ludicrous and shameful! I am in love with St. John!"

"I am pleased to know it," her brother responded in serious tones. "Now, listen to me, Aurora. You have always been headstrong and willful despite your charm and your good heart; but I would remind you of the deception we-you and Cally and I-have enacted upon the Duke of Farminster. I knew it was wrong, yet I allowed you to do it. Indeed, I aided you, and the results are disastrous for Valerian and Cally. While I am in love with Betsy, and will be happily married, while you are in love with St. John, and will be happily wed, they despise each other and are utterly miserable, and it is our fault to a great extent." He took Aurora's hand in his and kissed her fingertips. "I love both of my sisters. You should have been the duke's wife, and Papa would be very disappointed that I allowed myself to be manipulated by you, Aurora. Had I only known of Cally's abhorrence of physical love, I would have never allowed what has happened to happen."

"But she wanted to be a duchess," Aurora said weakly.

"Do you remember when we were young and that group of Spanish nuns took shelter on St. Timothy from a hurricane? Cally wanted to be a nun for weeks afterward. This was a similar situation, and I was too blind to see it because I love you both and wanted you happy. Look upon the results of my foolish indulgence, little sister.

"I will be brutally frank with you, Aurora. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, you are attracted to Valerian, and I believe he is attracted to you. Perhaps you don't even realize it, but I see it, and I know the dowager sees it too. Face it, and put it from you else it cause further disaster. Valerian is married to Cally, and they are, for better or for worse, expecting a child. You will marry in the spring, and that must be an end of it," George concluded.

"I am not attracted to Valerian," Aurora said firmly.

"Then cease asking him if he thinks you're pretty in this or that new gown. Stop baiting him, and taunting him with your passion for St. John. He and his cousin have always been rivals of a sort, and neither can seem to get over it. Are you certain that St. John cares for you, Aurora? Really cares for you? Not just lusts for you, for even I observe that he does lust for you. Tell me that there is more between you than just desire. Do you even know, or understand, that there must be more between a married couple than just physical hunger?"

"Yes, of course, I think so!" Aurora pulled away from her brother and sat down in a chair by the fire. "We amuse each other," she told George. "I know I like him, and I believe he likes me. If we are to live together as man and wife, shouldn't that be important?"

He sat himself opposite her while Martha, having returned to the room, bustled quietly about, listening. "You and St. John already have more than Cally and the duke," he said approvingly, "but there must be more. For instance, Betsy and I agree upon several things that will affect our married life. We are in concert in the matter of raising our children. We know that we would like two sons and two daughters. We have decided that even if the slaves have their own religion, we will still raise an Anglican church on the island and encourage them to attend. St. Timothy is going to change, Aurora. With the bottling facility that Valerian and I intend to erect, it shall become a more important island. Eventually trading ships will stop regularly, and we will not have to send our sugar to Barbados for transport to England. Betsy and I plan to work together to make certain that St. Timothy remains a good place, a happy place. It is up to you and St. John to set the goals that you wish to follow in your life together. Do not marry him just because you enjoy his kisses and like his hand up your skirt."

"Master George!" Martha's indignant voice interrupted them. "What a shocking thing to say to your sister. She's a good girl, she is! Don't you dare cast doubt upon either her purity or good character."

George laughed, catching a hold of Martha's hand and pulling her down into his lap. "I know Aurora is a good girl, Martha," he said, "but I would not be a good older brother if I did not attempt to ascertain that she is marrying St. John for the proper reasons, and will be happy with her choice. Poor Cally is very unhappy with her choice." He kissed the servant's cheek.

Martha struggled to her feet. "Now, don't you go trying to wheedle me or confuse your sister. She has made her decision to marry that Mr. St. John, and he's a mighty good catch. She's going to be happy, and no mistake about it, Master George. Now, go along with you and let my poor mistress get some sleep. It has been a very exciting day for her, for us all." She shooed him from the room.

"Remember what I said," George called out to her as the door closed behind him.

"Young scoundrel," Martha muttered.

"He just wants to be certain that I am happy," Aurora said.

"Well, he shouldn't say such wicked things to you, brother or not. And he shouldn't be confusing you about Mr. St. John," Martha said.

"I'm not confused about St. John," Aurora assured her as Martha helped her to undress and get into her nightgown. She washed her face and hands and cleaned her teeth in the basin of warm water that Martha provided for her. Then, tying her nightcap on, she climbed into her bed. "I'm not confused about St. John at all. He's going to make me a wonderful husband, Martha. I really think he is."

Satisfied, Martha tucked the girl into her bed, and blowing out the candle on the nightstand, gathered up her mistress's discarded garments and left the room with a chirpy "Good night, miss."

Aurora lay quietly beneath the down coverlet. The fire in the fireplace blazed cheerily, casting dark, mischievous shadows upon the walls and hangings. She closed her eyes and attempted to rekindle her delicious memories of that afternoon. She had been waiting for hours, it seemed, to be alone so she might recall her sensuous little adventure with St. John. He really was quite wicked, and she had been very naughty, yet she felt not a moment's guilt over the matter. His mouth on her breasts. His fingers beneath her skirts. The look in his eyes when his love juices had erupted and he had turned his head to gaze at her. She sighed deeply, and then suddenly her eyes flew open. It had been Valerian Hawkesworth's face she had just imagined! It hadn't been St. John's at all! What was the matter with her? Was her brother right? Was she unknowingly attracted to the duke?

Aurora shivered. This was wrong. It was very wrong. How could she be attracted to Valerian Hawkesworth? She didn't want to be a duchess, and he was certainly the most irritating man she had ever met, not to mention his appalling arrogance. And what had he done to her sister that Cally so disliked the physical act of passion? And had Cally not said he forced himself on her so he might have an heir. This was a terrible man. She could not possibly be attracted to him! She couIdn't! Was Cally right? Was she a wanton who enjoyed clandestine revels with her affianced and had secret thoughts about her sister's husband? What is the matter with me? she wondered.