“Okay," Christian said with a great show at maintaining his patience. "So you can't dance. But you could at least talk to the woman."Julius frowned and avoided his gaze. "I am talking.""You aren't," Christian insisted. "You haven't said more than a handful of words."Scowling, he admitted, "I'm practicing in my head."Christian blinked at this. "Practicing?""Well, you don't just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind," Julius said with exasperation. "I have to approach this carefully, so I'm practicing.""In your head?" Christian clarified."Yes." Julius nodded. "In my head.""Right....Good, good," he nodded, and then said "but you know what would be even better?"Julius raised his eyebrows with interest. "What?""Talking to her OUT LOUD!" Christian snapped. "Jesus Christ, Father, you're as old as the earth. You run a huge corporation, dealing with people-even women-day in day out. Surely you can string a couple of words together and manage a little conversation with the woman?”

“Okay, why don't we practice your talking with Marguerite? OUT LOUD. I'll be her."Julius stared at him blankly. "Now?""No, I was thinking maybe next April. Then you could maybe give her a call, arrange a date..."He arched his eyebrow in question, and snapped, "Yes, NOW.”

“What is it?” Leigh glanced up with uncertainty, then back to his groin with a sort of horrified fascination. “Well, um… is there something about immortals you haven’t told me?” “What? What do you mean?” he asked with bewilderment. Leigh shook her head, then leaned forward and said “Hello?” to his groin, only to stiffen again and jerk back as if it had hissed at her. “Are you talking to my penis?” Lucian asked with disbelief. “It talked to me first,” she said defensively, and frowned. “You didn’t mention this little skill.” Lucian decided she must be joking and laughed. “So, what did it say?” “It said, ‘Lucian? Lucian, are you there?’” He blinked. “Why would it say that?” “I don’t know. It’s your penis.”That’s when he recalled the cell phone in his pocket. A laugh bursting from his lips, Lucian reached in his pocket to retrieve the phone.”

“My God!" Amaury glared resentfully at the armed men surrounding his own as Castle Eberhart came into view. "See you the gall of the woman?"Blake hid a smile an shrugged. "'Twould seem your bride would have you safely delivered.""Safely delivered?" Grimacing,he shook his head. "She sends her man out to fetch me as if I am a stray cow.""Surely she would not send so many for a cow?"Amaury glared at his laughing friend.Blake shrugged. "Well,I have said it afore and-""If you say once more that I should refuse to marry her,I will strike you down right here.""You may try," Blake allowed with a small smile.”

“Well you know who's whereabouts is rather important to me," Richard said stiffly. and then pointed out, "And I wouldn't have had to wake you from a dead slumber to find out where he is if you hadn't left without me last night."Daniel dropped into the nearest seat with disgust. You know who was George, of course. They had been calling him that sine this conversation started just in case they were overheard by a servant. Scowling irritably at Richard now, he asked, "Well, what else was I do to? Sit about in my carriage while you gave you know who's wife a tumble."Richard stiffened. "She is my wife, thank you very much."Daniel snorted and said dryly, "My, we've changed our tune this morning, have we not? Last night you weren't at all sure you wanted to keep her.""Yes,well,I hardly have a choice now. I've-" He paused and scowled. "How the devil did you know I tumbled her?"Daniel raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Was it supposed to be a secret? If so, you shouldn't have done it in the front window for anyone on the street to see."Richar'd eyes widened in horrified realization and he simply stood for the longest time, until Daniel was irritated enough to prompt, "Well?"Richard blinked as if awaking from a dream and asked, uncertainly, "Well, what?""Are you really planning to keep her?" Daniel asked with exasperation.Richard sighed and moved to settle in a chair himself before confessing, "She was a virgin until last night."Daniel blew out a silent whistle. "That was very remiss of you know who."Richard merely grunted. He looked pretty miserable, but Daniel wasn't feeling much sympathy at the moment. Aside from having had to deal with George's body on his own, he'd left the Radnor townhouse with aching balls and an erection that could have been mistaken for a pistol in his pocket. Richard on the other hand, had apparently had a jolly good time with his dead brother's not quite wife depending on how you looked at it. A woman, Daniel recalled, who disliked her "husband" intensely and had been obviously soused and, accoring to Richard, had still been a virgin. Daniel didn't like to think that Richard had taken advantage of the woman; he wasn't the sort to do that. However, he was having trouble seeing how it had come to pass."So," Daniel said finally, "after a year of misery with you know who, whom she thought was you, she just forgave all and fell into your arms last night?"Guilt immediately filled Richard's expression. He scrubbed at his face as if trying to wipe away the feeling, and then sighed and muttered with self-disgust. "I took advantage of an inebriated woman.”

“However,I suspect you aren't a proper lady so we should do well enough."Suzette suddenly came to an abrupt halt and this time even his firm grip couldn't keep her moving,at least not gracefully. If he didn't stop he'd be dragging her along behind him like an old robe.Pausing,Daniel raised an eyebrow in question."Would you care to repeat that?" she asked coldly.Daniel hesitated and then pointed out mildly, "I simply meant that I suspect you can be a little less than proper at times. Surely a proper young lady wouldn't say what you did back there to Richard?"Her eyes became daggers, her mouth turning down with dislike. "Dicky deserved it. The man is a bounder.”

“So Christiana went to speak to Dicky about taking us out and about, but when she found him in the office, the idiot was dead."Daniel bit his lip at her vexed tone. There was absolutely no grief in her voice at all, just irritation with the inconvenience of it all. But then George had never been one to inspire the finer feelings in those he encountered. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Did he fall and strike his head, or-""No.He was simply sitting in his chair dead," she said with exasperation, and then added with disgust, "He was obviously a victim of his own excess. We suspected his heart gave out. Certainly the glass and decanter of whiskey next to him suggested he didn't take the best care of himself. I ask you,who drinks hard liquor first thing in the morning?"Daniel shook his head, finding it difficult to speak. She was just so annoyed as she spoke of the man's death, as if he'd deliberately done it to mess up her plans. After a moment, he asked, "Are you sure he is dead?"Suzette gave him another one of those adorable "Don't be ridiculous" looks. "Well, obviously he isn't. He is here now," she pointed out, and then shook her head and added almost under her breath, "Though I could have sworn...The man didn't even stir when he fell off the chair and slammed his head on the floor. Nor when I dropped him and his head crashed to the hardwood floor again, or when we rolled him in the carpet and dragged him upstairs, or when we dropped him in the hall and he rolled out of the carpet, or-""Er," Daniel interrupted, and then coughed into his hand to hide a laugh, before asking, "Why exactly were you carting him about in a carpet?""Well,don't be dense," she said with exasperation. "We couldn't let anyone know he was dead, could we?""Couldn't you?" he asked uncertainly.Suzette clucked with irritation. "Of course not.We would have had to go into mourning then.How would I find a husband if we were forced to abstain from polite society to observe mourning?”