The Diabolical Baron by Mary Jo Putney

peace that hardly seemed to be in London. When they had been let into the house, Caroline excused her self from Jason and went upstairs to see if her assistance was needed.
    “You look particularly splendid today, Jess,” she said, admiring the gold traveling costume that rivaled her aunt’s red hair for sheen and brilliance. “Letting the Diabolical, sorry, Dashing Baron know that you are a force to be reckoned with?”
    “Exactly so,” her aunt laughed. “You know me too well. But in life’s uneven battles, we poor females must use all the weapons at our disposal. We can’t have the Dashing Baron think your chaperon is a cipher who can be ignored with impunity.”
    “A good excuse to justify a new dress, though you usually don’t bother with excuses. And as for being ignored! If you walked down St. James in that dress, all the clubs would empty of gentlemen and they would follow you down the street as if you were the Pied Piper. Is Linda ready?”
    “I believe so. Apart from the fact that I said she couldn’t take Wellesley, she has been ready to leave anytime this last week. If you’ll go to her room and take her down to the salon, I’ll be along in a moment.”
    Caroline grinned inwardly as she went to Linda’s room. Trust Jessica to make a grand entrance; she would have done splendidly at Drury Lane.
    Pacing around a parlor too small for his restless en ergy, Jason was pleased when Caroline and her cousin entered so quickly. “Jason, I would like to present my cousin Miss Linda Sterling. Linda, Lord Radford.”
    The child bobbed a very proper curtsy. With the ruthless directness of the young, she said, “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Lord Radford. I trust you intend to take proper care of my cousin?”
    Caroline’s stern “Linda!” was drowned out by Jason’s chuckle. “You are clearly a soldier’s daughter, with a talent for attack. I assure you I have every intention of treating your cousin as she deserves, and I will expect you to call me on my failings.”
    Linda nodded, satisfied with his answer. Jason con tinued, “Your name is unusual; how came you by it?”
    Linda gave a pleased smile. “Linda means ‘pretty’ in Spanish. My mama says when I was born my father said I was the prettiest little thing he had ever seen, and insisted no other name would do.” She paused; then her natural honesty compelled her to add, “Mama says I actually looked like a proper bit of un derdone beef.”
    Jason chuckled again. “A surprising degree of can dor for a new mother. No doubt your father was seeing into the future and realizing what a heartbreaker you would grow to be. It sounds like your mother coming now. I am anxious to meet her.”
    Moving into the entrance hall, Jason looked up the curving stairs to the source of the footsteps. The heart he thought had died in him more than a dozen years before twisted into painful and unwelcome life at the sight of the golden figure descending.
    Hair like flame, a figure that would keep a Cyprian wrapped in jewels for life, and he knew she would ride like Diana. Glow ing with a radiant warmth that surpassed the dazzling loveliness of seventeen; beautiful even beyond dream and memory. Jessica.
    * * * *
    Jessica was chuckling to herself as she came down the staircase, anticipating the trip and the challenges ahead. Though she maintained her own household for the freedom it gave her, London sometimes made her feel claustrophobic.
    Several weeks on a grand country estate with good horses and wide-open spaces to ride them in was a prospect that could not fail to please. T here should be a lively social life as well, since Radford would wish to introduce his bride to local society.
    As Jessica came from the brightly lit upper hall, her eyes took a few moments adjusting to the darker vestibule. From the stairs, she saw a tall, dark figure that could only be his lordship, and fixed her best so cial smile on her face.
    Her first impression was of leashed