A LESSON IN LOVE "Talking to you," she said slowly and very deliberately, "is like trying to find one's way out of a maze." She rose swiftly to her feet and made to push past him. It took very little effort to tumble her into his lap. His hands slid beneath her mantle and came to rest under her arms, brushing her intimately. He ignored her sharp intake of breath. "What a slowtop you are," he murmured, and his lips, warm and open, lightly traced the line of her jaw. "Haven't you been listening to a word I've said? You belong to me. How am I to convince you of that fact?" "With great difficulty," she answered. But he could see mischief lurking in the depths of her eyes. "I don't suppose you're familiar with Aristophanes' theory on love?" Without waiting for her answer, he went on. "He believed that lovers are born joined but that the gods separate them at birth. They wander the earth, lost and lonely, till they find each other again." "That's sheer myth," she retorted. "So I believed. Until tonight. Now I'm not so sure." His tongue lightly flicked her ear. "Wouldn't you like to test the truth of Aristophanes' theory?" he coaxed. "How?" Her voice was barely audible. His mouth, gentle yet unyielding, closed over hers. He deliberately allowed her to taste the blatant urgency of his hunger . . . Also by Elizabeth Thornton: Bluestocking Bride A Virtuous Lady The Passionate Prude ZEBRA BOOKS are published by Kensington Publishing Corp. 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Copyright © 1989 by Mary George All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews. First printing: May, 1989 Printed in the United States of America CLS 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two For "auld lang syne" to my dear and "scattered friends" Ellen Kemp Black Jean Milne Irvine Alison Adam Peerce Rena Simpson Sharp Heather Graton Still and to my family in Scotland Andrew, Constance, Alison, and Aunt Ess Chapter One The girl by the long sash window raised one edge of the heavy velour curtain and gazed steadfastly along the graceful sweep of Drumoak's gravel drive. A fine hoar frost had transformed the threatening aspect of the avenue of winter black oaks, fashioning them into a lace tapestry of incredible delicacy, and the dusting of snow which had fallen during the night dashed in a mad dervish against the small frosted windowpanes, driven by the blasts of cold air which habitually swept up the waters of the Firth of Forth to buffet Drumoak's grey granite walls. Madeleina Sinclair, "Maddie" to her intimates, let the curtain drop from her fingers and she half-turned back into the saloon. Familiarity with Drumoak's commodious though sparsely furnished front parlour had inured Maddie to the uniform shabbiness of the place. Her eyes were drawn to the inviting blaze of coals in the grate, but she resolutely remained at her vigil by the cold window. "It will be dark soon. He should have been here by now," she observed, and her eyes flashed a question, as if seeking confirmation from the other occupant of the room, but the lady's head was bent assiduously over the knitting in her lap. Miss Nell Spencer, a handsome woman who looked to be a year or two shy of forty, carefully counted her stitches before favouring Maddie with a reply. "A watched kettle never boils," she said patiently, and looked reprovingly over the rim of her spectacles when the girl gave a sudden, unladylike snort. "Maddie!" she warned with a cautionary shake of the head, and she reinforced the admonitory tone with a quick frown. "Your Papa will be here directly. Now stop prancing about like an angry kitten and sit down and converse with me in a civilized manner." Maddie pirouetted away from the window and made a great show of seating herself gracefully and decorously with the air of one well practised in such niceties, but her expressive and intelligent brown eyes twinkled perversely.