To Catch an Heiress

She lifted the lid and tapped her finger against one of the ivory keys, smiling at the sound it made. Music somehow brightened the whole morning. Not that her peckings could be called music without gravely insulting scores of great composers, but still, Caroline felt better for having made a little noise.

All she needed now to brighten the day in truth was to get a bit of light into the room. The music room had obviously not been occupied yet this morning, for the drapes were still pulled tightly shut. Or perhaps no one used this room on a regular basis, and they were kept closed to keep the sun off the piano. Never having owned a musical instrument, Caroline couldn't be sure whether too much sunlight could be damaging.

Whatever the case, she decided, one morning's worth of sun couldn't hurt too much, so she strode over to the window and pulled the damask drapes back. When she did, she was rewarded with the most perfectly splendid sight.

Roses. Hundreds of them.

“I didn't realize I was right below my little room,” she murmured, opening the window and sticking her head out to look up. These must be the rosebushes she could see from her window.

Closer inspection proved her correct. The bushes were terribly neglected and overgrown, just as she remembered, and she saw a flash of white lodged just out of her reach that looked suspiciously like her little paper bird. She leaned out further to get a better look. Hmmm. She could probably reach it from the outside.

A few minutes later Caroline had her paper bird in her hand and was regarding the rosebushes from the other side. “You are in dire need of pruning,” she said aloud. Someone had once told her that flowers responded well to conversation, and she had always taken the advice to heart. It wasn't difficult to talk to flowers when one had guardians like hers. The flowers inevitably compared quite favorably.

She planted her hands on her hips, cocked her head, and perused her surroundings. Mr. Ravenscroft wasn't the sort to boot her out while she was tidying his garden, was he? And Lord knew, the garden needed tidying. Aside from the rosebushes, there was honeysuckle that needed to be cut back, hedges that ought to be trimmed, and a lovely purple flowering bush she didn't know the name of that she was convinced would do better in full sun.

Clearly this garden needed her.

Her decision made, Caroline marched back into the house and introduced herself to the housekeeper, who, interestingly enough, didn't look the least bit surprised by her presence. Mrs. Mickle was quite enthusiastic about Caroline's plans for the garden, and she helped her to locate a pair of work gloves, shovel, and some long-handled shears.

She attacked the rosebushes with great enthusiasm and vigor, snipping here and trimming there, chattering to herself—and the flowers—all the while.

“Here you are. You will be much happier without”—snip—“this branch, and I'm sure you'll do better if you're thinned out”—clip—“right here.”

After a while, however, the shears grew heavy, and Caroline decided to put them down on the grass while she dug up the purple flowering plant and moved it to a sunnier location. It seemed prudent to dig a new hole for the plant before moving it, so she surveyed the property and picked out a nice spot that would be visible from the windows.

But then she saw some other lovely flowering plants. These were dotted with pink and white blossoms, but they looked as if they ought to be producing more blooms. The garden could be a delightful riot of color if someone would only care for it properly. “Those should also get more sun,” she said aloud. And so she dug up some more holes. And then some more, just for good measure.

“That ought to do it.” With a satisfied exhale, she went over to the purple flowering bush that had initially captivated her and started to dig it up.

Blake had gone to bed in a bad mood and had woken up the next morning feeling even worse. This assignment—his last assignment, if he had anything to say about it—had turned into a fiasco. A nightmare. A walking disaster with blue-green eyes.

Why had Prewitt's stupid son chosen that night to attack Caroline Trent? Why did she have to go off running into the night the very evening he was expecting Carlotta De Leon? And worst of all, how the devil was he supposed to concentrate on bringing Oliver Prewitt to justice with her running about underfoot?

She was a constant temptation, and an aching reminder of all that had been stolen from him. Cheerful, innocent, and optimistic, she was everything that had been missing from his heart for so very long. Since Marabelle had been killed, to be precise. The entire bloody situation seemed to prove the existence of a higher power—one whose sole purpose was to drive Blake Ravenscroft absolutely and irrevocably insane.

Blake stomped out of his bedroom, his expression black.

“Ever cheerful, I see.”

He looked up to see James standing at the end of the hall. “Do you lurk in dark corners, just waiting to bedevil me?” he growled.

James laughed. “I have far more important people to bedevil than you, Ravenscroft. I was just on my way down to breakfast.”

“I've been thinking about her.”

“I'm not surprised.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

James shrugged, his expression beyond innocent.

Blake's hand descended heavily on his friend's shoulder. “Tell me,” he ordered.

“Merely,” James replied, removing Blake's hand and letting it drop, “that you look at her a certain way.”

“Don't be stupid.”

“I've many bad qualities, but stupidity has never been among them.”

“You're insane.”

James ignored his comment. “She seems like a nice girl. Perhaps you should get to know her better.”