Chapter 5: Page 1

If ever there had been a night meant for lovers, this

one was!

Dressed as Helen of Troy in a flowing Greek chiton,

Selphie Tilmitt watched with a smile on her lips and a

gentle mist in her eyes when Lord Lionheart and his

fiancée made their entrance at the masquerade ball

celebrating their engagement.

When Selphie and Lord Kinneas had arrived the previous

day, she'd wondered if this match between the scarred

war veteran and his beautiful neighbor could possibly be

based on love. Watching the way Miss Heartily clung to

Lord Lionheart's arm, and his visible pride in her, all

Selphie's doubts had been banished.

Apparently it was possible for two people who had known

each other a long time to fall in love. Until yesterday,

Selphie had believed it quite out of the question. Now

she gazed around the darkening south lawn, where the

ball was being held, and savored the atmosphere of

romantic possibility.

Music wafted on the warm evening air from a small but

skillful orchestra. Guests in colorful costumes made

intricate shifting patterns on the tiled terrace that

served as a dance floor. Tiny tin lanterns cast

twinkling light from the branches of the trees that

surrounded the lawn, mirroring the stars that were

beginning to appear in the darkening sky above.

A masculine voice with a mellow, musical cadence wrapped

around her from behind, shimmering with admiration.

"Helen, 'fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty

of a thousand stars!'"

A delicious blush suffused her cheeks and she spun about

to face…Robin Hood? For an instant, she had thought the

voice belonged to someone other than Viscount Dintch.

But, of course, it couldn't.

Fortunately her mask helped obscure any flicker of

disappointment that might have crossed her face. What

was there to be disappointed about, after all? She had

agreed to meet the viscount here tonight and spend the

evening with him.

"Why, Robin Hood, you are curiously eloquent for an

outlaw." Hard as she tried to recapture the bubbly

banter of the previous evening, it eluded her. "I hope

you do not mean to steal from me." She twirled around,

making the soft folds of bleached muslin billow around

her. "As you can see, I have little worth taking."

"Quite the contrary, my dear." He held out his arm to

her. "You have riches beyond price. To gaze on your

beauty, to hear your laughter, to bask in your smile —

all are treasures of the highest value." His voice rang

with a sweet note of sincerity that Selphie found

difficult to resist.