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He hesitated, having obviously forgotten her name. No more than she would have expected.

“I am Mrs. Cable, sir. And Mr. Cable accompanies me to all events,” she informed him.

“A brave man,” he drawled. “I am always amazed by the courage people show in their daily lives.” Then he turned his eyes away and swallowed some more soup.

Mrs. Cable was pretty sure that she’d been insulted. Either she or Mr. Cable. “It’s a sin—” she said rather shrilly, and then recalled where she was and lowered her voice. “It’s a sin to forsake the matrimonial bed.”

Godwin looked her over. His eyes were dreadfully cold.

“Bed? You wish to discuss beds? You amaze me, Mrs. Cable.”

But sinners and their wicked jokes were of no interest to Myrtle Cable. “Paul’s letter to the Colossians counsels men to love their wives,” she announced.

“He also says that women should submit themselves to their husbands,” Godwin said. He looked bored and irritated, but Mrs. Cable paid that no mind. The devil quotes scriptures for his benefit, she reminded herself, and returned to the attack.

“A man may have business outside the house, but he returns at night to his wife. Psalm 104,” she snapped. He paused for a moment, spoon halfway to his lap. “Almost, I would enjoy sparring with you, Mrs. Cable,” he said mockingly, “but not if you alter your text. Psalm 104: Mangoeth forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening. It says nothing in that text about his wife.”

“You know the psalms?” she asked, studying him more closely. He looked like nothing more than an indolent, spoiled aristocrat, although he was distinctly less elegant than the normal breed of Londoners. His hair was unattractively long, and he had stubble on his chin.

“I set 104 to music,” he said. “Glorious words there: The 206 Eloisa

James

Lord makes the clouds his chariot, and walks on the wings ofthe wind. Who could forget those lines?”

Mrs. Cable was impressed. A fallen angel, perhaps. Something about his careless arrogance rankled. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh,” she said primly. “Genesis.”

“Proverbs: It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman,” he said. They both instinctively looked to his wife, seated across from them. To Mrs. Cable’s mind, the countess didn’t look like a contentious woman at all. Naturally Mrs. Cable didn’t value fashion much, since it was clearly the devil’s lure. But she wasn’t blind either. The countess was wearing a lovely crape robe with a border of shells around the bosom. It was elegant but restrained, without the low bodices that women affected these days. Moreover, the countess’s hair was bound in smooth braids with just a pearl ornament. That too was more proper than most women wore these days.

“She looks like a true countess,” she told Lord Godwin.

“Virtuous, not like so many gentlewomen these days.”

He took a bite of fish and said, “Oh, she’s virtuous all right.”

Mrs. Cable was feeling uncertain. She had made her point. How much could she emphasize? Perhaps she should just let the seeds of God’s love work in his barren heart. One more dash of wisdom wouldn’t hurt.

“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies,” she commented.

Lord Godwin looked her square in the face, and Mrs. Cable felt an odd tingle in her midsection. She turned promptly to her other dinner partner. He was a dangerous man, Lord Godwin, for all he looked too messy to be attractive to young girls. No wonder he had such a desperate reputation. He probably did live with an opera singer, just as the gossip said.

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*

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*

Slope played his part to perfection. Esme waited until after the soup had come and gone, and fish had been eaten. She kept a sharp eye to make certain that Helene and Rees weren’t going to explode in a cloud of black smoke, because then she would have to improvise a bit, but besides the fact that Helene was going to get a stiff neck from looking so sharply away from her husband, they were both behaving well. The roast arrived, and Esme sent Slope for more wine. She wanted to make certain that her part of the table was holding enough liquor to respond instinctively. Mr. Barret-Ducrorq was ruddy in the face, and saying bombastic things about the Regent, so she thought he was well primed. Henrietta was pale but hadn’t fled the room, and Darby showed every sign of being utterly desirous of Henrietta. Esme smiled a little to herself.

Just as she requested, Slope entered holding a silver salver. Speaking just loud enough to catch attention of the entire table, he said, “Please excuse me, my lady, but I discovered this letter. It is marked urgent, and feeling some concern that I might have inadvertently delayed the delivery of an important missive, I thought I would deliver it immediately.”