She gave a little laugh before she added,
“Although I have enjoyed it, I must admit I am now very tired.”
“Go to bed, dear aunt,” the Marquis said. “It is what I now intend to do myself.”
He was about to cross the room to say ‘goodnight’ to another relative when Lady Esther stopped him.
“I want to talk to you, Ivan,” she said softly.
“We have nothing to say to each other, Esther,” he replied firmly.
“I have a great deal to say,” she replied in the seductive voice he knew so well.
As she spoke, she put out her hand and laid it on his arm, raising her face to his in a gesture that he had once found irresistible.
The Marquis gazed at her.
Quite suddenly he knew that any feelings of affection that he had ever had for her had completely evaporated.
She might be beautiful, but he was n
