And she was certain that in all her fantasies, no matter how secret, she’d never imagined her first kiss would be with a man who was so … well … male.

She gave a little sigh, drawing the attention of the other women. Jane’s eyes narrowed on her. “Isabel? Is there something you would like to share?”

Isabel looked down, making a show of adjusting the cuffs of her breeches, drenched in rain. “No, why should there be?”

“What happened after I left you on the roof with Lord Nicholas? ”

“You were alone with him? How wonderful! Pearls and Pelisses tells us that you must remain in his mind … and in his eye!” Gwen was thrilled.

One side of Isabel’s mouth kicked up. “Yes, well, since we’ve trapped the poor man here, I think he’s about to have more than enough of me in his mind and in his eye. Whatever that is supposed to mean.”

“Well, either way, leaving them alone on the roof was a capital idea, Jane! Well done!”

Jane rolled her eyes. “It was not entirely my idea. Had I stayed, I think he might well have noticed that I am not a man. I was saved by the fact that he could barely tear his gaze from Isabel.”

Isabel snapped her head up to meet Jane’s gaze. “That is not true!”

Was it?

“Really?” Kate said. “That would explain his strange reaction to you on the roof yesterday.”

“It was not a strange reaction!” Isabel protested. “It isn’t every day that a lady is on the roof of her home, Kate.”

“I noticed it, too,” Lara chimed in, apparently past her discomfort with the women’s earlier line of questioning. “In the statuary yesterday. He is intrigued by her.”

“He is not!”

She was not at all intriguing. Was she?

“What happened after I left the roof?” Jane asked, her tone deceptively casual.

“Nothing happened. It started to rain and we came in.” Isabel bit her tongue. Perhaps the others had not noticed the nervousness in her words, which had come too fast.

They noticed. Four sets of eyes were upon her, so intent that she had to remind herself that kisses did not leave a mark. “We were wet.”

Kate’s gaze narrowed. “Were you?”

“And then what? “ Gwen’s words were breathless with excitement.

Their rapt attention was disconcerting. She looked up and spoke to the ceiling, frustration in her words, her voice an octave higher than usual. “And then nothing! Then James called and said Kate needed me, and I rushed out of the room because I was terrified he would reference the stables or something else that would give away the fact that the entire house is populated with a motley crew of nearly-servants who only appear to be men! ”

A heavy silence fell, and Isabel looked back to the other women, registering their identical, wide-eyed looks, focused on a point beyond her left shoulder. An immediate sense of dread came over her as she turned to look in the direction of their singular gaze.

Of course.

Standing in the doorway of the stables was Mr. Durukhan, mouth slightly ajar, looking from Jane to Kate, taking in their masculine attire, the tightly fitted cap that hid Kate’s hair from view, the stark, old-fashioned queue that Jane preferred. His gaze took in every little feature that they could not hide: unstubbled chins; Kate’s high, arching brow and long neck; Jane’s stunning cheekbones and wide mouth.

They were caught.

He cleared his throat and gave a little mock bow in their general direction. “Lady Isabel, Miss Lara,” he said, ignoring Isabel’s breeches quite well, “I had come to speak with your … stable master to discuss our departure.”

There was a beat of silence, punctuated only by Rock’s horse, stomping in his stall at the sound of his master’s voice. The women had been rendered mute. If she were not so horrified, Isabel would have been amused.

None of them was willing to be the first to speak—to acknowledge what he had so obviously overheard.

Isabel swallowed nervously. She was the mistress of the house. It was her responsibility to speak. To manage this. To do what she could to protect their secrets … the ones that she had not carelessly revealed. “Mr. Durukhan—”

“Please,” he interrupted, a half smile slicing across his bronzed skin, “Rock will do.”

“Oh … I … we couldn’t.”

The smile became a full-blown grin then. “Prior to this particular moment, my lady, I would have agreed. However, it appears that we all have a much more … familiar … relationship now, do you not agree? ”

Gwen snickered and received one of Kate’s elbows in the ribs for her trouble. Isabel ignored the cry of pain and the furious whisper that came from their direction, instead watching with a looming panic as the enormous man’s dark, knowing gaze returned to Kate and Jane, tracing first one, then the other’s body from cap to boot—as if again confirming the information he had overheard.

Oh, Isabel. She closed her eyes briefly. How could you have been so foolish?

She’d been distracted and flustered, all the result of Lord Nicholas. If he hadn’t insisted on causing such complete upheaval…

Oh, no. Lord Nicholas. Surely Rock would tell him everything. Which meant it was only a matter of time before everyone in London knew about Minerva House…

Dread settled in the pit of Isabel’s stomach. If he found out, everything would be ruined.

Perhaps there was a way to keep it from him. Perhaps the man in front of them would…

“I assume you have a very good reason for such a masquerade? ”