The Cinderella Valentine

“Mr. Bellisario …” She pulled out all the stops, reprising the smile that had worked so well on Robert Valentine. “Luc.” Then, with a sweeping gesture that took in her bedraggled appearance, she appealed to his sense of fair play. “You don’t imagine that I set out from home looking like this, do you?”

“That,” he replied, unmoved, “is beside the point.”