She awoke to the sound of a knock on her bedchamber door.

"It's eight o'clock, Miss Ashley," Byrnes's voice said through the door. "I've set your breakfast out on your terrace."

"Thank you," Ashley called out to let the butler know she was awake. Getting up, she ran into her shower and refreshed herself with a quick warm-to-cold rinse. Then, toweling off, she slid on a pair of pale green silk bikini pants, and wrapped a matching silk robe about herself as she moved from her bedroom out into her sitting room and then onto the stone balcony overlooking the sparkling waters of the bay.

Seating herself at the little round cafe table, she gobbled down a bowl of strawberries and cream. The berries had obviously just been picked, as they were still warm with the sun, as last night's fruit had been. The plate beneath the silver dome contained her usual breakfast: one scrambled egg, three strips of bacon, and half of a whole-wheat English muffin with butter. And iced tea, since Ashley occasionally had the odd habit of preferring Crystal Light iced tea to coffee with breakfast. Mrs. B. kept a large container of it in the fridge for her.

Her breakfast finished, she picked up the telephone and called Tiffany Pietro d'Angelo before she left for the office. "Hey, Tiff! Ashley. Any word for me on Prince Charming?"

Tiffany laughed. "Ray was out of town taking a deposition in D.C. yesterday. Joe didn't want to discuss it with his assistant. He should be back to the city this morning. How about if I call you when we get something from him?"

"Okay," Ashley said. She was disappointed. She had hoped for something this morning. "Tiff, are you sure this is okay?"

"It could be a perfect solution for you, Ashley."

"But if this guy is normal, how come he isn't already married?" Ashley wanted to know again. It was such a radical idea, an arranged union. "What if he has two heads?"