Page 17 of The Tempting of a Devilish Lord

The man Lucinda assumed was one of his brothers shook his head. “There was certainly sneaking involved.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Lucinda muttered.

The man set his gaze upon her and bowed his head. “My brother has been careless and failed to introduce us. Lord Adam Moncrieff, at your service.”

She dipped and managed to bite back a remark about how no one in their family seemed to abide by the rules of proper introduction. “Miss Evans. And this is my sister, Miss Mary-Anne Evans.”

“We have been introduced.” He chuckled. “In a way.”

“Were these swords used in battle?” Mary-Anne asked, pointing toward a display of great swords.

“Most certainly,” Alex said. “See this one?” He gestured to the largest. “Our great-great grandfather used it at the Battle of Malplaquet. Apparently he could slice a man’s head clean from—”

“That will do!” Lucinda lifted a hand.

Mary-Anne stared at the sword, wide-eyed. “Can I hold it?”

“Certainly not!” Lucinda protested.

“Perhaps Adam will do the honors?” Alex suggested.

His brother nodded, stepped over the rope dividing the display from the floor. “Of course.”

“I really do not think—”

Adam reached to pluck the sword from the wall.

Lucinda pressed fingers to her temples. “This is going to end terribly.”

Adam handed the sword to Mary-Anne and it clanged to the floor.

Mary-Anne made a face, wrinkling her freckled nose. “Oops.”

“It’s incredibly heavy and unwieldy,” Alex said. “I suspect either our relative was a huge man or the stories of beheadings were false.”

Mary-Anne fought to lift the sword. “I think I could take a man’s head off if I tried hard enough.”

Adam shook his head and stepped back. “I like my head where it is thank you very much.” He waited for her to lower it and aided her in lifting the weapon and then swinging it a few times.

“Your brother is a patient man,” she murmured to Alex. “Not many have the time for Mary-Anne. She can be…exhausting.”

“She seems fun.”

Unlike her. That’s what everyone said. No doubt Alex had noticed that too. But fun only put one at risk. She feared one day Mary-Anne would find out fun was not always worth it, especially when one risked utter ruin. She only hoped she could protect her from such a situation.

“Why do you purse your lips at the mention of fun?”

Blast. She met his inquisitive gaze. “Life isn’t about fun.”

“What is it about then?”

“Well…responsibility. And, and—” She paused. “You must know all about responsibility, surely?”

“I do and if I did not balance it out with fun, I would likely be addled out of my wits.”

She rolled her eyes before she could stop herself.

“What was that look for?”

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