Page 60 of The Princess and the Rogue

“Isn’t she’s still in the country?”

“No. She returned to Grosvenor Square last night. She sent me a note.”

Chapter 28.

The dowager duchess took one look at Anya’s stony face and turned to Seb. “I do hope you’ve been treating Miss Brown with the utmost care and respect, Sebastien?”

Seb sent her a dry glance as he removed his gloves. “You can dispense with the charade, Dorothea. I know exactly who she is.”

“You do? Oh, well, that makes everything so much easier, doesn’t it?”

“Does it? I’m rather of the opinion it makes everything that much worse.”

She frowned. “I see. You’re in one ofthosemoods, are you? Not that I’m not delighted to see you both, but what are you doing here? Has the odious Petrov left town?”

“He has not. But it’s no longer practical for the princess to be at the Tricorn. From now on, she’ll be staying here.”

“But what about the danger to her?”

“I will arrange for armed guards from Bow Street. In in ten days’ time, you will host a ball to present the newly discovered Princess Denisova to polite society.”

The dowager raised her thin brows in an expression remarkably like Anya’s. “Only ten days, Sebastien? Are you mad?”

“I have every faith that you can accomplish it. You will invite the whole world, and they will come.”

“And Petrov?”

“Invite him too. And you must hint that there’s a mystery surrounding the princess. That will get people talking.”

Anya finally spoke. “To what purpose?”

Seb glanced at her and his chest tightened. She’d changed into one of the morning gowns he’d bought for her, a pale sage green that clung to her figure and made her look like some woodland sprite or naiad. He could hardly bear to look at her. Already she seemed different, more self-possessed, more unapproachable, as if an invisible shield had formed between them. An image of her, pink and tipsy in front of the fire, assailed him, but he tamped it down. There would be no more evenings like that.

“Petrov will start to sweat, wondering what we have on him and whether we’re about to expose him in public.”

“And will you?” Dorothea asked.

“If my guess is correct, it won’t come to that.” Seb inclined his head at the two women. “I’ll leave you to work out the details. I’m off to Bow Street to see about someone to watch over you both. Don’t leave the house until they get here.”

Anya looked as if she would protest, but in the end, she said nothing at all, so he turned on his heel and left. He ignored the feeling that he was abandoning her, that he ought to keep her by his side. The niggling thought that no one, not even his best friends Alex or Benedict, could protect her as well as he could, followed him out the door.

It was too dangerous for him to stay. There was only so much provocation a man could endure, and he knew his limits. Alex and Ben would be immune to her infuriating charms, each one being fatally in love with his own wife.

“A Russian princess?” Benedict repeated for perhaps the twentieth time. “You’re joking.”

Seb rolled his eyes at his friend’s continued incredulity. “I only wish I were.”

“Do you think she wears a crown to bed?” Alex chuckled. His eyes held an inquisitive gleam and Seb cursed inwardly. Alex had a mind as sharp as a razor, and he loved ferreting out secrets. It was why he was such an asset to Bow Street.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said crossly.

Alex sent him a frankly disbelieving look, but thankfully didn’t pursue the subject.

The three of them were at Manton’s, the shooting gallery on Davies Street. Seb had sent a note around to Bow Street, asking Ben and Alex to meet him there. It was where he always went when he had something to sort out in his mind. The concentration needed to shoot accurately usually pushed everything else from his head. At least temporarily.

With their trusty Baker rifles in tow, they made their way to the long gallery, which was conveniently empty at this early hour, since most of the members didn’t rise before noon. Seb had already given them a brief rundown of his adventures on Hounslow Heath and Anya’s near misses with Petrov’s thugs.

“I need you to help me guard her. I’m going to set a trap for Petrov, and I don’t want her to be in any danger.”

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