Page 15 of My Kind of Scoundel
“If I live to see tomorrow, it will be a blessing.”
He fell silent as he sat on the edge of the carved ebony bed. Bracing his arms on his muscular thighs, he turned the box over in his hands and examined the carved appliqués.
“In my defence, there is nothing here to warrant concern,” he said, looking a little baffled. “How could I have known what this meant to you?”
“You couldn’t. As a modiste, I’m an expert illusionist.”
She dared to move from the safety of the shadowy corner, where she had sat crying for an hour because the box was not wedged between the mattress and headboard as he’d claimed.
“What you do with pearls and lace is short of a miracle.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the inflated compliment. “A skilled seamstress can find work almost anywhere. Though if I’m to have any future, I must leave town tonight.”
He said nothing for a moment, and left her tuning intothe cadence of his breathing, inhaling the exotic smell of sandalwood and clove filling the air. Who would have thought a woman would feel calm in Theodore Chance’s seductive bedchamber?
“You were right earlier when you said I feel safe in the dark.” He shifted left and patted the plush blue coverlet. “Sit. Permit me to explain why.”
“I know why.” She didn’t have time to waste, but this man was a conundrum. One stern look, and he appeared as dangerous as the devil. But this softer side, the tender heart beneath the rugged exterior, drew her like a moth to a flame. “Delphine told me.”
The corners of his mouth curled into a smile. “And I thought we were kindred spirits, and you had an innate ability to see into my soul.”
“I’m just a desperate woman seeking a way to reclaim my box,” she admitted. Too many lies had passed between them. “My actions stem from selfish motives.”
“I think that’s the first time you’ve been honest with me.” Again, he patted the space beside him. “Before we discuss your problem, allow me to tell you a secret. One I have never shared.”
He knew how to get a woman’s attention.
The offer was too tempting to resist. Yet the candid look in his eyes and the sincerity coating his voice softened her resolve.
Eleanor sat beside him, the proximity causing an odd flutter in her throat. “How do I know you won’t lie? How do I know this isn’t another one of your boyish games?”
“Boyish games? Clearly you have never wagered with Aramis.” He shook his head as if ridding himself of an amusing memory. “I could say the same about you, MissDarrow. How am I ever to trust a word from your lips? But if I’m to save your life, we must both put a foot on the road to reparation.”
Being certain that ‘saving her life’ meant helping her to reach a busy port, she had no option but to agree. “I’m not convinced we can move beyond all that has happened, but I need your help and will hear your secret. If only to appease you.”
He stared at the intricate blue pattern on the rug. “Everything Delphine told you is true.” A sad sigh escaped him. “When a boy sleeps on the street, his only thought is evading detection. The shadows become one’s friend, not one’s enemy.”
“Most people would say daylight is their salvation.”
“Those people have never looked into the eyes of the beasts who wander the rookeries, preying on the innocent and meek.”
“Delphine said you were homeless for a month before you found lodgings with a bookshop owner in Lime Street.”
Eleanor had never known such hardship. On his deathbed, her father insisted she leave the pretty village of Eynsford. He had written it into his will along with a list of other demands. The seven hundred pounds she’d inherited came with conditions, a heavy burden she had lugged past Eynsford’s mottled milestone.
“Yes, Mrs Maloney came to our aid, but there is a more troubling reason why the darkness is my sanctuary. A reason I have never uttered aloud. A reason, some might say, that makes me weak.”
Eleanor tore her gaze away from his sombre profile and considered his powerful physique. To say she was intriguedwas an understatement. “I doubt there’s a person alive who considers you weak.”
“I think I am weak, and that’s one person too many.”
The day of the shooting flashed into her mind. Mr Chance had refused to hand his sister over to the armed thug. He acted as a human shield and risked his life to save Delphine. It was the action of a courageous man, not a coward.
“I am yet to see any evidence to support your claim, sir.”
“Do you know what my father did to Aaron?”
“Yes, he made him fight in the pits and used the purse to pay his gambling debts.” Delphine had confessed while being fitted for a new gown, though the memory had left tears streaming down the lady’s face, wetting the silk.
