Page 5 of Everything a Lady is Not
“You would not kill me.”
She clenched her jaw and pressed the blade more firmly into his neck. “How can you be so certain?”
“Because, though you ride with thieves, your eyes give you away. There is no violence in them.”
“And you are the expert on violent eyes?”
He grimaced. “Yes. Unfortunately.”
The pressure on his throat lifted as she seemed to waver. He cleared his loosened vocal cords. “You wished to make an offer?”
She pursed her lips in apparent consideration before nodding. “I do. I propose to spare your life. In return, you ride with me to London with the stolen coins and help us avoid any who might pursue, criminal and Redbreast alike.”
“A reasonable offer. I believe…”
“But you must agree to my terms.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And those are?”
“That upon our safe arrival in London, we part ways and pretend we never met.”
The proposal raised bile in Henry’s throat. An agreement with a thief was just the sort of action he had long feared—the first stumble down a slippery slope into the depths of criminality. However, he did not wish to die just yet. “A devil’s deal, for certain. My life in exchange for abdication of my duty and the soiling of my honor.”
She smiled grimly. “I doubt your honor is above soiling, Lord Virtue. Few of the gentry are as pure as that.”
“And you know this from experience?”
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
Henry watched her a moment longer. “What’s your name?”
“You don’t require my name.”
“That ismycondition. Or you can just kill me.”
Those dark eyes grew darker still as a storm raged behind them. Her generous lips parted for the space of several breaths before she answered. “Lucy.”
He nodded. “Right, then, Lucy of Shooter’s Hill. I accept your desperate offer—terms and all.”
“Swear by your mother’s name that you will honor all points of our agreement.”
“You do not trust my word?”
“I would sooner trust a pickpocket.”
“Very well,” he said with a lofty sigh. “I swear by my mother’s name.”
She continued to eye him. “Do you even love your mother, Lord Dandy?”
“I never knew my mother.” Deep pain stirred, but he swept it aside. “However, I would walk through Hell’s fire to have known her for even a single day.”
Lucy seemed to consider his frank reply. Her hardened features softened to reveal a comely face that might even prove capable of a warm smile. She sighed and removed the rapier from his throat. In a single abrupt movement, he collected his saber, bounded to his feet, and leveled it at her chest. The immediate hurt in Lucy’s eyes unnerved him.
“But…you promised,” she said woefully.
She was right, of course. And breaking a vow was just another step on the downward path of the fallen. After the space of a few heartbeats, he lowered his saber and sheathed it. “I did promise. Now, let’s get on with this before I regret that fact more than I already do. Shall I help you mount your horse, or does Her Highness wish a gold carriage?”
“I require no such help, thank you. Inform me if you require assistance mounting yours.”
