Page 67 of The Rogue's Last Scandal
He reached across the small space gripping her hands. “Why indeed. You’re as hot-tempered as that child in the nursery. You’re also as lovely, the loveliest girl I’ve ever met. Plenty of men would see all of that, but I wouldn’t trust a one of them to help you find your way home, to let you have the money that’s yours, and to keep your child safe.”
And you’ve stolen my heart.The coach shuddered in tandem with the pounding in his chest.
It was time to put a stop to this melodrama. They had a mission. “Now, Gracie, you’re playing a servant, and for the time it takes us to reach a private chamber, I expect you to act your role.”
She bit her lip and reached for the brim of her cap.
He clamped a hand over hers. “Except that. You’ll spill hair everywhere. The cap stays on.”
Graciela stoodwith Charley in the small, dimly lit antechamber where they waited to hear if Captain Llewellyn would admit them. Two chairs had been arranged on either side of a narrow table in the room’s corner, but the rest of the room was empty. It was used for temporary storage of guests’ baggage, perhaps. Or for visitors seeking privacy, like them.
The close space smelled of leather and damp. She tugged at her cap. “If you would but send up my name—”
“Ifyouwould but be silent, like a good servant.” He swept out a hand. “It’s enough that you’ve come in coats and trousers that leave nothing to the imagination of anyone who sees you.”
She gasped. “I am well-covered. And, of course, I pass for a boy.”
“You pass for a beautiful, well-shaped woman dressed as a boy.”
Tears burned her eyes. She cast her gaze down. Nothing she did pleased him. He’d been angry from the first moment in the stables. And blast it, she was the one who should be angry. This was her life going up in flames. Papa missing. Papa’s money out of her control.
“No tears,” he said softly. He picked a spot of lint off his coat and turned away.
She bit her lip to stop it from quivering.
“I spotted no fewer than three of my father’s men in the parlor.” His voice, suddenly warm, flowed over her. “Have no fear, we shall meet with this paragon of virtue, and I would rather your presence surprise him. His reaction interests me.”
“He will be happy to see me.”
“Yes, but why? Do you know for a fact he’s not acquainted with Lord Kingsley?”
Steps in the hallway rattled her further. She tugged her cap tighter and stood straighter, preparing to traverse the entry again and climb the stairs behind Charley like a docile retainer. Llewellyn had a sitting room where he could receive them privately, the manager had said.
Instead, when the door opened the tall figure that entered was Llewellyn himself.
