Page 66 of About a Rogue
“Lawrence,” she said on impulse, “do you know that man? In the brown coat.”
With a sudden movement the valet darted to the window, pressing his hands against the panes. He peered out intently. “No, ma’am,” he said, almost disappointed.
“Ah. He seemed interested in this shop.”
Lawrence’s hands fell to his sides. “Perhaps he also considered a lease on it, madam.”
She laughed in surprise. She ought to have thought of that. “Of course! No doubt. I fear he’s to be disappointed. Now, let me finish these measurements and we can go—Jennie, where did you put my measuring tape and notebook?”
But when she glanced at the window again, Lawrence was still staring intently into the street, his arms folded and legs apart. He looked unexpectedly imposing.
How curious.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next day Max persuaded Bianca to come with him to meet the Duke of Wimbourne. “So you can assure your father I’ve not been wasting our time in London,” he told her.
She wrinkled her nose at him and laughed. “Lord Dalway’s order alone would persuade him of that, and you’ve got several more in hand!”
“Yes,” he replied, “but he will want your report as well, that I managed to conduct business without bringing shame upon Perusia.”
She gave him an arch look. “You must know my opinion of your efforts.”
“Why, I’ve never heard you express anything at all on that matter.” He leaned closer, resting his elbow on the breakfast table and smiling wickedly at her. “Whatisyour opinion of me?”
She continued buttering her toast, but her lips curved teasingly. “Cleverer than I first thought, but perhaps not as clever as you think yourself.” She slanted a sparkling look at him as she took a tiny bite.
Max laughed. “No man is as clever as he thinks himself. Go on.”
“More sensible and pragmatic than I expected,” she allowed, “particularly given how you dressed when we met.”
He bowed his head in acknowledgement. “Thank you.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Too handsome by half.”
He leaned even more forward. That beauty mark on her breast was just visible if he tilted his head to the right, and he did so. “How so, madam? Pray tell me more.”
“I will not. Saying that much has probably inflated your vanity to monstrous proportions.”
He smiled again. “Hearing such praise has indeed swelled my... vanity. I cannot swear to ‘monstrous proportions,’ of course, but it is quite large enough...”God.Bantering with her like this, hearing her call him handsome and clever and even sensible—possibly the highest praise she could give—had made him hard, just sitting at the breakfast table.
Peering at that beauty mark may have also played a part. He dreamed of kissing that mark again, as he’d done in Vauxhall.
Her lips parted as she took his meaning, and her blush became scarlet. “And you’re much too wicked,” she replied, but her voice had gone husky, the way it did every time he kissed her and touched her.
“My darling,” whispered Max with a meaningful look, “you have no idea how wicked I can be.” He gave her a slow smile as her bosom heaved. “I look forward to showing you, though.”
The door opened and Martha came in with the ironed newspapers. Bianca’s knife clattered on her plate and she jerked backward in her chair as Max resumed his normal posture. “Here they are, sir,” said the maid, laying the pages on the table. Martha was a fine London maid, never letting on that she saw anything.
“Come with me to Wimbourne House,” said Max, while Bianca was still flustered. He did want her to accompany him for all the reasons he’d listed, but also to keep her close. There had been no word from Leake, and Max had told him to send it immediately, no matter the time of day or night, if he discovered Croach. As long as that viper was out there, Max felt tense and edgy, though he was determined to hide it from his wife.
Lawrence had reported that a man had been staring at the shop in Cheapside yesterday while Bianca was there; she had seen him, but Lawrence had not got a good look at him. It only fueled Max’s suspicions that Croach himself was in London.
To what end, he did not know. And that made him all the more anxious to leave.
“Well...” Bianca cleared her throat as Martha refilled her chocolate cup and withdrew with the empty silver pot. “All right. If you wish.”
He caught her hand and kissed it. “I do wish. Most passionately.”
