Page 95 of The Highlander's Princess Bride
As she passed Royal, she jabbed him in the arm. “Sit down and behave yourself,” she said in an undertone.
Surprisingly, he complied without argument.
Victoria threaded her way through the crowded supper room, smiling blandly at anyone who looked curious. When she reached the relative quiet of the hall that ran the length of the classically designed building, she breathed a sigh of relief. Music filtered down from the upstairs ballroom, and a few couples and sets of girls strolled along the corridor, but the high-ceiling space was blessedly calm.
She hurried toward the back of the building and the ladies’ retiring room. But when a man stepped out from a shadowed window alcove, she bit back an exclamation and pulled up short.
“Pardon me, miss,” the man said. “I surely didn’t mean to startle you.”
His accent suggested London with a hint of the East End. Dressed neatly and with propriety, he was neither tall nor particularly handsome, although his features were pleasant enough. At first glance, he seemed entirely bland and inoffensive.
But as he continued to smile and block her way, Victoria felt the hairs prickle along the back of her neck. For a man who appeared harmless, one word bizarrely jumped into her mind.
Menacing.
She forced a smile. “No harm done, sir. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
When she made to go around him, he smoothly slid into her path.
“Please forgive my forward behavior, ma’am. Believe me when I say I have no wish to offend.”
She ignored the stirrings of fear in her belly. He couldn’t do anything to harm her with so many people within calling distance. “Then I suggest you move aside, sir.”
“You are Miss Victoria Knight, are you not?”
She hesitated to answer. Was this the man who’d been watching her?
It would be easy enough for him to discover her identity. Anyone in the other room could tell him. “I am. Why do you ask?”
“And you are the governess to Lord Arnprior’s brother?”
She frowned. “May I know your name, sir, and why you would ask?”
“My name is Mr. Archibald Pence,” he said, giving her a slight bow. “I am acquainted with one of your previous employers.”
Victoria’s stomach all but leapt into her throat. “Which one?”
“Mrs. Havergill. She spoke very highly of you.”
“I see,” she said, feeling relieved. “Are you interested in hiring me, sir? If so, I am afraid I will not be available for some time.”
Or ever, if Arnprior had his way.
He held up his hands. “No, I simply wished to satisfy my curiosity. Forgive me if I alarmed you.” He glanced toward the front of the building. “Ah, it appears the earl is coming to fetch you. Have a good evening, Miss Knight.”
He stepped around her and quickly walked away.
Turning, she saw Arnprior striding toward her, a scowl marking his brow. When Pence came level with him, the earl slowed and gave the man a hard stare. The Londoner merely doffed his hat and proceeded on his way.
“Was that fellow bothering you?” Arnprior rested a gloved hand protectively on her shoulder, the leather cool and smooth on her bare skin. “I can follow and thrash him, if you like.”
She smothered a laugh. “Your generous offer won’t be necessary, sir. He wasn’t truly bothering me.” Still, she couldn’t help moving closer to his reassuring warmth.
He tucked her against him. “Hedidmake you nervous. Who was he?”
“No one, really.”
“Victoria—”
