Ellis knew what it looked like when a man was attracted to a woman. She’d felt that attraction on a few occasions. And she knew without question that Keele found her desirable.
She whipped her head around and hastened down the stairs. Was that why he’d invited her to stay? Did he hope to take advantage?
Though she didn’t know him well, she couldn’t see him doing that. Everything she’d observed over the past four days had indicated he was a man of integrity and honor—at least in business. She didn’t know much about his personal reputation, whether he’d been a rogue before he was married, or even during his marriage.
She thought of the Rogue Rules that she and her friends had drafted two years ago after one of them, Pandora Barclay, had been ruined when she’d been caught in the arms of the Earl of Banemore. Rather than marry her, Bane had fled to marry someone else, leaving Pandora’s reputation in tatters.
Thinking of the rules they’d come up with, Ellis realized Pandora had broken almost every one of them with Bane, not that they’d existed before she’d met him. Ellis didn’t blame Pandora, for Bane had led her to believe he cared for her and that he wanted to marry her. Yes, Pandora had been naïve, but she hadn’t deserved to have her life destroyed. Thus, the rules were born and the rest of them strove to follow them.
Except Ellis. She didn’t need to preserve her reputation for marriage, not like the rest of them did. As a companion, Ellis wasn’t particularly marriageable, especially since, at twenty-six, she was firmly on the shelf. But as the illegitimate daughter of a duchess and her lover, Ellis was completely unmarriageable.
Not that she cared. Because of her station, she’d never entertained fantasies of marriage and motherhood, and certainly not of love. Which wasn’t to say she hadn’t wanted to experience physical satisfaction. She had, and she’d done that years ago—twice. Once with a boy when they’d both been seventeen and a few years later with a young gentleman who had no doubt been a rogue.
Clearly, she had no problem with rakish males. Indeed, she didn’t particularly care if Keele possessed a roguish reputation. But if he was keeping her in his employ so that he could entice her to his bed, she wanted to know.
She’d have to come up with a way to determine what sort of man he was. If he were a rogue, she’d have to decide whether she should stay.
Shockingly, she thought she just might.
The following afternoon, Roman’s coachman drove them to the Lacey and Company offices in Paternoster Row. It was strange to be riding alone in a coach with a young lady, though for all Roman knew, Ellis was married or even widowed. But he didn’t think so. He estimated her to be in her middle twenties. It was more likely that she was either nearing or had entered spinster territory.
He was very curious about why she was hiding. Perhaps she was married and was avoiding a violent husband. Whatever the reason, Roman was glad to provide her shelter.
As they stopped in front of the offices, he looked across the coach at Ellis. She clutched her notebook, and Roman knew she’d stashed a pencil in her pocket.
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
“A bit,” she replied, glancing in his direction. “I just need to remember that you will leave the coach before I do.” A faint smile lifted one side of her mouth.
When they’d departed his house, she’d moved toward the coach as if she would step inside first, and she should have, since she was a lady. But in her disguise as the secretary Daniel Ellis, she would not enter the coach until after her employer, the Marquess of Keele.
“I will endeavor to keep you from slipping up,” Roman said.
“Thank you.”
As the coachman opened the door, Roman stepped out first and stood on the pavement as he waited for Ellis to climb down. Church bells tolled nearby, adding to the bustle of the busy, narrow street.
“Are those the bells of St. Paul’s?” she asked.
“Indeed they are.” Roman turned and gestured across the street over the tops of the buildings. “You can see the spire there. The cathedral is very close.”
Ellis had pivoted with him. “I see it.”
He heard the excitement in her voice. “Have you been there?”
She nodded. “Many times. It’s beautiful.”
“You can see more of the cathedral from the first floor,” Roman said. “Come, I’ll show you.” He resisted the urge to put his hand behind her back as if he were guiding a woman into the building.
A plaque with gold lettering that read “Lacey and Company, Publishers and Booksellers” was affixed to the front of the four-storey brick-faced building. The main entrance led directly into the bookshop.
They moved inside, and Roman took a deep breath. He loved the smell of paper, print, and leather bindings. Shelves lined the left wall and displayed many works, mostly three-deckers, such as The Captain’s Daughter.
Ellis immediately gravitated toward the shelves. Roman let her browse for a moment.
“Afternoon, my lord,” the clerk said from behind the counter on the right side of the shop. The young man, Samuel Briggs, had been in the position for over a year now. He was friendly and efficient, with bright light-blue eyes and blond hair. “The Laceys are already upstairs.”
“Thank you,” Roman said. “Has the author arrived?”
