“And you mine.” She smiled. “I haven’t forgotten all the times you danced with me to help me relax. You told me terrible jokes and—”
“Made fun of your ugly dogs.”
“As if you understand what is beautiful in a dog.”
“Maybe not a dog,” he said as he gathered her fingers. Lifting them up, he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and gave her the most courtly of bows. “You are a beautiful woman, Lady Kimberly. I would be sore aggrieved if I have destroyed our friendship.”
“You have not,” she said. “But your sister will never forgive you.”
He groaned. That was true.
“I’ll handle her,” he said.
“You’ll try,” she said with a laugh. “But I’ll explain it to her. You can figure out what to tell Moore tomorrow morning when he bursts in on nothing.”
He chuckled. “May I walk you home?”
“Just to the stable, I think.”
“You cannot walk home alone.”
“Oh I shan’t be alone. I brought Rufus and Brown Dog with me. They’re right now terrorizing your stable hands.”
“Good God. The boys will quit, every one!”
“Just tell them that we will never wed. That will soothe their nerves.”
And so he extended his elbow to her, and she set her fingertips upon his forearm. They descended the stairs together as he had always assumed they would one day as duke and duchess.
He ended up walking her home though her two mastiffs intimidated him. He knew that at a word from her, thoseanimals would tear him to pieces. It wasn’t until his return walk home that he realized he was whistling. It was a happy, jaunty tune that filled the night air with joy.
Good lord, when was the last time he had ever felt so free?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Yihue stared atthe missive in her hand. She was very slow at reading English, but was able to sound out the large, dark letters. Usually, Emma would help her, but the lady had been absent since yesterday afternoon. And the maid who brought the paper had been unable to read, so that left Yihui to sort through Max’s handwriting like a child exploring a favorite toy.
Please put on these clothes and be ready by 11 o’clock.
MAX
She did not know what the wordclothesmeant but guessed when that same maid delivered a pair of breeches made of blue silk.
“He wants me to wear this?” she asked the girl whose name was Millie.
“Coo, but isn’t it soft? But why give you boy’s clothes?”
“This is for a boy?” Yihui had been wearing pants since her earliest days. Gowns were for ladies who did not work.
“Yes, but yer a foreigner. Everybody expects you to act odd.”
Apparently, Max did. She looked at the fancy clock on the mantle. One of the first things Emma had taught her was how to tell time. She had very little of it left before she was supposed to be ready.
“Millie, will you help me? It will take the hour.”
The girl hesitated. She’d been the only servant bold enough to dare help the foreign killer. Yihui had tried to reward her with things, but she had nothing of her own to give. So she gave the girl time to rest from her labors. She invented excuses for Millie to sit with her. And in that time, the two had discovered something else in common.
They both wanted to learn to read, so they practiced together.
