“You remember that?” The astonished note was an irritant.
“Remember? It was my first day! I was sure Will would demote me or sack me. And besides, it’s not as though I have other clients involved in that sort of mischief. ”
“That was your first day? But you were so… so…”
“Unprofessional?” I supplied.
“Gallant,” she corrected. “Mary still talks about that day. The way you swanned in and growled at Mr. Decker.”
“I do not growl,” I muttered, recalling the moment I’d seen the bruise the bastard had left on her ivory cheek. A duller version of the fury that had overtaken me rolled through my frame. Even if she had stolen, which I was now confident she hadn’t, there was never an excuse for striking a woman.
Much of that day was a blur—overwhelmed as I was by irritation and terror in equal measure. Bits and pieces returned in flashes at inconvenient moments in the years since. I remembered convincing the other shopgirl that Iwas Lady Davina’s—Lucy’s, as the shopgirl knew her—brother, threatening Mr. Decker, and dropping the pennies and farthing on the floor for the scoundrel to scramble after in pathetic, disgraced desperation.
Her chuckle was bemused. “Of course not,” she agreed with false solemnity. “It was the sort of thing Gabriel would’ve done—the way you tossed the missing payment on the ground.”
“Do not compare me to your reprobate brother—I cannot survive the insult to my honor. And I remember swearing to myself that it was the last time I would come to your rescue.”
“I did not require rescuing then. And you are not rescuing me now. I’ve abducted you.” Lady Davina’s hands danced in front of her in the same way Rosehill’s so often did—hers a little more controlled than his. The sight had a smile playing at the corner of my lip. Something in the education they gave young ladies must have taught her to dampen a little of the visual reminder of her enthusiasm in a way that school hadn’t for her brother. But every once in a while, her instinct broke free and she was so overcome that she forgot herself. It was enthralling.
Instead of acknowledging that rather inappropriate thought, I retorted, “You’ve abducted me for the purpose of solving some sort of problem. Some might call that a rescue.”
“Some might, but I would not.”
“Call it whatever you like,” I said, setting the teasing aside for the moment. “I did not know Mary remained with you, though.” Mary had been the other shopgirl working that day, and Rosehill had seen fit to employ her in the household, but I had no idea she was still there—or thinking of me.
“She’s my maid. And she fancies you. After every ball and adventure, she asks after you.”
I hummed, tucking that thought away never to be perused again. “That was the first time I acted as your brother. Almost as though nothing has changed at all.”
“A bit has changed,” she insisted.
“I’m still reluctantly sorting out your mischief. You’re still gallivanting about in disguises. And I’m still pretending to be your brother or cousin. What, precisely, has changed?”
Her dark eyes considered me and I could almost hear the thought,You’re an earl now. But ever the surprise, she said, “My gallivanting has taken us out of London. That is new.”
“Your gallivanting nearly took us to France.”
“That ship was headed for the Caribbean,” she retorted, a grin sliding onto her full peachy lips.
“You do realize that is not materially different for the purposes of my argument?”
“It is though. The weather is better there than in S—” she broke off, wide brown gaze eyeing me warily.
“Scotland?” I finished.
“Slough.” She crossed her arms definitively and tossed her chin back in an effort to seem more intimidating.
A huff escaped from my chest. “All right,” I said between chuckles. “Well, I hear they’re easily scandalized in Slough, so you’d best find that dress.”
Lip caught between her teeth, she shifted the extra fairy cake aside in her trunk. There she unearthed a simple, familiar, peachy-coral frock.
She pulled it free, exposing a flash of white lace and silk beneath it that had both chuckles and breath abandoning me.
“Mr. Summers?” Her voice was soft, lower than her usual alto—calling my gaze back to hers.
“Yes?”
“How—that is—have you any idea how to go about this? You know, changing in a carriage.”
