“He is no longer a danger to others or himself.”
As satisfaction slithered through the proprietress’ aura, Polly shivered.
Turning to the earl, who’d risen at her entrée, Mrs. Barlow said, “Words cannot express my gratitude for your intervention, my lord. I deeply regret that the unfortunate incident interfered with your privacy and relaxation.”
So he actually was a visitor—and, thus, sane.Drat.
“Making the acquaintance of present company was well worth any effort.” For some reason, the earl wasn’t looking at Rosie but at Polly, mocking humor in his eyes. It was as if he’d guessed what she’d believed about him and wasentertainedby it.
Once more, she was an object of ridicule to him.
Humiliation welled, flowing into tributaries of the past, all the other times she’d been treated with contempt. The village children’s chants of “Peculiar Polly,” melded into the smirks of the fashionable crowd, the laughing male voices making a wager of her emotions. A lifetime of being on the outside seared through her.
“Dear ladies,” Mrs. Barlow said, “may I ask that you respect my policy on discretion? I have promised Lord Revelstoke a peaceful retreat from the furor of Town, and I should hate for his solitude to be ruined by interlopers.”
“Trying to get away from the adoring hordes, are you?” Rosie said teasingly.
Revelstoke’s broad shoulders moved in a careless shrug. “My companions can get a bit tiresome in their pursuit of revelry.”
How trying it must be for you to be so popular, Polly thought with mounting ire.
Thea rose. “Well, we shan’t interrupt your sojourn any longer, my lord. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure was mine, Lady Tremont.” The earl swept an artful bow.
“I do hope we’ll see each other soon, my lord?” Rosie said.
“I will count the hours.”
Beaming, Rosie added with a saucy twinkle, “Just so you know, my papa is London’sbestinvestigator. So I shall ask him to employ his skills and find you if you don’t keep your promise!”
“Rosie,” Thea said mildly. “Come along now.”
As Thea and Rosie bade farewell to Mrs. Barlow, Revelstoke turned to Polly. She tensed as he bestowed a charming smile upon her.
“I hope we can put today behind us, Miss Kent,” he said easily.
She knew he wasn’t referring to the ruckus with the madman but to what she’d caught him doing in the bathhouse. His aura matched his eyes: the strong, confident blue of a man assured of his place at the top of the world.Does being popular insulate him from all wrongdoing?she fumed. She might be naïve, but he, not she, was the one who’d been caught in an ignominious act.He, not she, was the one who ought to feel mortified!
“I shan’t think of it again,” she said tightly.
If anything, his amusement grew stronger. His mouth quirked, the movement sinfully sensual and dashedannoyingbecause he no doubt knew it was so.
“To think, I was going to apologize for causing you unintended shock,” he murmured. “It seems you have more mettle than meets the eye, Miss Kent.”
Did he think that just because she was plain and fat that she couldn’t manage her reaction to him? That she’d be rendered insensate by his stupid depravity? That the mere sight of his god-like form would turn her into a wilting violet?
How. Dare. He.
“If bymettleyou mean that I am capable of exerting self-control, then you have the right of it, my lord,” she said in cutting tones. “I believe that one should be responsible for one’s own actions.”
Although his expression didn’t change, the ominous flare in his aura made her breath lodge in her throat. Heart racing, she brushed past him toward the others. Even as she fled, the image of what she’d seen stayed with her: the moment when his glow had changed, flawless blue cracking… revealing the fresh red innards of shame.
Chapter Four
That night, Sinjin hovered in the territory between dreams and wakefulness.
He’d left the shutters open, moonlight breaking upon the soft linens of his bed. The air was humid, warm, and he turned over again, unable to find a comfortable position. Perhaps it was the residual energy of subduing a maniac. Given some of the tavern brawls he’d participated in, the scenario hadn’t been all that foreign to him, but it had felt good to put his skills to some meaningful use. The pretty blond chit had been grateful, certainly.
