Lubbock pounced. Kirkham managed to dodge the brawny guard, who flew straight into the table. Dishes and utensils went flying, the clatter mingling with the patients’ shrieks and cheers. Other attendants entered the fray, but fear made Kirkham as slippery as a lamprey, and he evaded them all. He headed straight for the open door next to where Polly and Rosie stood transfixed, their hands gripped together. In the next breath, Polly felt Rosie’s fingers being torn from hers and heard the other scream.
Kirkham had grabbed Rosie! He held her in front of him like a shield, the jagged glass blade pressed against her throat. Heart pounding, Polly took a step toward them.
“Please don’t hurt my sister,” she pleaded.
“Stay back.” Kirkham edged his way backward toward the exit, keeping Rosie between him and the approaching battalion of attendants. “Try to stop me and she dies!”
“Let her go or it’ll be the worse for you,” Lubbock warned.
“It can’t get worse than this place. I’m getting out of here, one way or another. Now stay back—or I’ll cut her, do you hear me?”
Wings of panic thumped in Polly’s chest as the guards ignored his threat, closing in on him as he backed toward the door. She stood helplessly, seeing the rising waves of aggression, the way the black energy fed off itself until it choked the entire room. One false move and…
Kirkham reached the exit—and in the next moment, he yelped, his face contorting with pain, his makeshift weapon falling from his grasp. He was yanked through the door and out of sight, and Rosie stumbled forward,free. Polly scrambled over, throwing her arms around the trembling girl while the guards rushed past them.
“Are you all right?” Polly said shakily.
“I most certainly amnot.” Rosie’s jade eyes widened, her face pale. “Serves me right for trying to be a do-gooder. This is thelasttime I do anything charitable.”
A relieved chuckle frothed up Polly’s throat just as Thea came rushing over.
“My goodness, what happened?” Thea said with breathless concern. “I returned from the retiring room to see Rosie being dragged away by some madman.”
“He was using me as a hostage.” Rosie shivered. “I don’t know how I got free.”
“It looked like someone grabbed him from behind,” Polly said.
“Whoever that was saved my life. He’s ahero. I must thank him.”
Rosie dashed for the door, and Polly followed, Thea at their heels. Outside, the first thing Polly saw was Rosie’s attacker: Kirkham was wrestled to the ground, his struggling form subdued by a gentleman whose back was turned to them. As the guards took over custody of Kirkham, the man rose, and even from behind, Polly could tell he was a top-of-the-trees Corinthian. Blue superfine clung lovingly to his wide shoulders and narrow hips, his trousers fitting his long, muscular legs like a second skin and tucking into Hessians.
In the sun, the thick waves of his hair gleamed like polished mahogany—and recognition struck Polly.Dear God, not…The man turned, and there was no mistaking that god-like face or the piercing midnight blue gaze. Her knees wobbled like an aspic.
“It’s him.” The whisper escaped unbidden from her lips.
“You know that gentleman?” Rosie’s head swung in her direction.
Not wanting to lie, Polly stammered, “I-I don’t know him, but I’ve seen him once—”
“And one never forgets the Earl of Revelstoke.”
Rosie’s declaration sent a jolt through Polly. That man… wasRevelstoke? He was the cad who’d ridiculed her in the garden? Who’d compared her to a mongrel—called herunworthy sport?
Her breath turned choppy, her hands balling at her sides.
“I’ve only had one faraway glimpse of him at a party, but his is a face one never forgets,” Rosie said knowingly. “’Tis no wonder they call him the God of Revelry: he is absolutely divine. All the debs want to land him, you know, but he’s a confirmed rake who wants nothing to do with innocent misses.”
“We’d better stay away then,” Polly said tightly.
Or I might punch him in his perfect, popular nose.
“On the contrary.” A determined light entered Rosie’s eyes, her lips curving in a cat-got-in-the-cream smile. “I cannotwaitto make his acquaintance.”
~~~
A few minutes later, Polly watched the interaction between Rosie and Revelstoke with the grim fascination of one watching two shiny carriages on course for collision. They were all in a private drawing room that the proprietress had insisted they use to recover, Thea and Rosie flanking Revelstoke on a settee and Polly occupying an adjacent wingchair.
From a physical standpoint, Polly had to admit that the earl and her sister made a stunning pair: his dark, virile handsomeness was the ideal foil for Rosie’s fair and slender beauty. Rosie was flirting; having witnessed the other in action countless times before, Polly recognized all the signs. The flip of the blond ringlets, the tinkling laugh, the way she was leaning forward as if to say,You’re the most interesting person in the world!
