“Yes,” he said. And from the look on her face, so had she.
“He is not the worst, but he will be. Give him a few years…” She ended her words on a sigh. One that he echoed.
“I will see that he never touches his wife and child again,” he promised, though he had no idea if that were possible.
She pursed her lips, and he was momentarily distracted. She was a beautiful woman, especially when the torchlight colored her cheeks and set her auburn hair aflame.
“I swore to his wife that she would never have to see him again. She wants him out of London, but that won’t stop hisviolent nature. It will just force other women to deal with his temper.”
“Hmmm,” he said, startled that she had thought that far ahead. He certainly hadn’t.
She shook her head. “She didn’t care either.”
“But you do?”
She threw up her hands in a gesture of disgust. “I do, but there is little I can do about it. I cannot save the world, only my corner of it.”
How odd. That was a sentiment he had voiced before. Then she abruptly stopped and turned to face him.
“Don’t you want your hat or coat or something?”
“Would you wait for me if I said yes?”
She appeared to think about the idea, but then shook her head. “It is dangerous to stay still. Best if I keep moving home.”
“Then it is a good thing that I have decided to forgo my outerwear. I shall return later for it, explaining that I caught Lord Liddican assaulting a poor maid and laid him out flat. I then escorted the quivering gel home.”
She snorted. “I’m hardly quivering. And it was my blow that laid him out.”
“Perhaps. But I shall claim it anyway. It will save your reputation.”
She nodded. “Kind of you.”
He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Whatever her mood, she gestured to a hedge. “My home is that way.” Then she hiked up her skirt and jumped over it.
It was a planned move, made all the more obvious when she turned back to him with a smirk. “It is only a few blocks. I can go on if you—”
Her words were cut off as he jumped the hedge as easily as she had. Or rather, he pretended to. He had considerably more bulk and landed heavily beside her.
“I haven’t done that since I was a boy,” he mused.
“Jumped a hedge?”
“Landing next to a pretty girl.”
She arched her brows. “Did she run away screaming?”
“She was quite flattered.”
Miss Allen snorted. “Of course she was. You will find, Lord Heath, that it takes a bit more to impress a Scotswoman.”
He nodded. “I shall keep that in mind if I ever want to impress one.”
It was a mild jab as far as insults went. He expected her to stiffen at the affront. Instead, she chuckled, her mood softening as they began to walk toward her home.
“I know I am prickly, my lord, but I am grateful for your assistance tonight. I needed the ladies’ help to escape the ballroom. I didn’t expect them to show up with penknives and pebbles.”
“That could have gone very badly.” He kept his tone light, hoping that a softer touch would make headway with her.
