Esme laughed too. “She did. I’m going to have a hell of a bruise on my shin, I wager. But she got the worst of it. She was up when I went back, though, so I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Such a soft one,” Jane grunted. “Always worried about the opponent.”
Esme shrugged. “Betty isn’t so bad. She’s talented, too. Why should I hate her for trying to make her life? I’m no different.”
Jane smiled at her softly before she said, “Ripley said there were a great many wagers before the fight and that I could collect your percentage from Brentwood after. Will you be well back here if I go do that?”
“I think so,” Esme said. “I couldn’t see my friend from Donville in the crowd, and I think most of the toffs in the crowd are more interested in talking to each other than lowering themselves to me. Go get the money.”
Jane patted her shoulder and then ducked from the room. Esme heard the door behind her close and sighed before she drank more of her tea. It had been a good fight, but perhaps she should have tried to drag it out more, put on a bigger show. Perhaps she even would have allowed Betty to make her drop her coin to give the fight more drama. But the moment she’d been kicked, she’d just wanted it to be over. To protect herself.
She sighed. “Letting emotion reign. Foolish girl.” The door behind her opened again and she laughed without looking. “That was quick, Jane. How much was it?”
“It’s not Jane.”
She froze at Delacourt’s voice behind her, just as recognizable as it had been that night at the Donville Masquerade. She grabbed for her mask and tied it before she got up and pivoted on him.
“You shouldn’t be back here,” she said as she looked at him.
The night at the masquerade he’d been masked like she was, so this was her first time seeing his full face in years. And he was stunningly beautiful. He was built like a fighter, in truth, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He was all hard angles and dangerous lines, but with the most beautiful brown eyes.
Eyes that were now flitting up and down her just like they had at the masquerade.
“I only wished to congratulate you,” Delacourt said. “You were most entertaining.”
She drew in a breath. Most men would have said that with a lewd double meaning, but even though it was clear Delacourt was looking at her with interest, he wasn’t disgusting about it. He seemed to truly respect her.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “My lord.”
A slight smirk quirked the corner of his mouth. “That is the second time you have referred to me by title. I’m beginning to feel at a disadvantage.”
She straightened. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He tilted his head. “Do you not? Are you going to deny that you met me days ago at the Donville Masquerade, Miss…X. Or do you prefer Hellion?”
She let her breath out in a long sigh and folded her arms, widening her stance just as she did in a fight. “I suppose it would only be a waste of time to pretend as though it wasn’t me at the masquerade that night. And that it wasn’t you.”
“It would be,” Delacourt agreed. “Though if you want to spar and pretend, I’m happy to play the game.”
“I’m sure you are.” She said it quietly but it seemed to hit its mark for he straightened and the smirk fell.
“How do you know me?” he asked.
“Who says I do?”
“Themy lordingdoes imply it since I never said who I truly was. Nor have I said it now.”
She arched a brow. “You have amy lordway about you. Most toffs do.”
She waited for him to get annoyed, to scowl at her, perhaps even to demand an apology. But instead he flashed a grin that made him even more handsome somehow. “I see. Well, if you don’t want to tell me the truth, that’s your prerogative. I’ll play along. The Earl of Delacourt at your service, Miss…”
“X,” she said. “You already know that.”
“Very well.” There was still no animosity in his tone. “I do have to say that realizing your blackened eye likely came from sparring or a sanctioned fight, rather than some bastard beating you, is a relief.”
She stared at him. That sounded truthful. He, who didn’t even know he knew her, who thought her nothing more than a gnat beneath his shoe, had actually been concerned about her.
“I told you that night there was nothing to be alarmed by,” she said. “And it’s healing either way.”
