Dark red spots highlighted her cheeks. “Well, I’ll admit I confronted him.”
“Youconfrontedhim?” Dear heavens, she was one of those tropical talking birds she’d read about.
“What was I to do, milady?” Serena shook her head. “And when Oxford’s duchess stormed her way in and saw him at your bedside—”
“Lady Parther saw him… and me?” Her voice resembled a squeaking mouse about to faint.
“I thought she was the Duchess of Oxford.”
Rebecca’s legs gave out and she fell back on the uncomfortable chair. “That woman is the most notorious gossip in England.” This was a disaster. “What did he tell her?”
“He told her in no uncertain terms to leave.”
“And did she?”
Serena grimaced. “Not right away. He did reprimand her for treating me disrespectfully. It was quite heroic.”
Wonderful news. Now she’d never get rid of him. At least, not with Serena’s help.
~~~
Sebastian stretched out on the bed, folding his arms behind his head. He couldn’t hear everything Rebecca was saying to her maid, a squeal here and there, dotted with outrage and shock. He grinned into the darkness until the image of those scars rushed him. He was halfway astonished she didn’t sport a bullet wound. He shuddered at the very idea.
Admittedly, her recent outrage reassured him. She sounded so… so normal he’d forgotten he wanted to shield her, protect her. Instead, he railed at her. As if she’d been hurt intentionally. He was an idiot.
He rolled to his stomach, groaning. The woman was a detriment to herself. Definitely not duchess material. Yet she was the most loyal person he’d ever met. Look at how she had defended his sister, saved that ridiculous dog, and the twins. Confronted theirfather.She jumped first and asked questions later, fearing nothing, fearing no one. God, how he wanted her.
But how was he supposed to safeguard someone who didn’t believe they needed safeguarding?
Twenty
“I am not staying at your house, Your Grace.” Rebecca sat across the carriage from Sebastian two nights later, her maid sleeping soundly in the corner. Her miffed tone told Sebastian he was within moments of wearing her down.
“It’s Sebastian, remember?” he said in a mild rebuke.
She turned her gaze out the window, scowling. “That is much too familiar,” she said on haughty note. A second later she sank back against the squabs, her bottom lip poking out in an uncharacteristic, un-Rebecca-like pout. She crossed her arms over her chest. Some inner force within had garnered strength.
“Well, it’s much too late to drop you at your father’s house,” he said, his own patience flailing. They’d entered Mayfair and it was nearing midnight. He’d been arguing with her for the last half hour. He’d swear her illness had been nothing but a mirage. The streets were clogged with upper crust carriages making their way from one soiree to another. It would likely be another two hours before the streets cleared.
“I will not go home with you, Your Grace. That is quite improper and not like you at all.” Her exasperation would have been humorous if he hadn’t been so exhausted from lack of sleep and worry, blast it all. Could she do nothing that was simple? But then that wouldn’t be Rebecca, would it?
“I’m seeing my father tonight, whether you like it or not. The gossip may have already reached him. He needs to hear things from me first.”
He mimicked her pose, crossing his own arms conceding her point. “All right, we’ll stop by.Thenwe’ll leave for my townhome.” He could be as stubborn as she.
“There is no need for you to stay,” she told him.
He wasn’t prone to take no for an answer. It was too important. “Let me put it to you this way, Lady Rebecca. If you choose stay the night at your father’s then I shall be accompanying you.” He slanted her a sly glance. “What is your worry? After all, we’ve slept together now. Twice.”
“And no one is any the wiser.”
“Except for the Duchess of Oxford,” he shot back.
“She’s not even in London. Didn’t you say she and Oxford were on their way to Cornwall?”
He snorted. “And you believe she did not dash off notes to a single one of her cronies? Come now, you are brighter than that.”
She grimaced. She could recognize the truth in his statement. “Still, I need to speak with my father. I want to make sure he didn’t do something horrible to seal our—yourfate.”
