“I didn’t hound—”
“Youluredme to Hammersmith under false pretenses and then bribed me with property.”
“Also there was no lure—”
“Make no mistake,” she cut in again. “I don’t say this to accuse you. I know which way the wind blows for girls like me. This is merely a reminder. There are many ways to be ‘scathed.’ And just because I am an actress’s daughter whoworksfor a living, I shouldn’t be—”
“Stop,” exclaimed Jason.
“...shouldn’t be—"
He pulled off his hat and pressed it against her face, obscuring her from the forehead to chin.
“Pause,” he said. “Please.”
Isobel, her face now covered by his hat, raised a gloved hand and pressed the hat halfway down with two gloved fingers. Her blue eyes peeked out over the brim.
“A small benefit of being duke is the privilege of finishing a sentence,” he said. “On rare occasion. Or so I’ve been told.”
He pulled the hat away and she interjected with, “What I meant to say—”
He extended the hat again, covering her lips. Again, only her eyes were revealed. Unless he was mistaken, they twinkled with amusement.
“Miss Tinker,” he began. “I do not see you as the daughter of an actress or a girl in a shop. I see you as a resource. From the beginning, your noted qualities were independence, intelligence, and a sort of... oh, let’s just call it ‘lack of fuss.’ ”
If he also saw pretty, exciting, and incendiary, he elected not to mention these. Yet.
He continued. “Call me selfish, but your reputation or impressionable sensibilities, whatever they may be, did not figure in. IfCousin Jane Starlinghad a history in Iceland, spoke the language, and had knowledge of the miscreants who now hold my cousin hostage, I would have recruited her instead—and it would not have mattered about her father or grandfather. Any of my superiors will readily attest that I’ve never had patience for what is ‘appropriate.’ It is one of the many qualities that made me an effective spy and will, no doubt, make me a terrible duke.
“As for your respectability, Iofferedto provide a companion or maid—I urged you to include your girl, Samantha Smee, for this journey. You refused. Fine, I don’t care, one fewer person with whom to bother. But please don’t accuse me of targeting you because you somehow view yourself as... asan easy mark. If you must know, all women are easy marks for me, and I don’t distinguish. I would never split hairs over how pure they may or may not be. But also, I’m no predator. Make no mistake.Womencome tome.”
Now she laughed, as he’d hoped she would.
He shot her a grin and shoved his hat back on his head. “Release yourself,” he finished, “from worry about being ‘scathed’—not by our proximity or this mission. If anything inappropriate happens, it will be byyourhand.”
He leaned his hip against the rail. “But thank you for reviewing the reasons you are to be held suspect in this area. One can only hope there is more dubious behavior to discover. I’m beginning to feel it ismyvirtue we should be worried about. Not yours.”
She was shaking her head. “You’re ridiculous.”
Hewasa little ridiculous, but Jason wouldn’t be accused of preying on her or her alleged murky reputation. What care had he for anyone’s reputation? None.
“No one bothers with the virtue of a handsome bachelor duke,” she informed him. “You’reexpectedto be indiscreet—which is why I raised the topic in the first place.”
“Handsome, am I?” he asked. “Seems to be the second time you’ve mentioned this. Perhaps the seduction has already begun. Compliments are a known enticement. I can feel myself softening to you already.”
She let out a frustrated gasp. “If I intended toenticeyou, Your Grace, the last thing you would feel wassoft.”
Jason laughed, a loud, delighted bark into the wind. Isobel smiled too. He saw her moment of triumph before her face tightened with indignation.
“But we’ve already kissed,” she said. She exhaled in defeat. “You kissed me.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Did I?”
“You know this.” Her pale cheeks were turning red.
“Yes, I suppose I did. But it was done in service to this delicate reputation of yours. To evade the night watchman. If I’d been recruiting your cousin Jane, I would have kissed her too.”
Isobel seemed to think about this, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. Perhaps she didn’t fancy him kissing her cousin Jane Starling.
