Page 113 of Notorious

“Even though your face is concealed from me, you seem to be a very happy lady,” he said at one point.

What did a person say to that?

“Yes, I would call myself happy.”

“Ah, you must be in love.”

She’d drawn the line at sharing something she’d not even told her husband yet. Her silence must have told him that he’d stepped over the line.

“I apologize, that was ill done of me. But I can’t help noticing you are glowing.”

She knew he was correct: she was glowing. Eva had noticed it, Fletcher had noticed it, and Lady Exley—in her direct manner—had commented on her appearance a few nights ago at dinner. She was in love with a man who seemed at least to be very fond of her, if not actually in love himself.

“Thank you,” she’d said, her voice cooler than usual to hide the joy she felt that even a stranger would notice her happiness. “I am very fortunate.”

“Indeed,” he had murmured quietly, and that had been the last they’d spoken until he’d trod on her foot.

As she massaged her toes she realized the corsair had been gone long enough to have found Gabriel, even in this crowded ballroom. She released her foot and sighed. Well, she would just have to put her shoe back on and go find him herself.

She should have guessed a pirate could not be trusted.

* * *

Gabriel removed his wig the moment he shut the door to the carriage.

“Feel better?” Drusilla asked as he lowered the window and let the breeze ruffle his damp hair.

“Much. Although I’ll need to bathe as soon as I get home.” He was distinctly ripe smelling. “Are you sure you don’t want me to sit in the other seat?”

“I am sure,” she said in the cool, prim manner he now knew hid great depth of feeling.

“How are your toes?”

“Sore, but uninjured.”

He took her hand in his beringed fist, wondering—not for the first time—how Byer could stand to wear so much jewelry. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “I will inspect them myself when I come to you tonight. Closely.”

She flashed him a shy smile.

“If I had met the blackguard who injured you, I would have had him dragged to the Tower.”

“That seems a severe punishment for mere toe treading.”

“He also abandoned you in your time of need.”

She chuckled. “To be honest, I was rather glad. There was something about him . . .”

“Oh?”

“Yes, he was asking odd questions.”

“What kind of questions?”

“About our marriage, me, you, us.” She shrugged. “Personal questions.”

“I don’t like the sound of that—you have no idea who he was?”

“None.”