Page 49 of A Bluestocking’s Secret Courtship

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t utter a sound.

“Let’s go home,” he whispered. “You will feel better with your sister.”

Slowly, she released his jacket, not protesting when he gathered her hand in his. She had lost her bonnet in the pandemonium, and her fine strawberry-tinted hair fell in tangles around her face. She blinked, looking up at him.

“You’re bleeding.”

He glanced at his linen shirt. Several drops of blood stood out dark against the stark white. “Just a nosebleed. It stopped.”

“Oh! I didn’t mean—” She covered her mouth.

He chuckled and shook his head. “You caught me by surprise is all. You have an impressive swing.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Your uncle taught you well. I think he would be pleased that you defended yourself.”

Her smile was tentative, her eyes not quite cleared from the turmoil.

“Did you venture out alone?” he asked.

She gasped. “Leda!”

Before she could bolt back toward the market, he captured her by the shoulders. “Your maid is Athenian. She knows to stay clear of these sorts of things.”

“But she seemed distracted. We became separated at the market.”

He frowned. “She shouldn’t have left you. The political climate is simmering. There is talk of revolution.”

“Her fiancé was in the crowd.”

Damnation! Dom would need to intervene. His household didn’t want to be at odds with the Sultan.

“If you want to leave the villa again, we will arrange for a male escort—either your brother-in-law or me.”

“As long as it isn’t Lord Dominic,” she said.

He smiled, secretly pleased she hadn’t been charmed by his fellow spy.

They walked on in heavy silence. When the villa loomed on the hillside, Evangeline said, “I promised a restorative broth for my sister, but I am returning empty-handed.”

“What ingredients do you need?”

“A mutton bone and peppercorns, if any are to be found.”

“I will send one of Dom’s men back for them.”

She thanked him and touched his arm to stop him on the street.

“Please don’t mention what happened today. M-my sister worries. Ever since our parents…” A shudder passed through her and fresh tears shimmered in her blue eyes. “They were caught up in a riot, too.”

The air rushed from him in a noisy whoosh. The haunted shadows passing across her face made his chest ache. She hadn’t only been going through her own experience. She had been reliving her parents’ last moments—something she likely had never imagined.

He covered her hand on his arm, pressing it, lost for words. Eventually, he inclined his head. “We should enter through the back gate.”

Gathering her hand through the crook of his elbow, he guided her up the hill, turning into the narrow path behind the villa.

“Wait here,” he said and opened the gate. Once he determined the courtyard was empty, he motioned for her to follow, then escorted her to the glass doors leading to her bedchamber. “If you need anything, send for me.” He gestured to the second-floor window in the opposite wing.