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Did Jason have any idea how much danger he was in?

She must do something.

Now.

But what?

Her mind frantically foraged around for a solution.

A fit of the vapors?

Yes. Yes. That was perfect.

Never mind that Lenora had never succumbed to a swoon in her life.

Turning her face into Jason’s chest, she whispered, “I’m going to pretend to faint.”

His gaze careened to hers, a question in the warm—amused?—depths of his eyes. He speared a guarded glance toward Landry, then returned his regard to her and crooked a sable eyebrow.

“Play along.” She winked her left eye, confident no one could see her as that side of her face lay against him.

Comprehension registered, and his mouth parted as if to refute her.

Stupid man.

He assuredly did not want Landry for an enemy. True, her brother possessed a tender heart toward street urchins, but there was nothing softhearted about him when it came to protecting his family.

There was nothing for it then. She must fake a faint.

Men could be so utterly obtuse.

For the first time in her life, and to protect a man she didn’t know from her brother’s wrath, Lenora slumped into a full-on swoon.

Her collapse must’ve been believable, for a maid gasped, “Miss Lenora!”

“Oh dear,” Cecelia murmured.

“Heavens above. She’s fainted dead away.” Mama’s voice emerged on a strangled croak. “Lord, touch my daughter with thine healing hand,” she prayed haltingly. “Hurry, Captain Steele. Carry her upstairs at once.”

“Of course,” Jason murmured, the merest hint of laughter tinging the two words.

“Oh, where is the doctor?” Mama practically wailed.

Lenora prayed everyone would take the slight quiver in Captain Steele’s voice for concern and not hilarity, which she was positive was the real cause of his unsteady timbre. If she didn’t risk discovery, she’d have pinched him.

She still might if the opportunity arose.

“Up the stairs, Captain Steele. To your right. Third door on the left.” Celestia calmly gave him the directions to Lenora’s bedchamber.

“My goodness,” cried Lady Darlington-Pope in a quavering tone. “I do hope Miss Audsley is not seriously injured. I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Please do not trouble yourself, Grandmother,” Jason said as he continued to the staircase. “I’d wager my ship that Miss Audsley’s recovery is nearly miraculous in nature.”

He was definitely laughing at her, the roué.

How badly Lenora wanted to pinch him. Nonetheless, she’d put them in this delicate situation, and she’d suffer a slightly bruised pride if it spared her brother calling Jason out.

“I’ll send Doctor Calder up as soon as he arrives,” Teeven assured no one in particular.