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“I am not a mistress or a kept woman,” Miss Fowley answered without missing a beat. Her nostrils flared, and her eyes glistened. “We had a deal. I let you out of our betrothal, and you make arrangements for me to stay in London for a month. Whatever I do in London during this month is none of your business. It was never part of our agreement.”

“Do you honestly expect me to leave you to your own devices—”

“T-then I shall leave the house you set me up in. I d-did not agree to being a prisoner,” Miss Fowley stuttered and propped her spectacles up the bridge of her nose. She stood tall and proud and refused to back down, although her lips trembled, and she seemed on the verge of tears.

Adam found a gentle smile on his lips. He always defined bravery as fighting through fear while defining foolishness as not having any fear at all. At first, he’d thought Miss Fowley had an excess of the latter. Going to the den of iniquity on her own, without an escort, was truly foolish. However, it was obvious in the light of a shining carriage lantern that Miss Fowley was indeed scared. She was scared of the big, bad viscount who was used to controlling everyone around him. She was probably just as scared to step out of her little cottage in Surrey and travel to London for a month. And she must have been frightened to visit the masquerade.

She did it all, nonetheless.

For what purpose? That Adam could not understand.

But he saw Miss Fowley’s frustration clearly. He saw her distress. Even more clearly, he saw the determination to get what she thought was hers.

Her freedom.

If just for a little while.

Was she not owed that courtesy?

She had released Gage from their betrothal. She could have easily refused. She could have kept Gage for herself and become the wife of a young, wealthy viscount. And she would have been within her right to do so. Instead, she bartered his freedom for hers.

Except, she didn’t know that that freedom came with strings attached.

“You are not a prisoner,” Gage insisted. “But I am responsible for your well-being. It is not safe for you to visit hells and masquerade balls on your own in the middle of the night.”

“Why is everyone under the impression that they can tell me how to live my life?” she exclaimed with such desperation in her voice that Adam expected her to stomp her foot. She didn’t. “Either you stop spying on me, or I shall leave the house you’re paying for and live on the streets if I have to.”

“No, we had a deal, and I shall not allow—”

Jo placed a hand on Gage’s arm and whispered something into his ear.

Adam raised both brows. He had never seen Gage go from angry to calm this quickly.

Gage covered his young wife’s hand with his and gave her a small, reassuring smile.

She truly had sway over him.

“If I may,” Adam finally stepped in, deeming it enough of a scolding. “I spoke to Miss Fowley in-depth about the danger she put herself in tonight, and she has promised that if she were to go anywhere without an escort, she would call upon me for assistance first.”

Gage looked at him strangely. “You can’t escort her to masquerades and balls without a chaperone.”

“I have no desire to break any rules, brother.” Miss Fowley looked at him with disappointment in her eyes, but Adam pretended not to notice. “I shall be careful. Besides, you can’t be the one looking over Miss Fowley. Enough scandal surrounds you already.”

It shouldn’t have surprised Adam how easily Gage gave in. After all, Gage was used to delegating all sorts of tasks to his younger sibling. “You’re right. You have time to deal with this.”

Adam gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything.

Gage turned toward Miss Fowley. “And you promise you won’t leave the house in the middle of the night without an escort? You’ll call on Adam or any of us for assistance?”

She gave a tiny nod. “And in turn, do you promise to call off your spies? Now that I know the servants have been spying on me, I shall find a way to test them.”

“Fine!” Gage grumbled. “How did it come to this? I am not the one who is breaking all the social norms here.”

Adam stepped closer to his brother and patted him on the shoulder. “How about we let Miss Fowley get inside before her aunt wakes up and hears all the hubbub? And we can talk about this later.”

“Finally, a sensible idea,” Jo said, bringing the ends of her cloak closer together.

“Miss Fowley.” Adam took her hand and bowed over it. “It was a pleasure.” And he was surprised to realize that he truly meant that.