Rumours that Ruined a Lady. Marguerite Kaye

brushing against his leg. It was sheer chance which had brought them together tonight, for they moved in very different circles. Four years since their last meeting, and most likely there would be the same before their next. ‘You may be jesting, but I am in earnest. I would very much like to visit this Crockford’s,’ she said impulsively. ‘It would make Cressie so happy.’

      ‘You are being ridiculous.’

      ‘It is surely not entirely without precedent for ladies to frequent such establishments, wearing either masks or veils. I may indeed be fleeced, if Cressie’s theory is wrong, but I am unlikely to be ravished.’

      ‘Caro, you can’t mean it.’

      She didn’t, yet part of her did. There was a strange pleasure to be had in challenging him, just to watch his reaction, but there was too the fact that she would be flaunting the rules just a little. Besides, she would also be helping her sister. ‘I could go disguised as a man, if you thought it would be safer that way,’ she said hopefully.

      ‘Good grief, no, you would fool no one.’

      ‘Truly? I am so thin, I would have thought...’

      ‘Caro.’ They were at the corner of Cavendish Square, yards away from her father’s house. Sebastian pulled her into the shadow of the corner building, away from the lamplight, and pushed her veil up from her face. ‘It is true, you are slim enough to slip through rain, but believe me, there is nothing in the least bit boyish about you.’

      He held her lightly, his hands on her arms. Not quite an intimate embrace, not quite wholly respectable either. ‘Why don’t you escort me there, since you are so concerned for my well-being?’

      ‘Are you out of your mind!’

      ‘With you as my protector I would surely be safe, and...’

      ‘Caroline! Enough of this nonsense, you have gone too far.’

      She studied him carefully. His mouth was set in a firm line, his expression stern. ‘My apologies. I see now that I would be placing you in a most uncomfortable position, which is unfair of me.’

      ‘Dammit, it’s not about me. I have no reputation worthy of losing.’

      ‘That’s not true.’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘It strikes me that you have put an enormous amount of effort into building just such a reputation.’

      ‘It strikes me that you are doing a very poor job of winning me over.’

      ‘I can see you are resolved not to assist me, and so I will make my own arrangements.’

      His hands tightened on her arms. He pulled her the tiniest bit closer. She could feel his breath on her face. Her heart hammered in her breast. She was hot. Her stomach was churning. She felt as if she were hovering on the edge of a cliff, that giddy temptation to leap into the void almost overwhelming.

      ‘You would not dare,’ he said.

      No, she would not, but nor would she back down now. ‘Did I falter when faced with the challenge of riding your unbroken horse?’ Caro asked.

      Sebastian swore under his breath. ‘You would, wouldn’t you? No, don’t answer that.’

      ‘So take me then, Lord Chivalrous, it is surely your duty to do so. Your father would certainly expect it of you, to protect his neighbour’s daughter.’

      Sebastian’s smile turned immediately to a frown. ‘I could easily inform your father of tonight’s events and this discussion, but you will note that I do not threaten any such thing, even though it is what any responsible man would do.’

      The sudden change in his demeanour shocked her. She had quite forgotten what he had said of his relationship with his father, having dismissed it as a mere passing quarrel, but things had obviously not improved. ‘I beg your pardon, I meant only to tease.’

      ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he replied, though she could see that it patently did. ‘Caroline, you cannot—must not—go to Crockford’s alone.’

      She refrained from making any further comment, aware that she had come very close to overstepping the mark. Her heart thudded as she watched him wrestling with his conscience. Her own was beginning to bother her. It was unfair of her. And wrong. But she had come too far to back down now.

      She was eventually rewarded with a weary nod. ‘Very well,’ Sebastian said, ‘you leave me with no option, Crockford’s it is. But I earnestly hope we do not live to regret this rash decision.’