Free Knaves' Wager by Loretta Chase Page A

contagious?"
    "I freely admit I ought to have kept a closer watch on him," she said frigidly, "but that is hardly to the point. The fact is, I owe you — "
    "Davenant owed me. You do not."
    "I will not accept your charity, my lord."
    He studied the top of her head. "Now I wonder why not," be said meditatively. "It cannot be a greater blow to your pride than accepting Bexley. That decision carries a lifetime of consequences."
    Without heeding her gasp of outrage, he went on. "Not that I blame you. Women have so few economic alternatives. Still, I cannot but wonder at your choice."
    "How dare you," she said, her voice choked. "You have no right to refer to matters — to personal matters — or to speak slightingly of a worthy gentleman."
    "I did not say Bexley was unworthy. I was referring to his hairline, which is receding at an alarming rate. I can only hope your offspring will not suffer premature baldness," he said charitably.
    "I find your conversation in the worst possible taste, my lord."
    "I beg your pardon. Perhaps baldness does not distress you. I have noted your preference for a coiffure designed, apparently, to pull your hair out slowly by the roots," he said, his eyes once more upon the tight coil of dark auburn braid. "I cannot look at your head without wincing in sympathy — which is a great pity, because I have very recently acquired a partiality for redheads."
    Lilith decided not to dignify this with a reply. She turned her gaze to the window, and immediately discovered, with a return of alarm, that they were circling the darkest square of London.
    "This is Berkeley Square," she said, forcing her voice to be steady. "Is your coachman drunk as well?
    "No, he has infallible instincts, which have apparently informed him of my wish to kiss you. Naturally, the locale must be poorly lit. I realise you are shy, Mrs. Davenant."
    S
    She had her hand on the door handle before he'd finished speaking.
    "Ah, you wish to alight," he said calmly.
    The coachman, to Lilith's confusion, was ordered to halt. To her further confusion, the marquess assisted her in disembarking, and in the next minute, his carriage was clattering away, leaving her alone, on foot, with its owner.
    He offered a bland smile, took possession of her arm, and proceeded to stroll in the most leisurely way down the street with her.
    Lilith's wish to escape the carriage had been reflexive, and for perhaps two whole minutes she had actually believed she would walk home. Now, in the shadowy square, reason returned. A lady did not walk anywhere without escort, and most certainly not at night.
    "You see what comes of permitting me to provoke you," he said, voicing her thoughts. "Though how you could have helped it, I cannot imagine, considering the pains I took."
    "You upset me deliberately," she said, half disbelieving, half accusing.
    "Yes, I hoped you would fly at me and do me some violence. But you are far too well bred for that. Your composure is extraordinary. What a dragon of a governess you must have had."
    "She wasn't — " She paused and looked at him, but there was too little light. She could read nothing in the arrogant profile. "Why did you wish to provoke me?"
    "Because I find it disconcerting to converse with a stone monument. You do it very well, I admit. One is tempted to hold a glass to your lips to ascertain whether respiration has ceased."
    She was both angry and frightened, and his remarks could not be construed as complimentary. All the same, the long-suffering note in his voice made her want to laugh.
    "Stones do not scold," she said, moving on again.
    "That is the trouble, virtually the only words I can prise from you are scolding ones, yet I know you can converse quite amiably. Your suggestions to Lord Velgrace regarding the draining of his fields, for instance." He glanced at her baffled countenance. "My hearing is very acute — despite my illness."
    "If you wanted my views on agriculture, you had only to ask."
    "Had I? I think not.