and kicked backward furiously. For a moment she thought he meant to choke her, and she struggled with all the force in her slender body. Suddenly he stiffened and his grasp slackened.
âUnhand the lady,â came a perfectly level but totally chilling voice from somewhere behind her.
âNow, guvnorââ
She drove an elbow into her captorâs middle and spun around accusingly as he stepped back. âBlackguard! Miscreant! Toad!â
âRavisher?â that voice supplied, this time with the barest hint of amusement. âReally, my dear child, but what can one expect alone and untended on a city street at night?â
âI am not a child!â Juliana snapped. âAnd these menââ
âI am perfectly aware of what they were about, miss.â The voice had grown cold again. âDo you want me to kill them for you?â
âNow, guvnorânaughtâs âarmedâhit ainât! Oy wasnât ter âurt âer, Oy swear!â The fellow whoâd held Juliana backed away, his face a pasty yellow gray in the flickering light. âOy swear!â
The other man who had accosted her took the opportunity to run, and his footsteps faded rapidly into the mists. âCoward!â she shot after him before turning to her rescuer. âYou let him get away!â Then she saw the gleam of his rapier resting against the remaining offenderâs neck vein, and her eyes widened.
âWell?â
As angry and frightened as she was, Juliana still had no wish to see anybodyâs throat slit. âNoââshe shook her head decisivelyââlet the watch have him. Papa will â¦â Her voice trailed off as she realized that she dared not ever let her father know of it. Her eyes traveled from the fellow whoâd held her to the man behind him. âMuch as it distresses me,â she admitted, â âtwould be best if you just let him go.â
The blade made a brief swishing sound as it sliced through the air and into flesh. The fellow screeched and Juliana closed her eyes to keep from fainting. When she opened them cautiously, he was holding a gash closed on his cheek and blood was dripping between his fingers.
âA reminder merely that one does not accost females of Quality, no matter how stupid they may be,â the tall man bit off precisely as he sheathed the rapier. âCount yourself fortunate that she didnât ask for the ultimate penalty.â
âM-my thanks, sir,â she managed. âHad you not comeââ
âHad I not chanced by, your virtue would be extinct,â he finished baldly. âAs it is, how can you be sure that I am any better than those louts?â He gestured at the retreating figure of Julianaâs captor. âTell me, Miss Canfield, how is it that Sir Max allows you out unprotected?â
âYou know my name.â
âI heard you shout it to your most recent acquaintances,â he admitted.
âThen you have the advantage of me, sir,â she acknowledged stiffly.
âI am Rotherfield.â
Rotherfield. Juliana blinked and stared anew as she digested this startling revelation. The notorious Earl of Rotherfield. Even in the faint illumination of the street lantern, her shock must have been evident.
âAlas, yes,â he murmured as he executed a mocking bow. âMy shocking reputation precedes meâas always.â
âN-noânot precisely, that is. I mean, of course I have heard of you, my lord. But it doesnât signify to meâI daresay you cannot be all I have heard, after all. Ten to one, you are like my cousin Patrick, and half of it is untrue.â
âPatrick?â
âPatrick DanversâWestover. Heâs my cousin, you know, and heâs nothing like people think he is.â She caught the arrested expression in his black eyes. âWell, he isnât!â
âI am certain he is not.â His eyes met hers for