“You can release me now, sir,” she ordered, attempting to push him away, but his grip was firm.
“I wouldn’t want you to fall again,” he whispered into her ear. “You smell like the garden you’re standing in. Just delightful.”
“Sir! Your behavior is highly unacceptable. Release me at once!” she warned, raising her voice but to no avail.
“Perhaps we can introduce ourselves,” he suggested with a husky tone. “I am Major Cosmo Dawkes. And you are…”
Violet gave him another push but if anything, the major only tightened his grip around her waist. Considering Mrs. Dove-Lyon had escorted each candidate for her hand to the garden, Violet had a clear understanding that the major didn’t have the Black Widow of Whitehall’s endorsement. He had come here on his own, using the disturbance in the main gambling room as his opportunity to gain entrance without the guard standing at the entryway to block his way.
“I believe you are presuming much, sir, considering the lady of thisestablishment didn’t accompany you here,” she declared lifting her chin. The chuckle that came from him was anything but reassuring to her peace of mind.
“Why do I need Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s approval to meet a lovely woman when I can take matters into my own hands?” His hand gave her waist a squeeze. The major was obviously taking advantage of her situation in actively seeking a husband, and perhaps even appearing a bit desperate. Should he attack her, people might even say she received what she deserved because she was an unmarried lady, unchaperoned in a garden at a gambling hell.
“There are rules to be followed here at the Lyon’s Den, Major Dawkes. You should adhere to them unless Mrs. Dove-Lyon hasn’t approved of you,” she voiced, hoping she sounded as confident as she wanted to, all the while realizing she had failed miserably. The vile man wasn’t letting her go, and he leered as he tightened his grip on her waist.
A sharp laugh left him. “Never cared much for rules. I tend to break them,” he remarked with an amused smirk. “But now that you know my name, won’t you reveal yours?”
“No,” she answered firmly. “Now for the second time, please release me.” Before the major could answer, another male voice sounded from the entryway.
“Yes. By all means, release the lady, Dawkes. No woman should be manhandled by an unwanted suitor,” the gentleman voiced as he strode into the garden.
Violet was released so quickly she almost stumbled again but she regained her footing as she saw who had come to her rescue. When the gentleman came to stand in front of her, Violet’s heart began to flutter in her chest, her pulse quickened and inwardly she was overjoyed by whom she saw. She didn’t have time to make any sort of small talk because the handsome stranger gently took hold of her hand, kissing the air between her glove and his lips. A perfectly propergesture any gentleman might perform upon meeting a woman.
“My apologies for being tardy, my lady, but the commotion in the gambling room caused Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s delay in accompanying me. I hope you’ll forgive me,” the man said in the sweetest tone. In fact, the hum of his deep baritone voice sent a shiver of delight racing through her entire body. She certainly hadn’t had this kind of reaction with the major or any of the other gentlemen she had met today, which told her much.
She gave a nod of her head as though in approval. “Of course, I forgive you and completely understand why you are late for our meeting,” she replied sweetly. They both then turned toward the unwanted gentleman.
Then her rescuer—for indeed he was—took a step forward. “You can excuse yourself, Dawkes, since I had a previous appointment with the lady.” He folded his arms over his broad chest and lifted his brow over the eye that wasn’t covered by the patch. From the look that momentarily crossed the major’s features, he was none too pleased.
But there was nothing he could do without causing a scene that might possibly get him removed from the Lyon’s Den. So Major Dawkes gave a slight bow before quickly reaching out to grab Violet’s hand and placing a kiss on its back. “I hope we can continue our conversation soon, my lady, without further interruptions. For now, I will bid you farewell and will look forward to our next meeting,” he declared before he gave the man next to her a glare. “Captain.”
Captain?He was a captain? Is that how he’d gotten his scar, in the war with the French? It made sense, Violet supposed. With that, the major marched out of the garden leaving Violet with a sense of relief. She exhaled a shaking breath and turned to stare at the man who now gave her his full attention. “Thank you for interrupting an extremely awkward situation, captain,” she replied using the man’s rank, which she had learned from the major.
“Given my knowledge of Dawkes, I would advise you to refrainfrom further meetings. I won’t go into the ghastly details, since they wouldn’t be meant for a lady’s ears, but he can be… difficult,” he answered with a brief nod.
“Rest assured, I have no plans on seeing the major anytime again soon. Although I had no plans on seeing him tonight, either.” She frowned. “But I will be sure to avoid him.”
“That will ease my concern for your future safety,” he said and his voice seemed sincere. “Perhaps you would honor me by calling me by my first name, my lady.”
“Captain… I’m certain you are well aware that this would be highly unusual.”
He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Considering how I came to your rescue, I think we could bend the rules a bit, don’t you?” he teased with a soft smile on his lips that drew Violet to him like a moth to a flame.
She cleared her throat and her mind because that smile and those lips had momentarily taken her some place best left unexplored. “Perhaps… in time and when we are in a more suitable setting. Something more private,” she suggested but was alarmed at what he might think her words were an offer to become more—good heavens—intimate. “Oh! I didn’t mean—”
“No explanation is necessary, my lady, I am assuming you weren’t alluding to something untoward. As for privacy, I don’t think we’ll get another opportunity to be more alone than we are right now,” he replied with a wink before performing a proper bow. “But if you prefer to keep your name to yourself, I understand. Just call me ‘Captain’ and I shall call you… ‘Angel,’ because surely, you must be heaven sent.”
A light laugh escaped her at his compliment. She bent down into a curtsy before raising her brow in curiosity. “Tell me, Sir Knight,” she began, using a new name for him before continuing, “do you make it a habit of rescuing damsels in distress on a regular basis?”
His own chuckle echoed in the garden and he appeared pleased ather new name for him. “Considering I saw you enter here earlier in the evening, I must admit I was a bit jealous of those who you’ve met tonight.” He waved to the chairs and Violet moved toward them and sat while Gideon poured them each glasses of wine from the bottle on the table between the chairs.
“Jealous? But you don’t even know me,” she answered, a bit awestruck that he admitted to such an emotion when they had only just met.
He gave a slight shrug before he took a seat next to her. “Well, I’m meeting you now and we might not get such an opportunity again.”
“This is all very unusual for me,” Violet said taking a sip of her wine to calm her nerves. “I still don’t know why you would feel jealousy toward anyone I might be meeting.”
“I will confess I saw you last week alone on the upper gallery. You appeared a bit sad when the Lyon’s Den is usually a place to let your inhibitions go.” He held the glass of wine at its stem while staring at her with his one, uncovered, green eye. “The view is far more pleasing up close.”
