“Damn it, you must know you can’t be here.”
“Oh yes! What a scandal for a young woman to be alone in a room full of people. Do you know how tired I am of being tied down by these petty rules? I often wonder what good we might do in the world if we forgot all about them and concentrated onrealproblems.”
Warrick flicked a derisive glance down at her dinner jacket. “I see. You’re out at a masquerade and dressed as a man for the benefit of mankind?”
Oh dear. She’d rather walked into that one, but Charlotte knew how to recover.
“It does feel odd to wear breeches.” She kicked out a leg to bring his attention to it. “They cling so, you see.”
Warrick flicked his eyes down briefly and up again, his cheeks suspiciously dark. “Christ, you have so much andthisis what you do with it? Are you here trying to ruin your reputation, or are you so damned frivolous that you simply don’t care?”
Charlotte’s face flamed. She knew what her detractors said about her—too rich, too spoiled, altogether too pleased with herself. Normally when confronted with these opinions, she found it best to nod in sympathy and say, “Too true!”
But Warrick had a way of crumbling the mortar in her castle wall defenses. A strange bolt of longing shot through her, and Charlotte found herself wondering how it would feel to stop fighting him, or to count him as a friend, as she once had.
What an impossible idea.
He shifted uncomfortably beside her. “I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean… That was uncalled for.”
Charlotte managed a laugh. “Please. We’ll be here for hours if you intend to apologizeeverytime you say something rude. In any case, I was much too distracted by the sultana’s necklace to pay you much attention. Pink diamonds! Wouldn’t they look well on me?”
Warrick pushed himself off the pillar. “That’s it. You’re heading home immediately.”
Charlotte considered.
She’d already intended to leave, and Warrick was more than capable of frog-marching her out or even tossing her over his shoulder, and yet it galled her too badly to obey such a man. Was there a third option?
The crowd provided one, parting behind Warrick to reveal a pair of flaring nostrils and cherub cheeks.You’re dead!Marby mouthed at Charlotte as he struggled to push his way past a pair of chatty Hungarians.
Sparks lit in Charlotte’s head.
Yes! That’s it. Come get me, Marby.
“You have three seconds to start walking,” said Warrick.
“A countdown!” said Charlotte. “What a waste you were in the military, when you were born to be a governess. Shall we tick off the numbers together?”
Warrick’s eyes darkened, as she knew they would.
“One,” Charlotte said, to make sure Warrick’s attention was on her and not on Marby, who had cleared the Hungarians and was now trying to make his way around a drunken baroness.
“Two.”
Marby executed a rather clumsy twirl, but he edged closer.
“Three!” said Charlotte, and she stepped neatly to the side.
Warrick reached for her at the same time Marby lunged, and the two men collided, with Marby barking out a series of startled yips.
A perfect exit.
Charlotte smiled sweetly and melted into the crowd. It was past time to head home. Outside the wide French doors, the sky was fading from black to smudgy gray, and—
A hand closed around her wrist, heavy as a manacle.
“For God’s sake, Warrick! I’m leaving al—”
But the words died on her lips, because the sweaty face leering down at her made her heart kick with fear.
