Page 6 of A Rogues & Gentlemen Christmas

Once Chance had found his tongue again, he asked the obvious question. “So, what will you do now? I assume you’ve run away from your uncle for some reason, but you can’t stay here forever. The new tenants move in after Christmas… so I’m told… and, besides, it’s not the done thing. A woman alone? You’ll be ruined.”

Of course, she would be anyway if anyone discovered the two of them here together.

A glimmer of fear lit her eyes for a moment, but she blinked it away, her head going up and showing that edge of steel, of stubborn determination, that he was beginning to recognise.

“I am already ruined,” she said.

“Oh,” Chance replied, eyes widening.

“Bah! Non!”

She glared at him in outrage.

“I have been missing for two nights now. All alone… therefore I am ruined. Worthless,” she said with a bitter smile. “At least my uncle will have no further use for me. It is something.”

Fear glimmered briefly in her eyes, and Chance wasn’t so certain she meant that.

“But won’t he have kept it quiet? Perhaps no one knows,” he countered, hoping for her sake that it was true. He took in the quality of her pelisse and gown: exquisite, expensive. She was a lady from a good family, a valuable asset to sell on the marriage mart now that the cousin was no longer an option. Chance decided he hated her uncle for using her as a commodity. Why, he had no idea, for it was hardly an unusual arrangement, but… but to sell this woman who was all spirit and sharp edges to any old Tom, Dick, or Harry, just for financial or social gain…? He felt suddenly hot and moved away from the fire.

She considered his words. “He will certainly try, but we were staying with my uncle’s friends when I ran. They know, and I doubt they will be pleased with me. Perhaps they will be glad to see me ruined.”

“Some friends,” Chance said, outraged by the idea.

Odette sighed and wrapped her arms about herself. “Perhaps they will not. I am unfair. I do not know them at all. Perhaps they are not bad people. I do not know. I… I am just tired of doing what everyone tells me to do.”

Chance nodded, understanding that, but tried to lighten the mood. “Don’t ever join the army, Odette. You wouldn’t like it.”

It worked, and she laughed, a bright, merry sound that made him feel a little giddy with exhilaration. He wanted to make her laugh again, just to hear it. She shivered and Chance realised she was still standing by the door, still wary of him.

“Here, come and sit by the fire. You’re frozen.”

She stared at him, so Chance got up and moved away. There were no chairs, only the mattress on the floor, and Odette glanced at it dubiously, and then looked at Chance. He held out his hands.

“Word of honour. You’ve nothing to fear from me, I swear it on my mother’s life.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you like your mother?”

Chance spluttered a little but managed a reply. “Yes!”

Apparently mollified, she moved to the fire, and cast him a furtive glance before arranging herself decorously on the mattress. Chance dithered, uncertain of what to do until she tsked and waved a hand at him.

“You may sit,” she said, with the air of a queen commanding a lowly subject. “Over there.”

She pointed at the far end of the mattress and Chance complied, sitting cross-legged. He glanced up at the window, to where the snow was still falling.

“I don’t think I shall be able to leave today,” he said, sounding apologetic, though in truth he was relieved. He had no desire to quit the company of this intriguing, beautiful girl. Not yet. He wanted to know more about her. “When I do go, though, would you like me to escort you somewhere? Or… Or I could take you home with me. My father….”

He paused, a little terrified to consider his father’s reaction if he finally returned to meet his fiancée with a beautiful, unmarried French girl in tow. Oh, yes, that would go splendidly. Still, he could not simply abandon her. Despite her scepticism on the subject, he was a gentleman.

“Well, I’m sure my family would help you.”

She made a derisive sound. “Your family would see me returned to my uncle with all possible haste.”

Chance nodded, unable to deny it. “Probably, but what choice do you have?”

She shrugged again, such a hopeless gesture that Chance felt a weight settle in his chest. He wanted to help her, though he had no idea how.

“Do you have a… sweetheart?” he asked, wondering why his heart was skipping about so erratically. “Were you going to find him?”