Page 3 of Redemption of a Marquess

Valan looked at her and raised a questioning brow. “That is a gentleman’s pin, if I am not mistaken.”

Her mouth thinned in a mutinous line.

“Shall I call Viscount Hesston back and ask if he has lost a diamond pin?” he asked.

Her eyes widened. “Nae. D-do not do that. Please.”

Valan lifted the pin from her palm then released her. “I assume, then, the good viscount did not give this to you as a token of his, er, undying love?”

“Undying love?” she scoffed. “That man loves only himself.”

He repressed a smile. “Forgive me, but I am curious as to how you came to be in possession of his pin. It’s unlikely he removed it in order to disrobe. Removal of his cravat would not be necessary to—”

“He did not give it to me,” she cut in.

“Then you slipped it from his cravat when he kissed you?”

She lifted her chin. “Ladies do not allow strange men to kiss them.”

“How wonderful to know you recognize some conduct befitting a lady. I suggest you remember that when next a man asks you to accompany him to an alcove.”

She dropped her gaze. Ah, he had her. She slanted a look up at him through her lashes and it was easy to see why she had captured Hesston’s attention. Her innocence was a lure few men could resist. She extended a hand toward him and stepped forward. Then tripped. She cried out and collided with him. His lapel tugged downward when she grabbed him and Valan caught her.

He set her at arm’s length. “That is the second time this evening you have landed in my arms.” He tugged his cravat back into place, then felt the knot in an effort to assess the damage. “Perhaps we should be formally introduced before a third encounter?” Valan paused, then felt along the length of the cravat. His pin— He lowered his hands to his sides and leveled an assessing gaze on her. “My pin, please.”

Her eyes sparkled as she opened her left hand. His ruby pin lay on her palm.

Valan took the pin. “It is not often I am shocked, but you have managed to shock me.”

The laughter in her eyes vanished and her back went ramrod straight. “A gentleman would give me a head start.”

He paused while slipping both pins into the front pocket of his coat. “A head start?”

“Before ye call Bow Street.”

A corner of his mouth twitched again, harder. He removed his hand from his pocket. “You are safe, my child. I do not set Bow Street on the scent of young ladies.”

She studied him as if uncertain, then her expression cleared, and she flashed a brilliant smile. “You are kind—despite the austere face.” Before he could reply, she added, “Admit it, once you discovered the pin missing, you would have assumed you lost it by accident and would no’ have suspected me—just as that evil viscount will not.”

“Fortune favors you on that score,” Valan said. “Hesston would not hesitate to have you arrested—if, that is, you failed to comply with his demands.”

She frowned. “Demands? Oh, you mean, he would make me his mistress.”

“Nothing so elevated as that, but never mind. Dare I ask how you came to have this, er, talent?”

She shrugged, but a steel determination underlay the nonchalance. “A woman develops skills necessary to survive.”

“Aye,” he agreed. “Women are very adept at surviving. I take it, then, you need the money.”

She frowned. “I do not steal for money. Well, not for myself. By-the-by, please return my pin.”

He lifted a brow. “Your pin?”

“It certainly isn’t yours,” she said.

“Neither is it yours,” he said.

“Finders keepers.”