Page 46 of Seduced By a Scoundrel

“I know a great many people.” Sybil smiled back, just as dazzling, only hers was the dazzle of a sharpened knife, not a paste jewel.

“I see.” He took Sophie’s hand. “Miss Montgomery, I have taken too much of your time.” She blushed. He turned to Sybil, who met his eyes squarely, without a word. “Erm. Miss Taunton.”

They watched him hurry through the snow. Sophie bounced on her toes once. “Isn’t he too handsome?”

“He is very pretty. He is a bit older than you.”

“He is only twenty-four.”

“I see. Why is he not courting a debutante?”

“He says they are dull as ditchwater. He says I am not like the other girls.”

“Does he now.”

Sophie grimaced. “Oh, not that tone.”

“Tone?”

“‘Sophie, you’re too young. Sophie, you’re too reckless.’ The Keir tone. I thought you different.”

Sybil raised an eyebrow. “I am different, Sophie. Which is why I will tell you I do not begrudge you a flirtation.”

“You… don’t?”

“But I will also point out that being like other girls should not be an insult.”

“Oh.” Sophie frowned. “I suppose not.”

“And I will add that if you choose to sneak about without your chaperone and with a man that your brother has not vetted, then you must be far more clever than you are being at present.”

Sophie blinked at her. “You are never sharp with me.”

“This is important.”

“It was only a kiss.” She wrinkled her nose. “Or three.”

“Kisses are lovely and do not concern me.”

“They don’t?” She clearly was not expecting that response.

“No, as I said, what concerns me is you.”

“My reputation.”

“Certainly. Reputations are a tiresome thing, but they are one of the very few weapons we have. Usually, they are turned against us, but if we are very clever, we can wield them for ourselves.”

Sophie had stopped staring after Mr. Pelham. “This is not the kind of lecture my governess ever gave me.”

“I expect not, so listen to me carefully, if you please.” Sybil really ought to start a finishing school of her own, for girls on the cusp of becoming debutantes. To teach them the important things. Investigation. Subterfuge. How to use a sharp bonnet pin to discourage unwanted advances.

“Did you see his boots?” Sybil asked even though she knew perfectly well that Sophie had paid no attention whatsoever to his boots.

“What of them?”

“They are far better quality than his hat. That is because hats are flashy. It is a simple thing to steal one or buy one cheaply from a valet replacing his master’s wardrobe. Even a good theater company can make a hat passable for a stroll through Mayfair. But Hessian boots are terribly expensive. And they make you look expensive, especially if you are a fortune hunter who has been cut off but are still pretending to be flush.”

“You can’t know that from a hat and a pair of boots.”