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“Because I’m no’ a fencer,” he said, smiling easily. “In that particular lesson, my father was teaching me to feint, but he was no’ very skilled, and cut me, right here,” he said. He pointed to his face, turning his head slightly. She could just make out the scar that ran from his cheek and into his sideburns. “I have no’ picked up an épée since. Canna go near them.”
How intriguing. She’d never known any man to admit a weakness, with the exception of her father, and his weakness—consumption—was there for everyone to see. Moreover, she’d never known a man who ever tried to help her feel better about things. She appreciated his effort more than he knew. Blast it, she was blushing again. “I will have a care not to issue a challenge to you, then.”
“That would be most kind.” He smiled softly.
That smile again! It made her feel...a bit slushy. “May I ask you something?”
“Anything, aye.”
“Why don’t you care for Lady Ellen?”
He laughed a little.
“She couldn’t take her eyes from you! She’s quite pretty. Why don’t you like her?”
“Who said I didna like her?”
“You scarcely looked at her.” She suddenly thought of something and sat up. “You were being coy!”
“I am incapable of being coy,” he scoffed. “I never looked at her because I was looking at someone else. Someone far more attractive in my eyes.”
Justine’s eyes widened. “Lady Constance.”
“No’ Lady Constance.” He looked pointedly at her.
Justine felt a stirring in her chest as the blood rose in her cheeks again. That light-headed feeling one had when they suspected they were about to be surprised. “NotAmelia—”
“Och, no, no’ Amelia.You, Justine.”
She was taken aback. “Me?”
“Aye, you. Your beauty has no’ gone unnoticed by me.”
“My...” What was happening in this moment? Why was he paying her this compliment? It seemed all wrong. Amelia was the comely one and she was the studious one. She rubbed her neck and tried to think of what to say. “I’m...surprised.”
Now he looked baffled. “Why? I’m a man and I appreciate a fine female form and a lovelier face.” He shrugged. “’Tis no’ my fault that you have an outrageously tempting mouth.”
Justine gaped at him. She wanted to laugh at him. She wanted to say something pithy and clever and flirty. But she could never think of those things to say. “Are you attempting to ingratiate yourself to me?”
He snorted. “If I meant to ingratiate myself, I’d be a damn sight better at it than this. I am merely telling you what I see, and it’s the truth.Sutherland,now there is a man to ingratiate himself. And Rotham.” He nudged her foot with his again. “Go on.”
“What?”
“Go on, then, admit I was right.”
“Is that so important to you, really?”
“Aye,” he said, grinning. “Very.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. You were right, William. But you really don’t need to tell me things that are painfully obvious. I can see these things with my own eyes.”
William suddenly surged forward, planting his hands on either side of her skirt and pinning her to the squabs. “Would you like to know what I think, Justine Ivanosen?”
“No, I would not! But you are obviously desperate to tell me, so go on, then.”
“I think you like my company. I think you like it very much.”
She was not prepared to admit that to herself, much less to him. She gave him a lopsided smile and leaned forward, too, so close that she could see the bits of blue and green floating in all the gray of his eyes. “You know whatIthink? I think you are very much in love with yourself.”
