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“You were nearly undetectable before that stream of inventive blasphemy.” Drew couldn’t help chuckling again.
“I’m glad you think it’s so hilarious.”
Drew laughed harder. “Where on earth did you learn to curse like that?”
“My Uncle Malcolm has some unsavory friends, including several former sea captains.”
“Miss Penny, you amaze me.” He hadn’t had a moment of peace since he laid eyes on her at the ball. He’d been too busy being charmed and disarmed.
It was past time for her to be safely home and out of arm’s reach.
She shivered and he resisted the urge to slip his arm around her slender shoulders and tuck her against him. She made him feel far too protective.
He offered her his arm. “Everyone’s asleep and we’re nearly there.”
She glanced up and down the street. “I suppose it’s all right. I’ll melt into the shadows if we see any sign of life.”
He snorted. “How did that work for you the last time?”
She glared at him. “That dog came out of nowhere, I tell you.”
She’d gotten her wish. She’d made him laugh. He had a rich, bass laugh that vibrated in the air, tickling her throat with the desire to join in.
She smiled. “Perhaps I should work on the whole melting-into-the-shadows bit.”
“You could never melt into the shadows, MissPenny. You’re a scene stealer. A wave maker. A hurricane. A thief of hearts.”
Thief of hearts? She kept her lips in a half smile but her heart broke into a grin.
Perhaps the cold-hearted Duke of Thorndon was not so inured to fanciful imaginings as he supposed himself to be. She’d glimpsed another side of him tonight.
The passionate, poetic side.
Silly girl. That was only because he’d been hit on the head. Not because you drove him to it with your beauty and wit. More like your bumbling and wantonness.
What she’d seen tonight, what they’d done, the entire unforgettable night—it was as though she were truly living for the first time. This washer. The new Mina.
Fearless and free. Wanton and wild.
No boundaries. No more prisons. Her uncle couldn’t control her anymore—no one could.
Thorndon slowed his stride to match hers. Gracious, his legs were long. And his biceps solid. Their linked arms symbolized their new alliance. They were united in the common cause of finding Lord Rafe. If her suspicions were correct, Lord Rafe could be pursuing Le Triton.
Her heart skipped a beat thinking about this new information. If she could help Lord Rafe apprehend Le Triton, she would not only have revenge for the death of her parents, she would be able to prove her skills and usefulness to Sir Malcolm. He wouldn’t be able to stop her from becoming an agent after such a triumph.
“We’re nearly to my house, Your Grace,” she said. “I’ll go ’round the back and enter that way.”
He released her arm. “Then I will stop here, Miss Penny.”
“Until tomorrow, Your Grace,” she whispered.
His face was shadowed but his eyes glinted with amber, like a glass of brandy held before a fire. “Light a lamp in your room so I know you’ve arrived safely. I’ll be watching until I see your light.”
His words sparked warmth in her heart. She wasn’t alone. They would do this together.
For some reason his concern for her safety didn’t feel like a restriction—it was sweet. It meant he... no, he didn’t care. He only saw her as a responsibility, one he was well rid of and hadn’t wanted in the first place.
He probably didn’t feel any of this earth-shaking attraction.
