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“Can you trust her to do as instructed?” Graeme asked as he led Lady Sabrina back to retrieve her discarded garments.
“I hope so, or my goose is cooked. My father will go into hysterics if he finds out about this.”
“Sneaking out to meet strange men rarely meets with parental approval, oddly enough.”
She made an impatient sound. “There’s nothing strange about this gentleman. He’s perfectly respectable.”
“Not if he’s meeting young ladies at this time of day.”
“Nonsense. Couples stroll in Hyde Park all the time.”
Graeme snorted. “This early, and in the rain? Try again, lass.”
“Iwaschaperoned, you know.”
“Aye. Hannah seems quite the dependable sort.”
Lady Sabrina muttered something under her breath while he bent down and quickly wrapped her cloak and bonnet into a neat bundle, after stashing his knuckledusters inside his waistcoat.
“Do you find you need those on a regular basis?” she politely asked.
“Only when I’m attending balls in Mayfair. Those affairs are cutthroat.”
That elicited a reluctant smile. “After today, I’m thinking of getting a pair myself. Perhaps you might give me advice in that regard.”
“They generally don’t come in ladies’ sizes.”
She swiped a lock of bedraggled hair out of her eyes. Lady Sabrina had quite a lot of hair, thick and wavy, it seemed. Graeme suspected it would glow like the palest of wheat under a summer sun when dry.
“Ladies could use them, and more often than you think,” she said in a serious tone.
Graeme had no doubt of that. Several of the women in his family had been forced to protect themselves under fairly dire circumstances.
He took her elbow to encourage her to pick up the pace. Now that the rain had eased off, traffic would soon pick up. In fact, someone had turned into the footpath and was trotting—
Tommy.
“Finally,” he muttered.
“Someone you know?”
“Aye, he’s a good lad. He works with me.”
She shot him a curious look. “Mr. Kendrick, what exactly do you do? Besides rescuing damsels in distress.”
“That’s actually one of my prescribed duties.”
Graeme was spared what was obviously going to be a tart reply when Tommy rushed up.
“Everything all right, guv? Is miss hurt?”
“We’re fine,” he replied. “Have any luck?”
Tommy’s mouth twisted sideways. “Caught up with the blighter on Curzon Street, but he gave me the slip past Regent.”
Dammit to hell.
“You can show me exactly where you lost him, later. I might get some ideas from that.”
