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“So, where are you going?” he asked, as if she just hadn’t rudely dismissed him. “To meet a secret lover, perhaps?”
Samantha’s jaw sagged for a moment.
Of all the nerve.
“Of course I’m not, you idiot. I have a meeting in Old Town—”
She clamped her lips shut. Blast the man for tripping her up so easily.
He watched her fume for a few seconds, but then slowly took a few steps closer, as if she were a skittish foal about to bolt.
“Lady Samantha, there is no need to engage in this charade,” he quietly said. “I mean you no harm, but I cannot allow you to put yourself in the way of danger.”
“Oh, that’s rich,” she retorted. “If not for me, you’d be lying dead in a back lane of Old Town right now. Or, you would have been. Lying dead, I mean. In Old Town.”
Oh, my God.The man was truly scrambling her brain.
She flapped a hand. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. And I am both grateful and in admiration of your skills. Then again, you were not alone that night. Does Donny know that you’ve snuck out?”
“I don’t sneak,” she replied, avoiding the question.
“Certainly looks like you were sneaking.”
“Not very effectively,” she grumbled. “Although you, sir, are a bloody ghost. I didn’t even notice you standing there.”
Annoyed with the ridiculous conversation and worried that she might miss her meeting, she spun on her heel and stalked off down the street. As she fully expected, Kendrick quickly fell into step beside her.
“So, Old Town it is?”
“Yes.”
“No chance I can talk you out of it?”
“No, and I must say that your company is not needed, Dr. Kendrick. I am well able to take care of myself.”
“As I am acutely aware. Bathsheba, however, would have my head if I allowed you to go into the stews without an escort.”
Samantha blew out a disgusted breath. “I knew it. How much did she tell you?”
“Enough to know that you likely would be out tonight, even without Donny to serve as your watchdog.”
She threw him a glancing scowl. “He’s much more than that.”
“Yes, I know. He’s your friend.”
His tone was so kind, so . . . understanding, that it made her throat unaccountably tight. She needed half a block to regroup and organize the questions rattling around in her skull.
“How long have you been watching my house?” she asked as they turned into Princes Street.
“For the last three nights. And don’t worry. Only Bathsheba knows.”
Something inside her staggered with relief. Still, the danger to herself and to Felicity was acute, especially if Lord Beath ever got wind of her activities. As tempting as it might be, she couldn’t allow herself to trust Kendrick.
Not yet, anyway.
“All night?” she asked.
