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Grace smiled sweetly. “Well, we are fortunate I brought some.” She reached into her reticule and pulled out a small slice of bread. Surprise widened his eyes and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but then he closed it and watched her.
She broke the slice into smaller pieces and tossed them in the water. The ducks rushed to eat, and the scene quickly turned turbulent because they splashed them with water. Devlin hopped back, but Grace remained where she was, giggling and shielding herself with her arms. She found herself enjoying this moment, and when the feeding frenzy was through, she looked up at him.
“Was that not jolly?”
“I would not call it that because your dress is now damp.” The desire in his eyes was apparent as he looked down at her.
“Oh.” She straightened and smoothed her skirts. “It will dry soon.”
“Shall we continue?” He held his arm to her again. “Your ducks seem to have abandoned you because you have nothing more to give them.”
Grace glanced at the water to see them swimming away. She took his arm, thinking of what she would do next. “Why did you not correct me when I assumed you were a scoundrel pretending to be a gentleman?” she asked, as they walked, her curiosity gaining strength.
“You appeared to have already formed an opinion about me, and you might not truly have believed me if I told you who I was,” he replied.
“You are wrong. The circumstances of our meeting were unique, and I would have believed you.” He looked down at her as though he was surprised, and she added, “I stayed when I could have left. What does that tell you?”
“That you are more curious than you ought to be, and are drawn to danger.” He smirked.
“Why settle for the ordinary when we can live on a precipice?”
His eyes flared at that, and his pace slowed. Grace inhaled sharply when his gaze found her lips, then made a slow descent to her bosom. He appeared to approve of what he saw because he smiled wickedly. “I am not the only one with a mystery. You did not tell me you were American.”
“I am not in the habit of telling strangers that. I always want to have the advantage of mystery.”
“This advantage and your dislike of the ordinary, are they the reason you are unmarried?” Their pace might be slow but they were walking toward a wooded area east of the park. Grace wanted the shadow the trees would provide.
She replied not as she typically would but with Melanie in mind. “I do not have to tell you why I am unmarried, My Lord. I came here on my father’s insistence. I have no desire to be courted by you.”
“I had no desire to court you until I saw the lovely surprise before me. Now I might reconsider.” His gaze was on her lips as he spoke, and Grace felt the urge to wrap her arms around his neck and draw his mouth down to hers.
“You would not,” she said instead of giving into her impulses.
“Do you tell every suitor that you have no wish to be courted or are you telling only me?”
“I tell every man I do not consider a match.” She avoided his gaze and instead looked straight ahead.
Devlin stopped and turned her to face him. They were standing beneath a tree now and surrounded by several others. It was a fairly secluded place, and Grace was assiduously trying to hide her delight. “Why do you suppose we do not match, Melanie?”
“Melanie?” She blinked, making to correct him when she realized that her character was slipping. She also discovered that everything she had done to make him dislike her had been ineffective.
He frowned and regarded her dubiously. “That is your name, is it not?”
“Of course, but I was not expecting you to use my Christian name,” she said, recovering quickly. These were the sort of moments when she was very grateful for her quick wit. “I do not recall giving you leave to address me by it.”
He chuckled. “I thought we had an understanding when I gave you my first name.” Taking her hand, he slowly began to tug her glove loose. “And I believe you granted me permission when you allowed me to kiss you.” Every inch of her skin that he revealed as he slipped her glove off was graced with a soft caress with his thumb.
“You did not know my name then.” She wanted to close her eyes and let her senses revel in his touch.
“I did not have to.” Devlin leaned close to her. “Would you like me to remind you of how well we match?”
“No,” she replied quickly, withdrawing her hand because resisting him was becoming more difficult. “I remember quite well, and we most certainly do not match. Besides, two years have passed, and a lot has changed.”
“Pray, what has changed?”
Grace leaped on this opportunity. “You are not the only man who touched me.” No gentleman, titled or otherwise would have a fallen woman unless he was the one who ruined her, and either her brother or father pointed a pistol at him.
His expression did not change for several moments, then he laughed. “You would not tell me that if it were true.”
