she rose once again to her feet, this time with impeccable dignity. “Since you followed me and are well aware of my home and family, you’ll understand that I must return tonight. I had hoped that tonight… Well, it wasn’t to be. I will go home and give my father no more reason for concern. I can find my own way, but would be grateful if you would have your man escort me.”
“I’ll see to it,” he assured her.
“Thank you.”
“Perhaps…” he began, then paused, for he wondered why he was willing to go to any trouble to see that this urchin met the object of her ridiculous desire.
He inhaled and exhaled. “Perhaps there is still something that I can do.”
“You don’t know my father, sir.” Her shoulders squared. “Though he possesses great talent, he…well, we are usually behind in our rent. Oh, he is a good parent, but…he loves the sea, and so we keep something of an excuse for a boat. He does wondrous oils, but he sells those for almost nothing and makes a living doing portraits. More often than not, he finds an old woman sitting on a step to be intriguing and…well, those works simply haven’t sold. Still, he is fiercely proud, and he will allow for no reward. As perhaps you’re aware, his family was a good one, and as a strong believer in education, he saw to it that my sister and I were schooled. But he will not allow me out tomorrow morning, for he believes that it is a disgrace to reward someone for saving a life, since human life is precious, not something to be bought or sold.”
Hunter was again moved in a way that made him long to touch her. He shrugged instead. In her simple pride and honesty, she had a rare appeal.
“Still…well, we shall see.”
A flush rose to her cheeks. And hope flickered in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said, and the words sounded sincere. Then a rueful smile curled her lips. “Why are you being so kind?”
He nodded gravely. “Perhaps I am doing you no favor,” he said.
“But you are.”
“Icarus wanted to fly…and the sun melted his wings,” he reminded her. “It’s a hard crash back to earth,” he said.
“I do not intend to crash land,” she assured him.
He kept staring at her as he reached for the bell at the side of the table and rang it lightly. A moment later, Ethan was there. “This young woman needs a ride home, my friend.”
“Yes, Sir Hunter,” Ethan said, his expression impassive.
“Thank you very much,” Kat said to Ethan, then she turned back to Hunter. “Good night, Sir Hunter.” Her smile deepened, became soft, tender and whimsical. “And whatever may come, thank you. Truly. From the bottom of my heart.”
She turned and moved gracefully from the room, and he felt his breath catch.
Ethan stared at Hunter, waiting. Hunter gave a nod and Ethan disappeared after the girl.
Hunter’s every muscle seemed to twitch and burn.
Insane!
He rose, took a small cigar from the cedar-lined box on the mantel, and lit it.
Good Lord, he was Hunter MacDonald, not some besotted young twit.
He lit the cigar and paced the room. Let it go, he told himself. She would be safely back with her family. There was no need for her to see with her own eyes that what she craved would never be. And yet…
She appealed to him on such a strange level! In many ways, she seemed so naive, and in many other ways, she was as clever as a fox. When she meant no seduction or sensuality, her eyes spoke otherwise.
And, he reminded himself ruefully, she found him so…well, so nothing!
He grinned at the fire, shaking his head, and he knew what had so intrigued him. She was a lot like him. An adventurer, willing to take chances, centered on a quest. She was fresh and bright and so different from any other woman he knew.
And so…
He realized that he was now the one plotting.
He glanced at the clock, ticking away in the corner. The hour was growing late. Still, he strode through the house, anxious to saddle Alexander and ride out into the night.
No help for the hour.
Lord Avery would have to understand. And he would. He was a good fellow.
ETHAN HAD NO DIFFICULTY understanding that Kat was sneaking back into her own home. “I shall be watching for your safety, miss, and that is all.”
She smiled at him from the street. “Thank you. But I’m afraid your carriage will be quite evident here, in this street.”
He nodded somberly. “Then, miss, you should hurry.” He nodded his head toward the east. “It wasn’t so long ago that Jack the Ripper was at work, and his haunts are not so terribly far from here, and Lord knows, they never did catch that bloke, not that anyone will admit, so…please get on in, miss. I’ll not be leaving until you do so.”
“Thank you again, Ethan!” she said, and waving, hurried around to the side of the house and the trellis she could climb to her upstairs room. As she did so, she feared that she would emerge through her window into her room to find her father waiting in fury.
She crawled through the window into the darkened room and then nearly screamed as a form rose from the bed.
“Kat!”
“Eliza!”
Kat grasped her throat, then exhaled in a rush. Her heart was beating loudly enough to wake the dead, she thought. It slowed as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Eliza was sitting up now, staring at her, wide-eyed, excited and full of questions.
“Did you see him? Lord Avery?” she demanded.
Kat shook her head, sitting on the bed next to her sister. “I’m afraid not. The day’s excitement was far too much for him.” She sighed deeply and hopelessly. “At least I wasn’t discovered sneaking out of the house. And as for Lord Avery—and David—I would have met them both tomorrow.”
“Where have you been, then?”
“Oh. Sir Hunter had a meal laid out,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
“Sir Hunter! You had a private dinner with the fellow? A tête-a-tête?”
“No! I ate, and that is all. It was…I suppose…a lovely meal. His housekeeper enjoys cooking.”
Eliza climbed off the bed and danced elegantly around the room. “A private dinner—with Sir Hunter MacDonald!”
“There was nothing all that private about it!” Kat protested.
“But…well, the man is exceptionally fine looking!”
“He is?”
Eliza paused, staring at her. “Are you daft, Kat? I’ve seen the sketches of him—and the photographs that have been in the journals. Furthermore, he is…pure legend! On the queen’s business in India! Cruising down the Nile, joining up with his old military friends on some great excursion! Sailing in one race or another and taking the cup! Oh, Kat!”
“Eliza, stop! Oh, he’s been quite decent, it’s just that I had to listen to his housekeeper rave on and on about him all day, and…don’t you see? In my heart, my mind, David is the perfect man,” Kat said. She looked woefully at her sister. “And now I never will meet him properly. Unless I can think of…something.” Her expression changed. “Papa really has no idea that I slipped out of the house?”
“None,” Eliza said a little sharply.
“What’s wrong?”
Eliza wrinkled her nose. “Lady