Luck Is No Lady(3)

She understood his intention was to quiet her, but Emma had never been touched in such an intimate manner and the result of his actions had quite the opposite effect.

Unsettling sensations flared across her skin, and her stomach trembled as she was flooded with a new and strange sort of panic. She pressed her knuckles to her mouth to keep from making a sound.

Voices rose up in laughter and conversation out in the hall. Forcing her attention back beyond the curtain, she realized Lord Marwood seemed to have stopped moving. Then his shuffling steps and heavy breathing started up again as he moved away from her location. Another minute later, it seemed her pursuer had left the room.

She released a long breath as some of the aching tension eased along her spine. Her subtle movement caused the stranger to loosen his hold.

Sensing freedom, she tried to step away, but his arm tightened and he drew her back again. Her momentary relief in escaping the immediate threat of Lord Marwood gave way to intense concern as awareness of her shadowed companion rushed back to the fore.

“I would not venture out just yet.” Though he kept his voice to a low whisper, Emma detected a cultured rhythm to his speech and decided he was most likely another guest rather than a servant of the household. The smooth scent of rich cognac flowed with his words, and she was reminded that young women had more to fear than aging peers with groping hands and lecherous smiles. “He may return for a second look.”

She forced a measure of control over her rioting senses. “Are you suggesting I am safer here with you?”

“You must have decided so, or you would not be here now.”

She did not miss the amusement in his voice. He was right. Despite the disconcerting sensation of being pressed so close to him that she could feel the vibration of his words along her spine, she did not experience the same awful dread as she did just thinking of being alone with Marwood.

She chose not to comment on that realization. “Will you release me?”

“Of course.” He dropped his arm from around her waist, sliding his hand over her hip in a subtle caress.

Emma suspected it wasn’t entirely unintentional, and she ignored the thrill that splayed along her nerves as she turned to face him.

The night sky contained a sliver of a moon, and only the faintest glimmer of light came in from the windows. It was not enough to make out any of the stranger’s defining features, but it did allow her to see he was tall, broad of shoulder, and dressed in the evening wear of a gentleman. The edges of his black coat were parted, revealing a white dress shirt and a neckcloth in serious disarray.

The state of his dishevelment gave her pause as a disturbing thought occurred to her. “Why are you behind this curtain?”

He relaxed against the window frame and crossed his arms over his chest. “I doubt my answer will make you feel better about your current circumstances.”

Emma’s suspicions solidified. “You were consorting with the lady I saw exiting this room,” she stated, keeping her voice to a low murmur. “You hid to avoid being discovered by her husband, didn’t you?”

“An intelligent deduction,” he drawled.

Emma tilted her head, peering at his shadowed form. “You do not sound ashamed of such dishonorable behavior.”

There was a long pause. “Perhaps I am not an honorable man.”

Foreboding pressed at the edges of her awareness. “Are you also a coward to hide from the consequences of your actions?”

It was not in her nature to be intentionally challenging, but anonymity bred courage it would seem, and a smart tongue.

“No more than you, I would say.” His tone dipped into one of inappropriate familiarity. “Avoiding unnecessary confrontation is often less about cowardice and more a matter of astute self-preservation. Would you not agree?”

“Surely you do not think to compare your circumstances to my own?” The idea was so ridiculous, she couldn’t bring herself to be offended.

“They are not so different.”

“Is that so?” She felt compelled to argue. “Do tell.”

“The only difference is you recognized the threat of your pursuer from the start and took flight. Whereas I, poor fool that I am, was blinded by feminine beauty and did not realize the danger until it was too late.”

“How dreadful for you,” she commiserated with mock gravity as she stared at the loosened material of his neckcloth. “You obviously came frighteningly close to the very edge of ruin.”

He dipped his chin and a chuckle rumbled from his chest. “The lady was quite persistent.”

She arched an eyebrow, though she knew he couldn’t see it. “And I suppose you concealed yourself in order to safeguard her dubious honor?”