is as handsome does,” Maris grumbled. Feeling ridiculous, she swept out of the shop with Betsy at her heels. At least her half boots were still her own and comfortable. She hadn’t gone but half a block when she heard a shrill whistle behind her.
“It’s that captain, my lady!”
Whistling at me on the street? “Keep walking, Betsy, and don’t look back.”
“But he’s running down the street after us!”
Damn. Even worse. Whistling and running. What was the matter with the man? They would attract attention. No one knew her in London, and that was the way she wished to keep it.
Captain Durant was at her elbow in seconds. “I almost didn’t recognize you, Lady Kelby,” he said, smoothly taking her arm and matching her stride. “If it wasn’t for little Betsy here, you might have escaped my notice altogether.”
“Why are you still here?” Maris hissed.
“It takes more than one fussy Frenchwoman to get rid of me. I say, Madame Bernard has outdone herself. You look absolutely magnifique.”
“Oh, do shut up.” Maris could feel a natural blush augmenting the rouge.
“It’s only right that I escort you back to Mivart’s now that I took you out of your way.”
“I can find my own way back, I do assure you.” She found it impossible to disentangle her arm from his.
“I also wanted the opportunity to give you this.” He thrust a small box into her hand.
“What is it? You should not be giving me gifts, you know. It isn’t right.”
“Be forewarned. Anyone can tell you I never do the right thing.”
That was certainly true so far. The captain stopped walking, and Maris stumbled.
Betsy barely avoided careening into them, looking far too interested in the box once she righted herself.
“Betsy, I believe I left my handkerchief in Mrs. Bernard’s shop. Could you fetch it for me, please?”
The maid’s disappointment was obvious, but she left them alone.
“Open it.”
“On the street? You’re mad.”
“Indubitably. I’m here with you, am I not? Here, I’ll do it if you won’t.” He quickly opened the box. The butterfly hatpin twinkled on a bed of midnight blue velvet.
“How did you . . .”
He couldn’t have known it had caught her eye unless he was a mind reader. And if he was a mind reader, she devoutly hoped he couldn’t untangle her jumbled thoughts.
She was unused to getting gifts of any kind. Henry gave her unlimited pin money, but had never had a sentimental inclination in his life. Birthdays and Christmases had passed unacknowledged.
Maris closed the box. “You shouldn’t have. I cannot accept this.”
He smiled at her, unperturbed. “Yes, you can. Consider it an apology. We met under rather indelicate circumstances. I was, to put it bluntly, a cad. One small gift cannot even begin to express my shame.”
Maris stared at him. Hard. There was a definite spark of mischief in his eyes. “You are no more ashamed than I am Queen Elizabeth.”
Reynold Durant’s smile broadened. “I see I cannot put anything over on you, Lady Kelby. But it’s a pretty little thing, and it suits you. Here, let me.” He took the package from her hand and pulled the pin from its velvet. Before she knew it, he was sliding the butterfly into the purple cap on her head.
Right on the street. Where anyone might see them. The act was so intimate, Maris lost her power of speech, which seemed to be a recurring condition in the captain’s presence. Betsy had been goggling at them, but her eyes would be rolling straight out of her head to the pavement below if she was there.
Durant stepped back. “There. Now you are truly à la mode.” He tucked the box into a pocket and placed her leaden arm into the crook of his elbow. “I shall make arrangements to join you at Kelby Hall by the beginning of next week.”
It was Thursday. Maris would spend all the next day traveling. Thank heavens the captain would not be shut up in the Kelby coach with her. She would need a day or two simply to recover from the day’s attentions.
How on earth would this all work? She needed to talk to Henry. But what could she say that wouldn’t worry him? He was so desperate to deny David his birthright. Damn primogeniture and entail. It was not as if men were any wiser than women in estate management. Maris left the running of the house itself to her capable staff, but had long helped Henry and Mr. Woodley with estate matters. Henry was a generous