my sister’s brood or the street, I fear. And I’m perfectly willing to admit that I am not cut out for a difficult and more than a genteelly impoverished life.” She stopped then, put a hand to her mouth. “Oh dear, I’ve told you so many things I should not have. Why on earth didn’t you stop me? Well, that’s it. My humiliation is now utterly complete!”
He ducked his head to hide his grin. “I think you underestimate your appeal, Miss… ?”
She blushed prettily. “Blake. Miss Persephone Blake. Though I prefer to be called Percy.”
“I’ve never known anyone who preferred to be called Percy,” he admitted with a perplexed laugh.
“And Algernon? What sort of diminutives has that produced?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
“Touché, Miss Blake. Now, if I could trouble you for my shirt, I’ll unlock the gate so you may return to the safety of your own garden, relative as that may be given its inhabitants, without risking life and limb to scale a wall,” he offered.
Another blush, but she carefully untied the sleeves of his borrowed shirt and then returned it to him. “Thank you for the use of, quite literally, the shirt off your back, Mr. Dunne.”
Algernon grinned. “I’d hate to think any woman in a state of such undress would have cause to say I am not a generous man.” His grin faded as the double entendre sailed past its mark. She might be a woman of reasonable age, but she was obviously one that was entirely innocent. It was a fact he was far too eager to remedy.
“Before I leave, I do need to retrieve my nephew’s kite.”
And it would be a cold day in hell before he’d let the demon have it back. “Why would you do that for him? Why would you risk life and limb for a horrid boy who clearly does not listen to reason?”
“Because I am between a rock and hard place. They may say whatever they wish to my sister about me… but anything said of them will only direct her ire at me. So, I have no authority over them and they know it,” she admitted. “And if I fail to return with it, my sister may make good on her threat to have me removed from her household. It’s not a terribly comfortable existence at this time, but it is at least a respectable one.”
Algernon grimaced. Nonetheless, he turned away from her and walked to the terrible mess in the midst of his garden. Picking up the kite which was still remarkably whole, he snapped the center stem of it, and then returned it to her. “He can have it back, but he can’t fly it.”
“That won’t go well for me,” she said, her face paling with fear.
“You’ll face no repercussions, Miss Blake, I promise you that,” he said. “Please inform your sister that I mean to call on you both this afternoon.”
She blinked at that. “Both? Surely you mean to call on my sister… I’m not even certain that I’m permitted to be present with company in her house.”
“Yes, Miss Blake,” Algernon said. “Both. The fact of the matter is, were it not for our meeting, I’d never darken your sister’s door.”
“Why ever not? Daphne is horrid to me, certainly, but she’s quite popular with others!”
Algernon shook his head. “I have no interest in your sister… nor her popularity. I am coming to call, Miss Blake, because I’d like to further our acquaintance. In truth, I am only willing to tolerate your sister’s presence as propriety demands that you have a chaperone when a man pays court to you.”
She blinked then. “Court? As in courting?”
“Quite right. As in, Miss Blake, I find myself undeniably charmed by you and I’m far too old to play nonsensical games to prevent you knowing that. I mean to court you starting today.”
“You must be mistaken… Why on earth would you ever pay court to me? Given how we met, I can’t imagine you’d ever wish to see me again!”
A grin curved his lips. “Well, Miss Blake, suffice to say you’ve made a lasting impression.”
CHAPTER THREE
“I don’t believe you!”
Percy shrugged. There was little else to be done in the face of her sister’s skepticism. The simple truth was that she hardly believed it herself. Thought to be fair, he’d certainly expressed his intentions very boldly. “Well, I don’t know what else to say. He said he’d be here this afternoon. And he said, very pointedly, that he required your presence as