brows, challenging her to object, or to confess, but she kept her lips firmly closed. He shrugged.
“When did you start to work for the dowager duchess, Miss Brown, and why have I never seen you at her house?”
“I entered her employ in September last year, Mr. Wolff,” she countered, echoing his tone. “And I can only assume your visits never happened to coincide with mine.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw at her pert answer, but she refused to be the one to break eye contact. She would not be cowed.
“It’s ‘my lord,’” he said silkily. “I’m an earl.”
At the brothel, he’d told her to call him Sebastien. Clearly that privilege had been withdrawn. She opened her mouth to reply, but he forestalled her.
“There are very few people whose welfare I care about, Miss Brown, but my great-aunt happens to be one of them. I don’t appreciate you putting her at risk, even by association. You have endangered her by your refusal to talk to the people who want to investigate Princess Denisova’s death. Which is a perfectly reasonable request, especially if she died in suspicious circumstances.”
“They weren’t suspicious. She’d just received news that her brother had been killed at Waterloo. She was distraught. So much so that she jumped off a bridge into the Seine.”
His eyes narrowed. “You sound more angry than upset.”
“Of course I’m angry. I loved her like a sister.” Anya bit her lip and took a calming breath. “I do not wish to discuss it further. With anyone.”
“Very well. But if I’m to protect you, even for a few days, I need to know who you’re trying to avoid.”
She saw no reason not to tell him. “His name is Count Vasili Petrov. He’s a guest of the Russian Ambassador, Count Lieven.”
“I’ve met Petrov.”
Anya’s heart gave an irregular beat. “Here, at the club?”
“No. He’s never come here, to my knowledge.”
She let out a silent sigh of relief.
“I met him at a reception last week. He’s the one looking for his missing fiancée. Does he mean Princess Denisova?”
“Yes. But they were never truly engaged. He asked for her hand on several occasions, but the princess had no desire to marry him. Her family refused on her behalf.”
“He refuses to accept she’s dead?”
Anya raised her brows and sent him an arch look. “He’s the kind of man who thinks so highly of himself that he cannot believe a woman would leave him. Or refuse him.”
She injected just enough scorn into her tone that he caught the inference; she believed him guilty of the same sin.
His brows drew together, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “Why did you come to England after the death of your mistress? Why not return home?”
“I’d been the princess’s companion my whole life. She was my dearest friend. With her gone, there was nothing left for me in Russia. My parents are dead. I had no fiancé or husband waiting for me. The princess gave me some of her jewels before she died, so I decided to make a new start somewhere fresh. I sold them to pay for my passage and applied for a post as secretary-companion to your great-aunt.”
He watched her silently for a moment, absorbing this, and she fought not to fidget.
“All right. The duchess clearly likes you”—he paused, and Anya just knew he was mentally adding although God knows why—“so I’ll humor her. For now. I assume Petrov’s diplomatic duties will only keep him here for a short time. He may have discovered your connection to the dowager, but nobody knows you’re here with me now. You’ll be safe as long as you stay put.”
“One man might know—the one who escaped last night. He could have recognized you as the dowager’s nephew.”
“That’s true, although unlikely. I doubt he got a good look at me from that distance. Did you see his face?”
“Yes.”
“Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
“I think so. Your servants won’t talk?”
He sent her an affronted look. “Of course not. They’re loyal to me.”
He raked a hand through his hair, which only served to rumple it attractively. She chided herself for noticing.
“This situation has been thrust upon both of us. God knows, I have no desire to play nursemaid to you, or to anyone, but I’ve never been one to shirk my duty. We must simply make the best of it.”
Anya nodded. His dark gaze brought a tingle to her skin as he sent her an odd, speculative look. She could almost hear him thinking.
“Since your presence