about… about your latest adventure. Good day, Bee. Do try not to shoot anyone whilst I am gone.” He walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.
Lud.
Phoebe let out a breath and spared a thought for whatever poor devil volunteered to fight her papa at Angelo’s this morning. He’d likely be dissected into tiny pieces as her father vented his feelings. Now she knew how Damocles had felt, with that wretched sword suspended overhead by a horsehair. Only, she knew the hair would break this evening when she had to face him again. Gloomily, she decided there was only one thing to do. She would go to Hatchard’s and see if she could find a book to take her mind off her fate. With a despondent sigh, she pushed her unfinished breakfast aside and went in search of her maid.
***
Max watched, uncertain whether to be amused or alarmed as the marquess dispatched his fifth opponent in as many minutes. The man’s foil skittered across the floor, sliding to a halt on the other side of the large room, where Lucian had sent it sailing. Although he’d finished for the morning, Max had heard the murmurs of appreciation from the audience that had gathered, and joined them to watch. Lucian hadn’t even broken a sweat. He seemed irritated that no one had skill enough to give him the bout for which he was so clearly desperate.
“Next,” he called, stalking to the end of the room and turning to see who dared try their luck. No one volunteered.
Lucian huffed with annoyance, and then his gaze settled on Max. Max had been friends with Lucian for some time, but it did not mean he could be on the receiving end of that icy glare and not quail a little. Something told him that Phoebe’s recent adventure was no longer a secret.
“Max,” Lucian said, a tight smile at his lips. “Do you have something you wish to tell me?”
Max pondered this. “I have nothing I wish to tell you, Lucian, but I suspect you already know that I could give you information you might want.”
Lucian jerked his head, indicating that they go outside to the courtyard. Max followed him, relieved when Lucian set the foil aside before leaving the room.
“Why the devil didn’t you tell me?” he demanded, the moment the doors closed.
Max hesitated. “There was no harm done, and… and I did not want her to see me as a man who would run and tell tales to her father. I hoped she might tell you herself.”
Lucian snorted. “She did, but only after I pressed her. So, that’s why she’s been leaping from her skin every time the front door opened. She’s been expecting you to come and tell all.”
“I imagine so,” Max agreed, rather aggrieved that Phoebe should see him in such a light.
He watched the marquess pace, his fists clenching and unclenching before he turned back to Max.
“Was it you she was meeting there?”
“No! God, no,” Max replied at once, alarmed. “Christ, you know me better than that, I hope.”
Lucian let out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Forgive me,” he said. “I do, of course, only… only that wretched girl will kill me. My heart cannot stand the kind of explosions she sets off wherever her feet touch the ground. It’s my own fault. I know it is. I’ve given her too much freedom, made her too brave, too bloody fearless….”
Max reached out and laid a hand on Lucian’s arm.
“She’s marvellous,” he said softly. “Good lord, if only you could have seen her. There I was running hell for leather, expecting to rescue a damsel in distress, and the poor blighter who’d tried to rob her was stammering his apologies and looking down the barrel of a pistol.”
Lucian groaned. “Dear God.”
“She’s not some foolish green girl who went wandering about London like it was her own back garden. She knew it was dangerous, and she was prepared for it, and yes, of course she ought not have been there. Believe me, I was hard pressed not to shake her for giving me such a fright, but it would have done no good. She’ll not change, and it would have only made her dislike me even more.”
“I thank God you were there.”
“So do I,” Max replied. His heart still trembled whenever he thought about it. “Though she would have managed if I had not been, I’m sure. Though I think she was a little pleased to see me for