arm and slipped it through his arm again and continued their walk, but faster this time.
“There are no trees nearby.”
“No reason to sound so disappointed.” He smiled wickedly at her and winked. “There will be in a few minutes. I know the perfect spot.”
“I am not disappointed, sir,” she argued, but not with any real conviction. “And how dare you think to escort me to a place where you’ve kissed dozens of girls.”
He kept his tone light. “You are hard to please. Now you sound jealous.”
“And you, sir, are a cad.”
“But a likable one.”
She stopped. “Yes. You are incorrigible. It’s true and it’s my misfortune.”
“And my good luck.”
Suddenly Millicent turned away from Chandler and pulled on the crook of his arm with her arm, forcing him to turn around and head in the opposite direction.
“What are you doing?” he asked, not using any strength to stop her from guiding him.
“Not today, my lord. I will not let you endanger my reputation this afternoon. We are going to make this a proper outing if it kills us.”
He looked down into her eyes with appreciation and admiration. “All right. Today you win. No matter that I want to kiss you madly, I will respect your wishes.”
She took a solid breath. “Thank you for that small consideration.”
“You’re welcome.” He liked that she didn’t try to punish him for being forward.
Oh, hell, what don’t I like about her?
They started walking toward the carriage. “We need to return to the subject of Lord Truefitt’s column, because there’s something else you should know.”
“What’s that?”
“Andrew is thinking of hiring a Runner to find out who Lord Truefitt is so that he can expose him.”
“Oh, no! That would be disastrous. You can’t let your friend do that.”
Chandler didn’t like seeing real fear in her eyes. Would there be harm to her if Truefitt was revealed? He wondered again what could be between Millicent and the gossip writer. He didn’t know, but it was time he did something to find out what hold he had over Millicent.
“You must tell Truefitt to keep Andrew out of the column and perhaps his temper will cool down. I’ll do what I can, but Andrew has a mind of his own. I do believe he is serious about this.”
“Thank you for telling me.” Her voice was soft, uncertain, grateful. “I know you didn’t have to confide in me.”
What was it he once heard? A happy, gratified woman knows no bounds in love. He had to stop thinking of things like that. It took him places he wasn’t prepared to go.
“Quite frankly, I don’t care what happens to Truefitt, but I don’t want you hurt by anything that Andrew might do.”
Millicent smiled sweetly at him again. “Thank you. I’m indebted to you.”
Wonderful.
“I’ll think of some way you can repay me.”
“No doubt.” She shook her head resignedly. “Why is it every time I convince myself that you are a true rake you do something astonishingly kind like this?”
“I’ve told you that I know how to behave as a gentleman, at times. Now, if you can’t write about Andrew, I assume you will have to put me back in the cursed daily column.”
“You are a favorite.”
“How about Fines? He’s only been in a time or two recently, or surely there is someone who would love to be mentioned and has felt neglected.”
Her eyes brightened like fire glowing in amber. “Chandler, that is a marvelous idea.”
“Marvelous? What?”
“Mentioning someone who has never or seldom been in the column.”
“Good lord, you’re not telling me that the reason my name always shows up is because they haven’t thought of naming someone else?”
Her lips twitched into a stunning grin. “Don’t try to be dim-witted. You are much too intelligent.”
He loved it that she made no effort to hide her teasing. “And you are far too intelligent for your own good.”
“Thank you. It’s no wonder tittle-tattle is so popular. Haven’t you noticed that everyone seems to enjoy talking—about themselves or someone else? All you really have to do at a party is listen to what is being said around you. Maybe I’ll ask Lord Truefitt to put in someone new, and to write something flattering.”
“Flattering? That would be a first.”
“If we can add Shakespeare, why not add nice?”
Chandler looked up at the wide blue sky and the only thing he could think was “She is a woman, therefore may be woo’d; She is a woman, therefore may be won…”
Sixteen
“I will praise any man that will praise me.” Please allow this one a