To Seduce a Sinner (Legend of the Four Soldiers #2)(43)

He knocked on the roof and looked across at her, catching her frowning at his legs. “Anything wrong?”

“Not at all.”

She glanced out the window. It seemed strange to be confined with him in such a small space. Too intimate somehow. And that was an odd thought. She’d had sexual congress with this man, had danced with him only the night before, and had had the audacity to strip off his shirt and shave him. Yet those things had been done in the night, lit only by candlelight. Somehow she found it easier to be relaxed at night. The shadows made her brave. Perhaps she really was the mistress of the night, as he called her. And if so, did that make him master of the day?

She watched him, struck by the thought. He sought her out mainly during the daylight hours. Stalked her in the sunlight. He might like to go to balls and gaming hells at night, but it was during the day that he sought to discover her secrets. Was it because he sensed that she felt more weak exposed to sunlight? Or because he was stronger in the day?

Or maybe both?

“Do you take it everywhere?”

She glanced at him, her thoughts scattered. “What?”

“Your dog.” He pointed his chin at Mouse, curled on the seat beside her. “Does it go everywhere with you?”

“Sir Mouse is a him, not an it,” she said firmly. “And, yes, I do like taking him places that he might enjoy.”

Vale’s eyebrows shot up. “The dog enjoys shopping?”

“He likes carriage rides.” She stroked Mouse’s soft nose. “Haven’t you ever had any pets?”

“No. Well, there was a cat when I was a boy, but it never came when I called it and had a habit of scratching when displeased. It was often displeased, I’m afraid.”

“What was its name?”

“Cat.”

She l Ksizeigooked at him. His face was solemn, but there was a diabolical gleam in his blue eyes.

“And you?” he asked. “Did you have pets as a child, my fair wife?”

“No.” She looked out the window again, not wishing to revisit her lonely childhood.

He seemed to sense her aversion to talking about that time and for once did not press. He was silent a moment before saying softly, “Actually, the cat was Richard’s.”

She looked at him, curious.

His wide lips curved into a lopsided smile as if he mocked himself. “Mother doesn’t particularly like cats, but Richard was sickly as a child, and when he took a liking to a kitten in the stables”—he shrugged—“I suppose she made an exception.”

“How much older than you was your brother?” she asked softly.

“Two years.”

“And when he died?”

“Not yet thirty years.” He no longer smiled. “He’d always been weak—he was thin and often had trouble catching his breath—but he took the ague while I was in the Colonies and never quite recovered. Mother didn’t smile for a year after I came home.”

“I’m sorry.”

He turned his palm upward. “It was long ago.”

“And your father was already dead, wasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

She looked at him, lounging so carelessly in the carriage as he talked about the premature death of his brother and father. “You must have found that hard.”

“I never thought I’d be the viscount even though Richard was always so ill. Somehow everyone in my family thought he would live to beget an heir.” He suddenly looked at her, the corner of his mouth cocked. “He might have been weak of body, but my brother had a strong spirit. He carried himself like a viscount. He could command men.”

“As do you,” she reminded him gently.

He shook his head. “Not as he did. Nor as Reynaud did, for that matter. They were both better leaders than I.”

She found that hard to believe. Vale might mock himself, might like to tell jokes and sometimes play the fool, but other men listened to him. When he entered a room, the very air sizzled. Both men and women were drawn to him like a miniature sun. She wanted to tell him this, wanted to tell him how much she herself admired him, but the fear that she might reveal too much of her own emotions held her back.

The carriage slowed, and she looked out the window to find that they were on Bond Street.

The door opened and Vale jumped to the ground before turning and offering his hand in assistance. She rose and placed her hand in his, feeling the strength of his fingers. She climbed down from the carriage, and Mouse hopped down as well. The street was lined with fashionable shops, and both ladies and gentlemen strolled by the display window Kdispeds.

“Which way do you fancy, my sweet wife?” Vale asked, holding out his arm. “You shall lead and I will follow.”

“Down here a bit, I think,” Melisande replied. “I want to visit a tobacconist first, to purchase some snuff.”

She felt him glance at her. “Are you a fashionable snuff-taker, like our queen?”

“Oh, no.” She wrinkled her nose at the thought before she recalled herself and smoothed out her expression. “It’s for Harold. I always give him a box of his favorite snuff on his birthday.”

“Ah. Lucky Harold, then.”

She glanced up at him. “Do you like snuff?”

“No.” His turquoise eyes were warm as he smiled down at her. “I referred to his fortune in having such a caring sister. If I’d known—”