Chapter Three #2
Had their mamas whisper details of dowries that bored him senseless…
But this was different.
Lawrence took an unconscious step toward her, managed to stop himself, then stood there, staring with a faint smile.
This woman was not proposing herself as a potential Duchess of Penshaw. Why, she had no idea who he was, what marriage to him could mean for her.
For perhaps the first time in his life, Lawrence had attracted the attention of a pretty woman simply for being…himself.
It was a heady thought. One that should have told him precisely how much danger he was in. Somehow his reason started slipping through his fingers and all he could do was grin.
“You look well,” said Julia, nodding at his injuries.
“What, this?” Lawrence said, glancing at the bandages on his hands and wishing to goodness he had not moved his head so swiftly. “Nothing to concern you.”
“Well, I will admit that I was concerned,” she said, stepping closer as a pair of men strode behind her toward the ring.
Lawrence’s breath caught in his throat. They were but a foot apart now. God, this was the closest he had been to a woman in six months. The boxing ring did not attract ladies—in truth, it was scandalous to think even one had traversed through this place.
And of all the ladies in London…it was her.
“I wanted to ensure you were doing well,” Julia said quietly.
Lawrence nodded but did not speak. His attention had been distracted by a group of men the other side of the ring. They were muttering, and though he could not hear precisely what they were saying from this distance, their frequent glances over at himself and Julia were enough.
His jaw tightened. He had been instructed not to draw attention to himself, blend in, merely become part of the Almonry Den.
That was imperative. Impossible as it was to know if anyone was reporting to Mortimer, the last thing they wanted was for the man to catch wind of something strange. Something to prevent him returning.
And there was nothing more strange than a woman in the Almonry.
“You have to leave,” Lawrence said abruptly.
It could not be more evident by the raised eyebrow on Julia’s face that she did not think much of that suggestion. “I do?”
Why did those two simple syllables send a rush of something close to desire up his spine?
“You do,” he said firmly. “It is not seemly to—”
“Not seemly? Lord you sound like my brother.”
Lawrence’s hackles rose. For a reason he was not going to investigate right now, his entire body rebelled at the idea of being compared to Julia’s brother.
Oh, no. What he wanted to do to her was definitely not brotherly…
“Julia, you must see that—”
“Oh, must I?” Julia said with a dry laugh. “You know, I spend my life being told what I must do, must say, whose card parties I simply must attend. I thought here, I could just be at peace for more than five minutes.”
There was no pettiness in her tone, no petulance. Just frustration.
Well, he knew the restrictions of a life in Society. Though it was clear he and Julia had never met when living under his true identity, they undoubtedly would have both attended Almack’s, forced themselves through the dullest of dinners…
They may even have both survived card parties at Lady Romeril’s, which was a badge of honor.
But he could not show her his sympathy, nor reveal how closely he related to her frustrations.
Not if he was going to keep his cover.
“A lady like you, you should be promenading down Rotten Row, riding in Hyde Park,” Lawrence said aloud with what he hoped was a nonchalant smile. “Things ladies do.”
Julia snorted in a most unladylike manner. “And you are the expert on ladies?”
Lawrence forced down a smile. If she had any idea who she was speaking to… “I do, as a matter of fact.”
He should not have spoken. Julia’s eyes lit up, and somehow all the gruffness in his voice had gone.
“You said a few days ago that you were a common man, a working class man, a man who earns his bread with his hands, did you not?” she said quietly as a shout went up from somewhere. Someone appeared to have dropped something heavy.
Lawrence did not take his eyes from the captivating woman before him.
“We come from different worlds, you and I.”
He could quite heartily agree with this, but managed to prevent himself from speaking. It would not do to attract more questions. He was supposed to be here undercover, not attracting attention.
So why did he want to attract Miss Julia Dryden far more than was appropriate?
“You’ll be fighting again this evening, I suppose?”
Lawrence nodded, seeing swiftly where this conversation was going. “And you would do well to heed my advice, Julia, and—”
“Jules.”
He blinked. A faint flush stained the pretty woman’s cheeks, but it was nothing to the blazing heat in her eyes.
Jules? Surely he had misheard. There was no possibility a woman like that would ask what she thought was a rough, common man to call her by such a name.
At least, the rough, common man she thought he was.
“Julia,” he said quietly. “I do not think you know what you are doing.”
He had meant the words as a kindness.
Fire flashed in her eyes. “I know precisely what I am doing. I may just be a woman, but—”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” interjected Lawrence hastily. Did this woman always have a penchant for misunderstanding? “I meant, you and I, we are from very different worlds—”
“And yet here you are,” she said lightly. “Talking to me.”
Lawrence swallowed. Yes, he was, and against his better judgment, too. But there was something about Julia, something that drew him in. It was not possible to walk away from her, no matter how much more sense it would make to do so.
His cover could not be blown. He was here, Lawrence reminded himself, to catch his brother’s killer and a traitor to the king’s government.
Not to flirt with pretty young things he wanted to take back to his digs and—
“You interest me, Lawrence.”
Lawrence felt a most disconcerting sensation. Heat. On his cheeks.
Dear God, was he blushing?
“You intrigue me,” Julia said in a low voice. “You make me… curious.”
He swallowed. “I do not intend to.”
“And that is what makes it all the more interesting,” she said with a smile. “I have been bored out of my mind in polite Society for far too long, that was why I made Donald take me to the boxing, and then you…you.”
The way she spoke, it was so simple. He could almost believe their conversations, their connection could pass unnoticed.
But then a voice from the other side of the boxing ring rose. “—outrageous, the two of them standing there! And her a lady!”
Lawrence’s desire was forced down as reason took charge. “I am sorry, Miss Dryden, but I do not have time to be an oddity or your entertainment today,” he said coldly. “And I advise you, again, to heed your brother. Do not return to the Almonry Den.”
It was all he could do to prevent himself from looking back as he strode away.