Page 58 of To Love A Spy
“Two? Three?” she prodded. “Were you attacked? Or did the mission demand that you dispatch the enemy?”
Shifting his hold on the hilt, he slowly spun the blade. “It’s not something I care to talk about.”
A part of her understood his reticence, yet a part of her rebelled at being shut out.
Her resentment must have shone on her face for he heaved a tight sigh. “Don’t take it personally, Valencia. It’s simply . . . “
“Simply that you prefer to keep everyone at arm’s length.”
“Call it what you will,” he said evenly. “Now if you will kindly step over here, I’ll show you a trick that may prove useful in a pinch.”
Valencia thought for an instant about challenging the order, but decided against it. She would only appear childish.
“It’s a desperate, dangerous move, shown to me by a pirate in Madagascar,” continued Lynsley, once she had taken up a position by his side. “It should only be used as a last resort.”
After he went through the moves in slow motion, she could see why. The sequence called for split second timing. One slip could be fatal.
“Show me again,” she said, determined to get it right.
“Spin. Tuck. Roll.” His words punctuated the second run-through. “Now you try.”
Her attempt went smoothly until the last little twist. “Hell,” she muttered rubbing at her bruised back. “If that had been for real, I would have ended up impaled on my own knife.”
“Aye, that’s the trick. But when done right, it will take an opponent completely by surprise.” Lynsley retrieved the weapon. “You didn’t do badly for a first try.”
“Where did I go wrong?” she demanded.
“Hold your hand like so.” His fingers closed around her wrist
“A tighter roll is key.”
She got to her feet. “Damn. Let me try again.”
Spin. Tuck. Roll.After several more attempts, she finally mastered the moves well enough to earn a nod of approval.
“Excellent,” murmured the marquess. “Though I hope you are never called upon to try it.” He checked his pocketwatch. “That’s enough for today. We had better be getting back.”
As if by unspoken agreement, they packed their gear and rode out of the Bois in silence. However, once the bridle paths gave way to the cobbled streets of the city, Valencia could not keep a rein on her tongue. Maybe it was the vigorous exercise, or maybe it was the recent rendezvous with Rochambert that her blood thrumming with impatience. Whatever the reason,she found herself pressing Lynsley about what progress he was making in their mission.
“Staying in practice is all very well,” she remarked. “But now that we have entrée into Rochambert’s mansion, surely we can start planning to make a move for the secret weapon and its formula?”
“I’ve not forgotten why we are here.” The last, lingering sense of camaraderie seemed to waft away in the breeze as he assumed a tone of formal command. “Or how much depends on our ability to get the job done. Like our drills, it’s a matter of circling, watching, probing. Only when I am sure of his most vulnerable spot will I chance moving in for the kill.”
“We know what his weakness is—it is women . . .” Valencia hitched a breath. “Sir.”
“It is one of them,” he amended. “Whether it proves to be his fatal flaw remains to be seen.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Agarden party.” Valencia glanced out through the windowpane as the carriage swung though the stone pillars and started up the tree-lined drive. Though she tried to keep her voice neutral, Lynsley thought he detected a faint note of reproach.
“Levalier says the grounds of Malmaison are the finest in all of France,” he replied coolly, sensing that yet another day wasted in leisure pursuits was chafing at her patience.
“I was not being critical?—”
“Yes, you were. You think me an old woman, overcautious to a fault.” And damn him for a fool, he feared she might be right. A part of him worried that his concern for her safety was holding him back from doing his job.
A flush flared along the ridges of her cheekbones. “I am thinking nothing of the sort. However impressive your wide range of talents are, milord, they do not encompass mindreading.”
