Page 14 of A Most Unlikely Lady
‘So we are beasts and beauties combined?’
‘Some of us are more beautiful than others.’
A sharp cough came from Edward’s left.
Ah, yes. Reading. Thin little compass of morality.
But he was annoyingly right. Edward should never have let the thought escape. He should never have had the thought in the first place, no matter how true it might be.
Of all the women in Edward’s acquaintance, Lady Ivy seemed the most resistant to flattery of any kind. And he had no desire to woo her with pretty words. Understand her, perhaps. Unravel the tangle of contradictions comprising her person, most certainly. Determine the best course to ensure her safety, decidedly so. But to embark on any path more intimate was completely out of the question. Men like Edward did not deserve the affections of a woman like Ivy Cavendale.
‘I’ve taken us off-track.’
‘I’m not sure we can even see the track from here,’ Reading muttered from the settee.
Edward’s withering glare was wasted on the man as he refused to look up from his parchment.
‘Perhaps we should get back to the questions, Commissioner. Unless you have what you need?’ Her reasonable request only highlighted the foolishness of his earlier comment.
An odd hollow ache in the vicinity of his chest thrummed an answer.
No. I don’t have what I need. Not even close.
Terrible time for self-revelations when he was in the middle of an investigation.
He tried to focus on her question. ‘I apologise, but we still have much to discuss.’ Leaning back in his chair, he noted her body slowly softening with his diminished proximity. ‘Do you recall what time it was you first became aware of an intruder?’
Over the span of a half-hour, Lady Ivy walked him through the course of events precipitating her firing a pistol. Reading interrupted them once to resharpen his quill, at which point Lady Ivy asked to make a fresh pot of tea for herself if no one else.
She settled the tea tray on the low table, avoiding Reading’s pot of ink, and poured a dish for each of them. Edward noticed the economy of her movement and a certain fluidity in her joints betraying her gentle breeding. Though her fortunes had drastically diminished with the loss of her father and brother, she carried herself with the poise and polish of a fine lady trained for entertaining the bluest of bloods in the beau monde. Edward wondered if she lamented her changed circumstances from high-born lady to headmistress of an orphanage. Something told him she did not.
‘I must ask you once more to describe the man’s dress. You say he wore the clothes of a gentleman. But there are a myriad variety of gentlemen. Did he seem like he was flush? Down on his luck? A dandy?’
Ivy paused in sipping her tea, drawing her pale brows down in concentration. ‘I hadn’t thought about it, but you are right. Let me think… His coat was of a modern cut and despite the efforts of his activities, did not show excessive wear. His hair was styled in a modern way.’ She closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose in an expression Edward absolutely did not find adorable. ‘His boots were of fine quality. Based on their shine, I would wager they were newly purchased this season. He did not have the clothes of a dandy, but certainly, I wouldn’t find him out of place at White’s or escorting a lady to Almacks for a ball.’ She popped her eyes open, the pupils contracting and contrasting against the singular shade of blue. There were no striations of brown or gold in her irises. Just a thousand hues of ice with a darker ring of sapphire around the edges. Stunning. ‘I would say he presented himself in dress as a rather well-to-do gentleman, though his words and manner were far from genteel.’
Edward had lost his place. Again.
Perhaps I should comment on her fine eyes next. I could really throw Reading into a tizzy.
Instead, he used the excuse of claiming his tea and taking a sip to regain some equilibrium. ‘What age would you place him?’
Ivy pursed her lips and blew out a breath. ‘Well, certainly younger than you, Commissioner.’ Was that a spark of mischief in her voice? The left corner of her wide mouth tipped up.
‘Are you teasing me, Lady Ivy? Hardly fitting for such a proper headmistress. Or a finely bred lady. And you are both, are you not?’ Edward kept his tone light and allowed himself a smile.
Another sharp throat-clearing from the settee.
Ivy glanced at Reading, her spine stiffening before she refocused on her teacup, all traces of levity gone. ‘I just mean to say, he was neither a lad fresh from his books nor a seasoned gentleman. Perhaps in the mid to latter part of his second decade.’
Edward would gladly have thrashed Reading for ruining the shimmering moment ofsomethingbetween himself and Lady Ivy. He struggled to keep the growl of frustration from his voice. ‘Would you recognise him if you saw him again?’
Ivy’s mouth trembled for a moment before she hardened it in a determined line. She nodded her head in a jerky motion. ‘I hope never to see that blackguard again. But if I did, yes. I would recognise him. Of course I would.’
Edward rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, then leaned his chin on his palm. For a moment, he took her measure. She was thin, her lean body almost boyish with its lack of curves, and yet she wasn’t weak. Even covered from neck to wrist to boots in blue cotton, her simple gown couldn’t conceal the supple strength of her arms. Her movements betrayed the kind of fluid grace attributed to jungle cats or birds of prey. He hadn’t asked Philippa about her training sessions with Lady Ivy, but he would wager the woman excelled at sparring. Clearly, she was a decent shot. And despite her very real fear of facing off against an unknown intruder, she hadn’t faltered. When the moment called for action, instead of slipping into the shadows, she had thrust her body between innocent children and the monster who would destroy them.
Courage. Valour. Wit and winsomeness to boot. She would make an admirable addition to the Queen’s Deadly Damsels.
A silly name Millicent Drake had given to the Queen’s secret force, intent on investigating crimes for the crown. But the idea of Ivy working with him to find this intruder wasn’t silly.
