Page 23 of Doxy for the Ton
“I should have left you to rot and kept the watch for my trouble.”
“You mean…”
“Imean, I retrieved it before I brought you home.”
He continued to stare at her.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” she added, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“But—how?” he said. “Those men overpowered me.”
“Therefore,Icouldn’t possibly have defeated them?”
“You must agree it’s hard to believe.”
“I retrieved your watch,” she said. “Something I now regret. Whether you believe that is nothing to me.”
“How?”
She smiled, her attention still focused on the world outside. “I learned a long time ago that the way to defeat your enemy was not to use your strengths against him, but to exploit his weaknesses. And all men have the same weakness.”
“Which is?”
She turned to face him. “Your unwavering belief in your own superiority. The men who attacked you thought themselves more than a match for a lone man—and a whore. All I had to do was catch them off guard. When one of them took hold of me, I let him believe he was in control, until I could use his weight against him.”
So that explained the bruises on her arm.
Sustained, perhaps, in the act of saving my life.
He held out his hand. “Thank you.”
“I’ve already said, you’re welcome,” she said.
“But I would have you take my hand—as my savior.”
She stared at his hand, then took it.
“My valet will have something for those,” he said, nodding to her bruises.
“It’s nothing. They’ll heal in no time.”
Such nonchalance over the ugly marks marring her skin! Were she a lady, she’d have had a fit of apoplexy if a gust of wind rendered a single hair out of place.
But Mimi—the woman before him, the tough little thing with the soulful eyes—she was worth more than all the ladies of thetoncombined.
Devil’s bones—from where hadthatnotion come?
Alexander froze as footsteps approached. Shortly after, the door opened and Larry entered, stopping short as he caught sight of Mimi.
The valet wrinkled his nose. “Your Grace, it’s time for you to dress. Will your…guestbe staying?”
Mimi drew in a sharp breath and gave the valet a look of equal dislike.
“Larry, this is”—Alexander hesitated—“Lady Rex. She’s lately returned from Italy and is looking for lodgings to rent. I believe there’s a house on the square that’s vacant. Would you speak to Gillingham so he can make the arrangements?”
Larry was no fool. The knowledge that Alexander lied thickened the air.
“In whose name will the lease be drawn up, sir?” Larry asked.
