Page 57 of Noble Scoundrel

A shadow passed through his gaze, and she got the sense he was regretting what he’d told her over the plate of cold food. She didn’t want him to regret it. For some reason, she wanted him to feel like he could trust her as much as she was coming to trust him.

“Was it very difficult?” she asked, “Your childhood?”

He reclined farther in his seat, tossing her a sardonic look. “No more difficult than it is for any runt of the rookery.”

“A runt?” The term surprised her and she tried to picture him as a small young boy but couldn’t manage it. His strength and virility were simply too undeniable. “That’s impossible.”

He gave a rough chuckle. “I assure you it’s not. I’ve been the weakest and I’ve been the strongest.” His tone was flat when he added, “Trust me when I say stronger is better.”

The thought of Hale ever feeling small and defenseless made her stomach drop as a protectiveness similar to what she felt for Frederick rushed through her. It was ridiculous to feel such a thing for the indestructible man before her, but it didn’t go away.

“Do you have any siblings?” she asked.

His expression was resistant, but surprisingly, he answered her question. “I’ve an older half-sister.”

“Did you grow up together?”

Hale released a heavy sigh and shifted in his seat to face her more squarely, spreading his feet and resting his hands on his thighs. The look he gave was half-annoyed, half-indulgent. “Why so curious?”

Katherine arched a brow and answered honestly. “I’d like to know more about you. You’ve thoroughly investigated my family. Am I allowed to know nothing of yours?”

He narrowed his gaze for a moment before giving a short grunt. “Lissy’s twelve years older than me. Her ma took off years before I was born; mine wasn’t much to speak of. With our father a raging drunk, Lissy did her best by me, but she had other worries.”

He paused to hold her gaze for a moment, as though assessing just how much she wanted to know. Katherine stared back with open interest.

With a low grunt, he continued, “When Lissy was fourteen, Da sold her to a bloke who wanted her for his own. She ran off instead. If that was the only way she’d get out of the rookery, she was going to do it on her terms.”

Katherine pondered what he said. And what he didn’t say.

“It must have been difficult...after she left.” The thought of him being left in the hands of a violent father while still so young and vulnerable made her chest ache. But the child had grown into a man who could create fear in an opponent with nothing more than a hard stare. A man who also spoke softly to a shy little girl and held her with infinite care.

He shrugged. “She came by when she could—when she knew Da was away. She forced me to learn my letters and sums and later helped me get work at a bawdy house.” He glanced away, scanning the park around them. “My sister is focused. She puts herself first because no one else ever has. She’s built a grand life for herself by doing so.”

“It’s very commendable.”

His jaw was hard as he looked back to her. “For a prostitute?”

“For anyone,” she clarified.

There was a pause as he stared at her. Then he noted roughly. “Not many would see it that way. Least likely a duke’s daughter.”

The slight sneer in his voice had Katherine tilting her head thoughtfully. “Another reason I’m grateful for an unusual upbringing with an eccentric father. Of course I’m aware of how society often judges people for things they’ve no control over, but I’ve little experience with that.” She glanced down at her hands as she smoothed a crease in her day gown before lifting her gaze again to his. “I prefer to allow a person’s actions and attitudes tell me who they are.”

She couldn’t read his expression then. It was too stern. Too heavy and still. Then he issued that low humming sound that always managed to resonate through the deepest parts of her. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees to ask in a roughened voice, “And what do my actions and attitudes tell you, dove?”

In an instant, she felt several things; heat—always heat—a tingling rush through her chest, a lovely weight in her low belly, and a quickening of her pulse. She was tempted to look away. To break the intensity of his stare. But she was no coward, so she met the challenge and the question honestly.

“You’re unabashedly coarse and bold in your manner.” He gave a snort and she arched a brow. “Characteristics I suspect you intentionally emphasize on occasion, which suggests you’ve a proud nature and you’re undaunted by others’ opinions of you. The ferocity of your response to threats against anyone under your care reveals a deep sense of loyalty and an innate need to protect.” She couldn’t stop from sending a swift gaze over the breadth of his shoulders and the solid strength obvious in his arms, even beneath the coat. “That you could use your exceptional strength and physical power much more liberally than you do tells me you use it as a last resort. You are never brutal without proper cause.”

She’d noticed as she was speaking that his expression had seemed to grow more and more closed with each of her revelations. Until the last, when he gave a caustic laugh and leaned back in his seat.

“Proper cause? Is the gold claimed by the winner of an illegal fight cause enough?”

“Survival is.”

His gaze sparked while his mouth tipped into a rueful smile. “I didn’t fight to survive. I was doing just fine as flash man to the bawds.” His tone lowered suggestively. “And got plenty of perks with the job.”

“Then why did you take up boxing?” she asked, genuinely curious.

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