The sound of a carriage behind her made her start, but she did not look around, merely walked with as confident a stride as she could muster. Perhaps the occupant of the carriage would assume she was a man in a long cloak, not noticing the hem of her dress beneath it. Or perhaps he would not look out at all.
She let out a breath of relief as the carriage passed her, rattling over the bricks down the next block and disappearing around the corner. Callie hurried across the next intersection and on down the sidewalk. The few blocks to Lady Haughstons home, so short a distance in ordinary circumstances, seemed frighteningly long now. Callie thought about turning back, but she told herself not to be a goose and forged on ahead.
In front of her, at the end of the block, a figure came around the corner, heading toward her. Callie hesitated, her heart leaping into her throat, and then she walked on slowly. If she were to turn and run now, she thought, it might cause the stranger to pursue her, if only because it would stir his curiosity.
Besides, there was something very puzzling about the man, something that made her go forward, squinting to see him better in the dim light. The man walking toward her did not wear a greatcoat or cloak orhow strangeeven a hat. And though clearly he was a man, there was something odd about his manner of dress. His jacket was puffed at the sleeves, and his trousers were rather wide above his cuffed boots. He was not wearing the usual evening attire of a gentlemanor, indeed, the clothes of any sort of man she could identify. And he seemed to have stuck his cane through the side of his belt.
Her first thought was that he must be several sheets to the wind, and her second was thatbut no, that was impossible!
Callie came to a dead stop.
The man continued toward her at the same steady pace, and with each stride she became more and more certain that her eyes were not playing tricks on her.
Lord Bromwell! she exclaimed.
In the next moment she wished that she had not let out the words. She should, she thought, have turned around and headed straight back for her house. He would think she was a lunatic. No, worse than that, he might assume that she was a woman of loose morals. No sister of a duke would be suspected of selling herself, of course, but she knew that the likeliest reason for her to be out at this time of night was for some sort of romantic rendezvous. In a married woman, such behavior would be scandalous, but for a girl not yet married, it would be disastrous.
Her stomach sank at the realization that this man would probably now look upon her with contempt. And if he told anyone that he had seen her in these circumstances, her reputation would be ruined, her brother and family shadowed by the disgrace. Someone who knew her well would, she hoped, not assume that she was engaged in something reprehensible, and even if he thought poorly of her, many a gentleman would keep the story to himself in order to spare her family the shame.
But this man scarcely knew her. And, worse, Sinclair had treated the earl in an unfriendly manner; indeed, Callie would characterize her brothers attitude toward him as angry, even contemptuous. She hated to think how Sinclair had spoken to him after she left. Bromwell would have little reason to shield her or her brother; worse, he might gleefully seize this opportunity to get back at the duke.
And why had her brother acted that way? Sinclairs meddling and his cool assumption that he could tell her what to do had irritated her so much that she had not really stopped to wonder what reason he had had for being so upset that shed been alone with this particular man. Was it Bromwells reputation that alarmed her brother? Had the duke warned him off because he knew that the man had a history of seducing young females?
Her mind leapfrogged from one thought to another, each more disastrous than the last, in the instant that she stood there frozen. Her last thought, one that was purely wishful thinking, she knew, was that perhaps he had not recognized her voice and could not see her face inside the deep hood of her cloak. She could still turn and flee.
But in the next instant such hope vanished, for he started toward her, his face registering shock. Lady Calandra? Is that you?
Callie swallowed hard and squared her shoulders. She had to face this, whatever came; she must do what she could to keep the family name from being tainted by her impulsive behavior.
Lord Bromwell. Tis no wonder that you are surprised. Her mind raced, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse for being there.
Indeed, at first I thought my eyes were deceiving me. He stopped a foot away from her. This cannot be right. You should not be out at this hour. Where is your family?
Callie gestured back down the street. They are in their beds. II could not sleep.
So you came out for a stroll? he asked, his raised eyebrows revealing the disbelief that his polite tone did not.
I know you will think me very foolish, she said.
Oh, no. He smiled. I have a sister, and I am aware of how confining the restrictions of Society are, how the rules weigh upon a young woman of spirit.
Callie could not help but smile back at him. Her fears had been foolish, she told herself. He seemed not at all disapproving of her actions; indeed, his smile, his face, his voiceall seemed both kind and understanding. Nor was there anything about him that bespoke the rouéno leer, no suggestive tone or improper suggestion.
Then you will nottell anyone?
About coming upon you walking? he finished. Of course not. There is little to remark on in meeting a young lady who is taking a stroll, is there?
No, there is not, Callie agreed, swept with relief.
But, please, allow me to escort you back to your home. He politely offered her his arm.
I am not going there. I am bound for Lady Haughstons house.
He looked a bit puzzled, but to Callies relief he did not pursue the oddity of her deciding to take a stroll to Francescas house at this time of night, but merely said, Then I shall be happy to escort you to Lady Haughstons, if you will but show me the way. I am not, you may have guessed, well acquainted with London.
I did not think that I had seen you before, Callie admitted, taking his arm and starting once more down the street.
I have spent nearly all my time at my estate since coming into the title, he told her. I am sorry to say that it was in a rather sorry state of affairs. I have not had a great deal of time for He shrugged.
Frivolities? she suggested.
He smiled, glancing at her. I do not mean to imply that a life spent here is frivolous.
Callie grinned. I take no offense, I assure you. Indeed, I know that a great deal of it is frivolous.
There is nothing wrong with a little frivolity.
There was something quite exhilarating about walking along this way with this maneven their rather ordinary words seemed tinged with a feeling of daring and excitement. It was extremely rare for her to be alone with a man other than her brother for any length of time. And to be alone with any man at this time of night on a dark street was simply unheard of. Callie had never before done anything that would so shock everyone she knew. Yet she could not find it in herself to regret it. She did not, she realized with a little bit of surprise, even feel guilty or wrong. What she felt was free and fizzing with excitement.
Because she was a candid woman, she also knew that the way she felt inside did not come entirely from the adventure of being in this time and place. Indeed, most of the exhilaration bubbling up inside her had to do with this particular man.