felt a stab of sympathy. ‘You do not intend to marry?’
She glanced away. ‘Do not be absurd. You know what is beneath this mask.’ She turned back to him with a defiant gaze. ‘So there is nothing to risk. If I am attacked on the street, what will it matter?’
‘Do not pretend to be stupid, Phillipa,’ he growled. ‘A horror could befall you much worse than a cut on a face.’ At Badajoz he’d seen what violence men could inflict on women.
She blinked. ‘I know.’
He pushed the plate closer to her. ‘Have a bit of cake and let us speak of other things besides horrors.’
She obliged him and he found himself fascinated by the small bite she took of the cake, of her licking a crumb off her lip. Her lips were a most appealing shade of pink.
‘I am not really so much in the doldrums, you know,’ she went on. ‘I was merely trying to provoke you.’
He grinned. ‘Poke me and I’ll poke you back.’
They’d played that game as children. Much to his annoyance, as he recalled.
She pursed her lips. ‘You had better not poke me. I poke back much better than I used to. I am no longer a little girl, you know.’
He could not help but let his gaze peruse her. ‘I know.’
Her eyes flashed. ‘Do not make a jest of me, Xavier.’
A jest? He was seeing her as a man sees a woman. ‘You ought to know me better, Phillipa.’
‘I do not know you at all now.’ Her expression turned bleak. ‘It has been a long time since we were children.’
‘I have not changed.’ He had changed, though. He’d once told himself he’d always look out for her, but he’d left her behind, a mere memory, as he grew to manhood and went to war.
‘I have changed.’ She lifted her chin again. ‘I have become quite independent, you know.’
‘Hence the excursion to a gaming hell.’ He touched her hand, but quickly withdrew.
Her fingers folded. ‘A gaming hell makes it sound so nefarious. It is rather staid, though. What a disappointment.’
He frowned. ‘What did you expect?’
‘Some debauchery, at least!’ She laughed. ‘I did not know what to expect, but my curiosity was piqued to see what my brothers thought would be the saving of our family. And of our village and its people. There are a great deal of counters being won and lost.’
‘In gambling, the house always has the advantage. Rhys’s success has been beyond everyone’s expectations.’ And Xavier vowed he’d make even more money from it.
Phillipa finished her wine. ‘May I return to the tables, Xavier? I still have money left to lose.’
He didn’t want to take her back to the game room. Not all the patrons of the place were gentlemen. She was too attractive—alluring, even—and she was alone. ‘Rhys is in the game room.’
‘Are you afraid he’ll recognise me this time?’ she asked.
‘You should worry over it,’ he countered. ‘He might recognise you. Or someone else might.’
Her eyes shifted. ‘No they won’t. They have never looked at me long enough to recognise me in a mask.’ She stood. ‘I wish to return to the tables. I was getting accustomed to faro. I believe I will play some more.’
He had no choice but to stand. ‘Very well, Phillipa.’
When they walked back to the doorway, she inclined her head towards the piano. ‘Who plays for you?’
He shrugged. ‘No one. It is left from the previous owner.’ Who also ran a brothel here as well as a gaming house, but she did not need to know that. A young fellow played the piano and the girls sang and flirted with the men.
He escorted Phillipa back to the game room and left her at the faro table where he had found her.
‘Campion brought you back?’ One of the men gave her a flirtatious look. ‘We despaired of ever seeing you again. Has the pick of the ladies, that one has.’
Xavier did not hear Phillipa’s response.
He could not hover around her, though. He’d only call more attention to her. There were gossips in the crowd who would make it their business to discover who she was.
He would watch from afar, in case she needed assistance, and when she made ready to leave, it would not be alone.
He stepped in to the hall where Cummings attended the door.
No one entered or left without Cummings knowing of it. ‘Do you recall the new woman who came earlier, the masked one in the dark-green gown?’ Xavier asked.
Cummings nodded.
‘When she is ready to leave, detain her and alert me. Do not allow her to leave until I speak with her.’
Cummings nodded again and, if he thought anything odd in this request, made no comment. But, then, Cummings rarely commented about anything.
‘I thank you, Cummings.’
Xavier returned to the game room, glancing first to see that Phillipa still played at the faro table. He’d keep an eye on her as well as on the other gamblers, and he’d be ready to see that Phillipa arrived safely to her town-house door.
* * *
After Xavier left her at the faro table, Phillipa’s very limited interest in gambling waned even further, but she persisted, merely to show him he could not drive her away.
One of the gentlemen who’d escorted her to the cashier and to the gaming room approached her. ‘Are you enjoying yourself, ma’am?’
How unexpected it was to be called ‘ma’am’ as if she were a married lady.
Xavier glanced in her direction so she smiled at the gentleman. ‘I am indeed. I even win sometimes.’
The gentleman laughed. ‘That is the main purpose of coming here.’ One brow rose. ‘Or do you have another purpose in mind?’
By his very significant look, she knew he meant something of consequence. She was not sure, but it could be flirtation. How very unexpected, if so.
‘The gambling attracts me, of course.’ Why not simply ask him what he means? ‘What else could there be?’
His eyes flitted over her person. ‘I saw that Mr Campion singled you out for notice. Are you to be another of his conquests?’
Her smile stiffened. This was the second man to suggest such a thing. ‘Another of his conquests? Goodness! How many does he have?’
He slid Xavier a jealous look. ‘He can have
