Whatever happened, he could not touch Miss Beaufort again. As the closest friend of her family, it was his responsibility to offer his protection. Although trying to protect this woman would be like trying to fend off a lion using nothing but a piece of string.
He could not take the risk of leaving for London without her and he could not risk riding with her in such close proximity. That part of the problem was easily solved. Miss Beaufort would ride in his carriage and he would ride Cronus. She would need a maid of course. Perhaps Amy would oblige.
When they arrived in London, he would take her to the house in Red Lion Square and lock her in the bedroom while he hunted down her poor excuse for a brother.
Then, he would hand over the damn necklace and the tempting Miss Beaufort before returning home to continue his quest for a peaceful existence.
Simple.
Chapter 8
“Don’t worry, Mary. Just cut it,” Sophie said pushing aside all doubts as she sat at her dressing table.
“But surely there must be some other way, miss,” her maid replied holding on to a glossy ringlet as if it were the crown jewels and to let go would mean facing the hangman’s noose.
Sophie feigned a smile. “It’s just hair. It will grow back.”
“I still don’t see why you need to cut it,” Mary said with a sigh.
“It will be far safer to travel about if people think I am a man, and I have never seen a man who has hair down to his waist.”
Dane was right about one thing. As a woman, she would be vulnerable on her own in London. As a man, she would be free to do as she pleased. His silly experiment had given her the idea.
She was still rather proud of the way she’d handled him. Perhaps her encounter with the comte had given her a renewed confidence. Indeed, everything Dane said or
did paled in comparison to Dampierre’s threatening manner.
When Dane had pulled back from their kiss and informed her it had been nothing more than a way to prove his point, she knew he was lying. Shockingly, she had felt the evidence of his arousal; she had felt the way his body responded to her and it spurred her on to be bolder.
Although she had kissed him back, which proved to be a little worrying. But then she told herself she also had a point to prove. She was not the silly country girl anymore. She was a woman and she would do everything in her power to show him he’d been wrong about her. She would have him spinning around in such a tizzy he wouldn’t know a bray from a bark.
The sudden snipping of scissors caught Sophie’s attention.
“Well, there’s no going back now, miss,” Mary said as the first few tendrils of hair fell to the floor.
Sophie glanced at her maid’s reflection in the mirror, observing the deep furrows between her brows. The lines had been a permanent fixture for the last two hours.
“Mary, if you do not stop worrying, those lines will be as deep as trenches. All the mice will come scurrying along thinking it a place to bed down for the night.”
Mary stopped snipping and placed her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “It’s not the hair, miss. It’s just the thought of you out there, all alone.”
Sophie covered Mary’s hand with her own. “There is no need for concern. I shall be under the protection of Lord Danesfield and you know the marquess is a dear friend of the family,” she said attempting to sound sincere. Perhaps it was best not to mention the fact that she planned to steal her necklace and head off to on her own.
“I know, miss. But you’ll be all alone with him and you know what they’re saying about him in the village.”
“What, that he’s a rake and a debaucher?”
“I know it’s not my place to say, but there’s no trusting a man like that.”
“And what sort of man do you believe Lord Danesfield to be?”
“You know,” Mary said as her face flushed a deep shade of crimson, “a man with a saucy tongue and a devilish grin. A man whose heart is as hard as his muscles.”
Mary certainly had the measure of the man.
“Well, it would not do to tempt such a man, so all the more reason for me to cut my hair. Besides, his lordship doesn’t think of me in that way. He is simply fulfilling the role of protective sibling in Lord Beaufort’s absence.”
“Whatever you say, miss,” Mary said shrugging her shoulders. “I just hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.”