Page 49 of Give Him a Chance

Yes, her parents had been delighted to hear about Bernard’s adventures in the alleyway, Lucy reminisced darkly. Once theyhad been assured he was to make a full recovery, of course. Perhaps it was because it confirmed that the man was not going to return to his criminal ways, or perhaps because it demonstrated his ability to defend himself and presumably others.

Either way, they had become very lax about the whole thing. Lucy dreaded to think what her more scandal-conscious Uncle William would have said about her gadding about town with a criminal for company. And thanks to Percy, she wasunchaperonedwith a criminal for company.

As it was, they had spent a few hours traipsing across Brighton and she was hot, and irritable, and was absolutely no farther than she’d been when she’d started.

“Did the man give a reason for his refusal?”

Bernard’s curious question, without judgment nor censure, made Lucy smile with weariness as the sun blazed down upon them, his bandage finally gone and replaced with her father’s lent hat. “I think he is concerned that people will ask questions.”

“‘Questions’?”

All too late, Lucy remembered that Bernard did not know about Mr. Forthright’s unfortunate and quite unprovoked brush with the law. It was why, out of consideration for the man, she’d asked Bernard to wait outside for this meeting, unlike the others, during which she had introduced him as her brother.

It was either that or get lectured at by old men of faith and business about going anywhere improperly escorted. Mr. Forthright was hardly so pompous.

Of course, even her supposed brother’s silent presence in the background of these meetings hadn’t changed any of their minds. It was Lucy asking, after all, and the Prison Reform Society was largely a woman’s organization.

“Yes, the Prison Reform Society is not the most popular of charities, and many respectable places do not wish to beassociated with it,” she said as nonchalantly as she could manage.

Which was true enough. Francois’s Restaurant had refused to even consider it, and the old Assembly Rooms had refused after very little consideration at all.

“But what it comes down to is that I am a woman.” Lucy sighed as they linked arms—the movement was so natural now, she did not even think about it—and started to walk along the street. With the brim of her hat tilted just so, no one would recognize her. Gossips of Society were not often walking along the streets of this neighborhood regardless.

Bernard glanced at her in confusion. “And being a woman in this case is a problem because…?”

It’s a mark of the man, Lucy thought warmly,that he cannot spot the problem.

It was so much easier being a man. She had thought this for some time, and he was proving it now. There was absolutely no reason why a man could not do anything, within reason.

A hot breath escaped Lucy’s lips. “Apparently, ladies do not organize.”

Bernard’s snort was heartening, even if it did attract a few stares from passersby. “But that’s ridiculous—our monarch is a woman!”

“Exactly!” Her spirits soared at the outpouring—fine, not exactly outpouring—but the clear support. “I have just as much a mind as any man, and just as much passion to make a difference in this world, for my people, for my country, and—why are you looking at me like that?”

Bernard hastily looked away, but Lucy was certain she had not dreamed it. He had been looking at her like…like…

Well, she hardly knew. As though she were the rising sun and he were the stars. As though he were the ocean and he wanted to approach her shores. As though she had said somethingabsolutely wonderful and he…he wanted to do something about it.

Which was stupid, Lucy told herself firmly as they walked in silence for a minute. That kiss had been—it had been a mistake, plain and simple, and it was not to be repeated.

Even if ithadbeen nightly in her dreams.

“I suppose we have the rest of the day to ourselves,” she mused aloud. “I’d love to go swimming.”

“No.”

Lucy glanced at the man and wondered, not for the first time, why on earth the man had such a vendetta against the sea. It wasn’t as though the ocean even knew it was being hated. “Why?”

Bernard’s jaw tightened. “Absolutely not.”

It appeared she was to receive no additional information, which naturally only inflamed her curiosity all the more. As it was, she squeezed his arm. “I might not be the Queen of England, but I could order you to come swimming with me, you know.”

That, at least, gained a smile. “Oh, you could, could you?”

“Well, your life does belong to me, in a roundabout sort of way,” she said brightly. “And I suppose I could—”

Lucy’s stomach lurched, but it was not because of the licentious thoughts that she was momentarily permitting herself to think. No, her entire body lurched, and that was because Bernard had suddenly come to a stop, her momentum propelling her forward and twisting her almost into his very arms.