Page 63 of A Devious Secret

Gemma’s eyes darted to his lips before saying, “I want to apologize…”

He put his hand up, stilling her words. “It is I that should apologize,” he said. “I had no right to abandon you.”

“You hardly abandoned me.”

“Regardless, it was poorly done on my part, and I am sorry.”

Gemma tipped her head. “You are forgiven.”

“That is generous of you, my lady,” he acknowledged. “How is it that you are so quick to forgive?”

“Denying forgiveness would only hurt me, not you.”

Stephen stepped closer and offered his arm. “Allow me the privilege of showing you around the rest of the exhibit.”

“I would like that very much,” she said, accepting his arm.

Stephen pointed at a dagger and shared, “That is the dagger that killed Ramses the Third.”

“Truly?”

With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Stephen replied, “It is possible, but, quite frankly, I don’t even know how Ramses the Third died. Do you?”

Gemma giggled and brought a hand up to her lips. “You are a terrible guide.”

“You offend me,” Stephen said, placing a hand over his heart.

“I doubt you offend so easily.”

Stephen lowered his hand to his side. “Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful,” he said, quoting Shakespeare.

Gemma was pleased that Stephen was acting more like himself, but she knew she couldn’t ignore the other part of him that he was trying to hide from her. She would find a way to get him to confide in her.

As they started walking towards the next glass case, a rough-looking man, dressed in a plain brown jacket and matching trousers, approached Stephen and reared his fist back, hitting him squarely in the jaw.

Gemma gasped as Stephen staggered back, but he didn’t fall to the ground. He brought his hand up to his reddened jaw and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”

The man narrowed his eyes and pointed his finger angrily at him. “This is your only warning- Stay away from Lady Hawkinge.”

“Or what?” Stephen demanded as he moved to stand directly in front of the man.

“You don’t want to know, bloke,” the man replied. “But it ain’t pretty. My boss isn’t a patient man.”

A guard ran up to the ruffian and grabbed his arm. “You need to leave, now!” he ordered.

The man jerked his arm back. “I was just leaving.”

“Good,” Hugh said as he moved to stand next to Stephen. “Your kind is not welcome here.”

“My kind?” the man repeated back in disdain.

“The kind of man that would sneak up on someone and hit them without provocation. You have no honor,” Hugh said.

The man chortled. “This is coming from a man that frequents gambling hells.”

“I put that life behind me when I wed,” Hugh said.

“We shall see,” the man spat out. “You men are all the same. You just take and take, not caring for anyone but yourselves.”