Susan Carroll (54 page)

"I was but noticing your sword. So few
gentlemen wear them nowadays, especially not to a ball."

"The streets of your fair city are teeming
with danger for the unwary. I wear the sword.for protection. It
also provides an excellent deterrent for the overly curious."

Was that meant to be a warning to her?
Phaedra arched her neck and stared defiantly up at him. "Yes, I
daresay curiosity could be a nuisance to a man who had something to
hide."

Before she could prevent it, he cupped her
chin firmly between his long, powerful fingers. There was nowhere
else for her to look except into the hypnotic depths of those eyes
peering at her through the slits of the mask.

"Your grandfather described you to me as a
young woman with an excessively inquisitive nature. It would have
been far better if you had taken my advice and remained in Bath.
But now that you are here, I suspect you are intelligent enough to
understand me when I say how very much I dislike anyone trying to
interfere with my affairs."

Phaedra struck his hand aside. "As much as I
dislike anyone interfering with mine! So monsieur, I strongly
advise you to keep your opinions about widows to yourself and stay
away from my grandfather. Otherwise I might be obliged to-to-"

"Yes?" he prompted.

"To find some way to be rid of you," she
said,

For the first time that evening, Armande
smiled, a smile nowise reflected in the dangerous depths of his
eyes.

"How amusing," he drawled, in a voice silken
with menace. "I was thinking exactly the same thing about you."