Most of the people in the room smiled warmly.
Too late she thought she ought to have protested, with perhaps a playful little arm swat, somethingto the effect of “Nonsense. You are neither ugly nor a brute.”
She was no longer certain of the definition of either of those words. Her imagination had somehow not extended to the existence of a man like Lorcan St. Leger.
“And we’re so grateful to know you’ve a list of sensible rules. The missus loves rules,” he assured Delilah and Angelique.
Well. It wasn’t untrue.
“Opposites do tend to attract,” Captain Hardy said pleasantly.
Daphne went warily still.
“Indeed. I imagine that’s what attracted a countess to a blockade captain from St. Giles,” St. Leger countered just as pleasantly.
Both of them were smiling.
Neither of them were blinking.
Daphne’s stomach contracted as another infinitesimal silence formed and settled in.
It was like watching two people fence with silk rapiers. It seemed only a matter of time before someone was hurt.
Delilah turned to her husband again. She seemed as unsettled as Daphne was, which was proof that something was awry.
But Captain Hardy’s gaze remained fixed on Mr. St. Leger like a hound pointing at a hare.
Did Captain Hardy know how dangerous Mr. St. Leger could be?
He must know. Perhaps that was why he was watching him.
Daphne’s heart clogged her throat.
“My husband was indeed a blockade captain,” Mrs. Hardy told Daphne, proudly. Carefully. “And now he and Lord Bolt and our guest Mr. Delacorte are partners in an import endeavor called the Triton Group. They own their own ship.”
“Isn’t that a coincidence,” Lorcan said. “Twelve frightening and competent men call me captain now.”
There was a silence.
“You’re a privateer,” Captain Hardy said flatly.
He didn’t bother to disguise the emphasis on “you’re.”
“For the past three years. Quite a successful one.”
“For whom do you sail now that the war is over?”
“For England during the war. Now I’ve a commission from Argentina. I’m back in England to pay off the rest of my ship. She’ll be all mine.” He paused, and smiled. “She’s calledThe Rogue. A converted merchant ship outfitted with guns.”
“That’s how I met St. Leger. His crew helped us fight off pirates off the coast of Spain some years back,” Lord Bolt told everyone gathered.
Angelique gave a subtle little shudder at the notion of her husband fighting off pirates, while Delilah ventured to her husband, “Tristan... can we assume that you and Mr. St. Leger have also already met?”
Captain Hardy didn’t reply.
So Lorcan did. “Hardy and I first knew eachother when we were mere boys. Last time we met we shared a drink or two. Discussed the problems of the world. Seems a thousand years ago now, doesn’t it, Hardy?” Lorcan said pleasantly. Ironically.
“And somehow like only yesterday, too,” Captain Hardy replied.