Page 10 of A Game of Scandal

“Izzy,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

CHAPTER FIVE

“What am I doing here?” exclaimed Izzy, dressed as a young boy in worn, faded clothing, and she folded her arms across her chest. “What are you doing here?” She swung to face Ash, her expression furious. “And why are you” – she jabbed a finger towards him – “manhandling her?”

“Would we call it manhandling?” Ash quirked a brow.

“Yes, we would, you absolute menace,” Izzy said fiercely, stomping towards us. “I swear, Ash, you are the biggest flirt in all of England.”

“Please, Isobel.” Ash grinned. “Let’s not limit this to England, it’s insulting; I was a sailor, you know.” He winked at me, and Izzy growled. I feared she was spending too much time with my brother.

Clearly seeing there was no immediate threat (from me, at least; Izzy looked like she was about to start spitting fire), Davey slipped back out to the hallway, and another figure sauntered through the doorway in his place. He was a slightly older man and the picture of elegance, his dark hair was swept back from a long, handsome face. He took in the sight of me and Ash – my hair dishevelled, my cheeks flushed, the gold mask lying at my feet – and let out a put-upon sigh.

I was getting the distinct impression that I was not the first girl to be caught in Ash’s office in a state of … dishevelment. I found this information intriguing. I was not a prude, and it always seemed to me a much better idea to kiss someone who had had plenty of practice. I felt a shiver again at the thought of kissing Ash, it was a possibility that warranted further consideration. I pressed my lips together, and his eyes dropped to my mouth, then lifted, heat in his gaze.

“Just … stop that!” Izzy reached out for Ash’s arm, yanking him back and away from me.

“Stop what?” Ash asked innocently.

“You’re … you’re smouldering at her,” Izzy said.

“She smouldered at me first,” Ash protested.

“Did I?” I asked. I turned to Izzy apologetically. “I was considering whether or not it would be worth kissing him, and it must have just happened.”

Ash gave a delighted shout of laughter, while Izzy raised her hands to her short brown wig and made a sound of frustration. “You shouldn’t be thinking about kissing anyone, Felicity. Especially not that man.”

“Felicity, is it?” Ash’s eyes swept over me. “From the Latin for ‘good fortune’. Looks like you really are set to be my good-luck charm.”

The elegant man’s reaction was different. He stepped forward, his mouth tightening.

“Not Felicity Vane?” he asked, his voice soft and somehow all the more dangerous for it. At Izzy’s answering nod, he let out a groan. “Oh, wonderful, Ash – that’s absolutely perfect.”

“Now, Joe…” Ash began soothingly, but he was cut short by Joe’s glare.

“Don’t you now, Joe me, you blockhead,” Joe snapped. “You know how things have been lately. We’ve quite enough to deal with without—”

“What are you dealing with?” Izzy asked keenly.

“A few minor supply issues,” Ash interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. “And a handful of card sharps descending on the place. Nothing to worry about. The Penny is doing well so they were always bound to turn up. I took care of it.”

“But we don’t need further complications,” Joe continued. “I’m going to let you be the one to explain to the Duke of Roxton why you were alone in your office with his sister in the middle of the night.”

“Yes.” Izzy looked smug. “I think Max is going to have one or two things to say to you.”

“That’s quite enough,” I snapped, annoyed now.

All three of them turned to me.

“No one is telling Max anything. What happened here is none of his business.” I glared, first at Izzy and then at Joe. “Nor is it any of yours. I am an eighteen-year-old woman, and – according to several of the world’s leading mathematicians – one of the most promising minds of my generation, not that anyone in my life acts like it. I am not a child to be coddled, and I’m certainly not a possession to be guarded by my big brother. It is insulting.”

Here I treated Izzy to a hard stare and she had the decency to look ashamed.

“I will think about kissing whomever I like. In fact,” I continued, “I have made it a practice to kiss whomever I choose, whenever I choose, and I have never once felt the need to take my brother’s opinion on the matter into consideration, nor my sister-in-law’s, nor that of any other stranger wholly unconnected with me.”

I had, in fact, engaged in my own research on the subject with enthusiasm. I thought about the soft, lush kisses I’d shared with Lady Julia Farnworth – as well as the surprisingly passionate embraces with Mr Jones, the quiet lawyer’s clerk who had visited Max a time or two – and smiled.

Ash grabbed my hand, lifting it to his lips. “Marry me.”