The Lady Plays Her Ace (The Langley Sisters) (3 page)

"If you want more, my lady, then go out and get it."

Ace, like her, was now watching the ring. They stood shoulder to shoulder, her face level with his, and he was aware of everything about her—her breathing, the brush of her sleeve against his, the flick of a wrist. Any movement she made, he felt. He should get her out of here; it would be the right thing to do.

"Spoken with the arrogance of freedom, Mr. Dillinger." She turned her head, her gray eyes now inches from his, and he could feel them on the side of his face.

"If I had an ego, Lady Althea, you would certainly have shriveled it." Ace turned to meet her gaze, his eyes roaming her features, noting the color high in her cheeks and soft pink of her lips. "I'm both an idiot, and arrogant."

"Yes, well," she said, "you speak as if I have choices." Her face had suddenly become serious.

"You have more than many," he replied.

With those words, their attention was drawn to the ring once more and Ace was able to haul in a deep breath. He kept Lady Althea close to his side, and as they were at the rear it was now dark enough that no one would see them unless they were really looking.

"I understand that only the inclement weather has forced this fight inside. Usually it would take place in the open, Mr. Dillinger?" she asked after the fighters had been introduced.

"Yes, the fights are usually outside."

"And will the ring be the same size?"

"Yes, the ring is approximately an eight foot square and each fighter will have a knee man and a bottle man. The latter holds the water, a sponge and an orange, should the boxer require it." Ace went on to answer the questions she asked, and was surprised by her knowledge.

"Ted is not an overly talkative man, and although I have coaxed many things out of him I had not heard of a knee man?" She was leaning towards Ace, and he inhaled again, enjoying her scent.

"He is the man who will step into the ring and offer his knee between rounds, and the boxer will sit on it."

"Really." She looked at him again. "I’m sure your knee man had to be quite strong, Mr. Dillinger."

"The fights I had were not civilized enough to have knee men, my lady."

The match was even, as he had predicted, and the boxers traded blows throughout the first round. It was towards the end of the second that he heard Lady Althea’s hiss of breath after one of the men took a punch to the nose and blood started to flow. Looking at her, he noted she was paler, her eyes wide, mouth open slightly and her fists were clenched.

"I think that’s enough for you." Lifting her off the box, he motioned to the footman. "Ted, lead the way out please."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he then urged her to follow and she did not resist, but they had managed no more than a couple of paces before Ace saw the brawl erupt before them.

"Ted, stand at your lady's back and let me through," Ace said as the roar of voices rose. The footman immediately did as he was asked and Ace moved to the front.

"What is happening?" Lady Althea tried to peer around him but he urged her back out of sight.

"Stay as close to my back as you can, Lady Althea. In fact, grab a fistful of my coat and do not let go!"

Relieved when he felt two small hands grip the heavy wool, Ace started forward. She was covered on two sides now, and they would keep the rear of the building to her exposed side until they reached the doorway.

"Step aside!" Ace said to a man who had stumbled into his path. When the idiot did not move quickly enough, Ace grabbed his collar and bodily threw him out of the way.

"Are you all right, Lady Althea?" He had to yell as the roar of voices had risen. Some were still focused on the fight in the ring, others encouraging the brawl before them.

"Yes, Mr. Dillinger."

Relieved that her voice sounded steady enough, Ace kept walking and pushing men to one side until the door was in sight, and it was then disaster struck. The hands at his back were wrenched free. Turning, he saw Lady Althea trip, as Ted stumbled into her. Two men were wrestling and had bumped the footman, causing him to fall, taking his mistress with him.

"My lady!" Ted reached for her, but she still hit the ground, landing hard on her shoulder.

Ace reached her seconds later, lifting her into his arms. "It's all right. I have you," He pulled her into the safety of his chest. He felt her arms wrap around his neck and hold him tight, as he started moving once more. Her heart thumped hard and Ace was sure his did the same. The thought of her being hurt enraged him. She could have been trampled by men who saw nothing but the need to swing a fist. Most had consumed a tankard or two, enough to make them irrational, and he would have never forgiven himself had anything happened to her.

"Are you there, Ted?" Ace heard a curse and then confirmation that the footman was once again at his back.

Ace held Lady Althea with one arm while he forced his way towards the door, and managed a smile when she kicked out with one of her dainty feet and got a man in the nose, making him howl in pain. When they reached the doorway, he hurried through and continued walking until they were clear of any men. Only then did he release her, lowering her slowly to the ground, his hands holding her waist until she felt steady. He then watched as she lifted her face to the sky and inhaled deeply.

"Are you all right, my lady?"

"Yes, Ted, thank you. I had just not expected it to be quite so…"

"Brutal?" Ace offered.

"Yes." She lowered her head and looked at him.

"Is the lady all right, Sir?"

Ace nodded to his driver as he appeared. "She is."

"Shall I get the carriage, Sir?"

"Yes, thank you, Riff."

"Where is your carriage, my lady?" Ace touched her elbow.

"W-we hired transportation." Her voice was unsteady and she was pale. Ace suspected her hands shook also; however, those she had tucked behind her back.

"Then I shall drive you home," he added, taking her arm." She did not argue, which told Ace more than any words could.

They stood in silence until his carriage appeared, and Ace noted that one of the satin ribbons that held her bonnet in place was torn and her skirts where dirty as were the fingers of her pale leather gloves.

"Are you sure you are unhurt, my lady?"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Dillinger." Her words were precise and indicated she did not wish to discuss the matter further, so Ace kept quiet…for now.

Riff arrived with the carriage. Ted climbed up to sit beside his driver, and Ace opened the door and helped Lady Althea inside.

CHAPTER TWO

He took the seat opposite and studied her. She was looking out the window with her lower lip trapped between her teeth. She worried it and Ace saw the emotions chase across her face as she thought about what she had seen. Lady Althea had probably just endured one of the most frightening moments of her life, yet she had not fallen into hysterics. Instead, she had chosen to remain silent and controlled, when he was sure inside she was in turmoil.

"The thing is, Mr. Dillinger, I have always thought of myself as a rational person, not some simple minded, fluffy headed girl who makes silly statements, rash decisions and faints at the sight of violence," she said, still looking out the window, although her voice was steadier now. "My brother told me something that unsettled me on the journey here, and when I saw the advertisement I thought that it would be the very thing to take my mind off this news."

"Nothing serious, I hope?" Ace said.

"For no one but I, Mr. Dillinger, and something that I hope to find a resolution for shortly," she added and Ace wondered what she was referring to but did not push the matter, as he had no right to do so.

"Believe it or not, I thought through my attendance here today quite extensively, I assure you. I worked through the pros and cons, and even though Ted tried to dissuade me from attending, I refused to consider his words, believing I knew what I was about."

He’d only seen Lady Althea a handful of times—four, perhaps five—but at each, Ace had noted her spirit. She never looked cowed, never giggled in the fluffy headed way she had just described, yet now she looked beaten. Her slender shoulders were slumped and her face sad, and seeing that torn ribbon dangling from her bonnet made him furious. Inhaling a deep steadying breath, he reined in his rage. Moving along the seat, he placed a hand on hers.

"Sometimes you have to listen to those around you, my lady. Of course it is never easy to do so; however, in my experience those who care for us most often have the right way of things."

Her gray eyes were clouded as they caught and held his, and Ace felt his chest tighten at the look.

"My brothers often say things like that to me, Mr. Dillinger, and I ignore them," she said softly. "It appears that in the future I may have to at least take them into consideration."

Ace felt the smile tug at his lips again. "I would not let them know you are thinking that way, however, my lady. It would not do to inflate their already considerable egos."

"There is that," she said, trying for a smile of her own but failing. "And in all likelihood, once my spirits have returned I will continue on as I always have."

"I'm shuddering at the thought," he said.

"I feel a fool, Mr. Dillinger, for what I have just done. I had believed I knew all there was to know about boxing, believed that because I had punched a bag stuffed with rags and my brothers a time or two that I was now knowledgeable about what took place in a boxing ring between two men, and yet I was not. Nor was I ready for the other fight to break out before us. I had not even considered that eventuality."

"I’m sorry that the experience you have longed for did not meet your expectations," Ace said, still squeezing the fingers beneath his. They were delicate, and swallowed up by his larger workingman’s hands. He had no right to be this close to her, touching her so intimately, yet he could not make himself release her. She would pull away from him soon, when she was once more herself. Pull away and never return, and that, Ace thought, would be a very good thing.

"Thank you for not saying anything further about my foolish behavior, Mr. Dillinger, and thank you for rescuing me when I was about to get trampled. I am sure you have seen your share of silly noblewomen and now I am to be counted in their ranks. Were one of my brothers seated where you are, he would have pointed out in great detail what an idiot I have been."

"They love you, my lady, and anything they do or say is based upon that fact."

"So they always tell me, just before they are about to deliver a lecture." She sighed again.

"Had you no one to lecture you then you would wish for it, my lady, with all your heart," Ace added.

She tilted her head slightly, studying him as if she could read his thoughts. She could not, of course; Ace had learned long ago how to hide.

"Do you have no one to take you to task, Mr. Dillinger?" She leant forward as she spoke, closing the distance between them in the small confines of the carriage. Her face looked concerned now, as if the fact that he had no one to take him to task upset her in some way, which of course was ridiculous, Ace realized. Why would this woman feel anything for him?

"I have eight siblings, my lady, so as you can imagine, any one of them is more than ready to take me to task should they think I require it. Then there are my parents, who do so regularly."

Surprise flashed across her face at his words.

"Did you believe me an orphan, Lady Althea?"

"No, I had no notion of your family life, Mr. Dillinger. Nevertheless, even my wildest guess could not have come up with quite so many siblings. I can imagine growing up in your household was quite chaotic."

Ace snorted, which was probably an ill-mannered thing to do in front of such a woman, but the sound best fit the moment. "Our house was probably smaller than your bedroom, my lady, so as you can imagine chaotic is a polite term."

"I would kill my brothers were I forced to live in such close confines with them, Mr. Dillinger."

She made him smile again. The woman always said exactly what she was thinking, even when perhaps she should not. Not many woman of her standing were that way. Most just said what they thought a person needed to hear.

"We had our moments," was all Ace said. "However, I was not there that long, so I had only to cope for a few years."

Twelve, to be precise,
Ace thought, remembering the day he’d walked away from his home without his family’s knowledge and not returned for many years.

"Why?"

Because my family could not afford to feed me.

"It matters not why, my lady." Ace brushed her question aside. "What matters at this moment is that you are indeed unhurt and are not telling me falsehoods."

She gave him another steady look but did not pursue the matter of his family.

"I will have a small bruise on my shoulder by morning, but it will be nothing in comparison to the sizeable one on my ego. Therefore, I assure you I am quite unharmed."

"I am relieved."

Ace watched the line form down her forehead as she frowned. "I am not usually such a faint-hearted woman, Mr. Dillinger."