Katherine Brandon

"I must admit we gave those vendors a scene they shan't soon forget," Lydia said with a smile. "I'd wager we resembled Quasimodo and
Esmeralda racing to the bell tower."

Captain St. Clair quirked a brow. "Who?"

"Quasimodo and Esmeralda. They're characters from a story, Notre-Dame de Paris. Quasimodo was a horribly deformed man who lived in the
Cathedral at Notre-Dame. He fell in love with the beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda." The heat returned to her cheeks full-force when she realized how
ridiculous the analogy was. "I didn't mean you were--"

He grinned but shook his head. "Right now, I probably do resemble this Quasimodo fellow. But your Frenchman, no doubt, smelled better."

"We'll have you clean again soon enough." But first they needed to put as much distance between themselves and Newgate Prison as possible.
"Rajit promised to have a hot tub filled and ready when you returned."

He grasped her arm and pulled her up short. "Rajit? My cabin boy?"

She nodded.

"When did you see him?"

"This afternoon when I boarded South Star to retrieve my valise. How do you think I learned about your arrest?"

He shrugged. From the lines around his eyes and mouth, she surmised he hadn't even considered the thought until this very moment.
"I assumed the detectives found you."

"Oh, yes, of course," she said with enough sarcasm to bite through lead. "With your detailed description, they knew immediately to whom you
referred. After all, how many chubby brown mice live in Regent's Park?"

"I'm sorry about that." But he didn't meet her gaze when he offered the apology. Instead, he focused on some image above her head.

"Don't be." She waved him off and walked a bit faster to put some distance between them. "I'm quite accustomed to being dismissed as
insignificant."

He caught up to her in two strides. "I never thought you insignificant. I just never got a good look at you is all."

"Oh?" She stopped to stare up at him and folded her arms over her chest. "Well, now that you've had a 'good look' at me, what would you tell the
detectives if they asked you to describe me?"

His eyes narrowed in scrutiny and traveled from her head to her feet in one long, steady sweep until her skin itched with discomfort. "I'd tell them
to look for a woman of incredible courage. She has more fire simmering in her heart than most men I know, but she hides it beneath a padded
gown and a ridiculous little hat." He leaned close and flicked a finger at the brim of her bonnet. "And I'd tell them they must find her with all
possible haste, because she is someone I wish to know better."

Unable to help herself, she scanned his face for any indication he teased her. His eyes remained serious. And when she looked at his lips for a
hint of a grin, she couldn't catch her breath. Her mind filled with thoughts of how she might feel if he pressed those lips against her flesh. The
sparkle she'd felt when he touched her waist returned, but with increased fervor as if she'd become gripped with fever.

Get hold of yourself, girl. A man as handsome as Captain St. Clair would never be interested in kissing a woman he considers a chubby brown
mouse. He's only trying to soothe your hurt feelings. Have you learned nothing? Charming men are dangerous and must be avoided.

"Wh-what more would you wish to know about me?"

"Your name for a start. Is there a given name for Miss Winchester?"

She was struck dumb by his features. How could a man look so incredibly beautiful? He had a face meant to make angels weep at his perfection.
Strong forehead, eyes that sparkled like emeralds, high cheekbones and a smooth, cuppable chin all lay beneath a mane of rich hair the color of
deep mahogany.

"Lydia," she finally said aloud. "My name is Lydia."

"Well, Miss Lydia Winchester," he said, taking her arm as if they strolled along a flower-framed path in Regent's Park. "Why don't you tell me
how you and your father orchestrated my release from Newgate?"

"My father had nothing to do with it," she said with a grimace. Her shoulders still ached from the blows, and beneath her skin, her muscles
screamed at the injustice heaped upon them over the last several hours. "That's why I pushed you into the gutter when I saw him approaching."