I stood and crossed the crowded tavern to the door, my heart thundering. Cool air washed over me as I stepped outside. The rain had lessened to a drizzle, but water ran from the eaves and gurgled in a nearby creek, filling the night with sound. The chariot drivers awaited us by a barn in the distance, the smoke of their pipes rising into the darkness. Duncan’s voice came from the other direction, around the tavern. Angry, but still controlled.

I crept closer, choosing my footsteps with care, till I was almost at the corner and could hear him perfectly.

“Why is it so difficult for you to comprehend ‘confidential’?”

“I was being confidential!” replied the nasal man. “I called him ‘Monk’! Who’ll ever guess anything from that?”

“Fool.” There was a grunt. The sound of a body thudding against brick. “Speak another word about any of this and it won’t be punishment you suffer, Rattoon. I’ll have your life. Are we in understanding?”

A wheezing cough. “Yes! Bloody hell, Lieutenant. My head!”

“Your head is indeed a problem. Be gone—and never let me see you this drunk again.”

I scurried back, hurrying for the tavern door.

Halfway there, I knew I’d cut it too close.

I whirled just as Duncan rounded the corner and stepped into view. He looked up, his eyes tight with fury, then wide with surprise. “Miss Coates. What are you doing out here?”

“You left without saying goodbye and I—I wanted to say goodbye.” I looked up, wincing. “I didn’t expect it to still be raining, though.” I looked at my slippers. “Or so muddy.”

Duncan rushed over and offered his arm, his gallantry instinctive, just as I’d hoped. He drew me under the eaves, and right in time as the rain picked up. “How long have you been out here?”

“Not as long as you. You’re soaked.”

“I had to deal with something.” He looked toward where he’d been with Rattoon.

My hand was still on his arm. I tugged him toward me. “Your coat. You’re getting wet.”

“Shall we go inside?” he asked.

“Or just…come closer.” I drew him in till he was only inches away. He looked down at my petticoats pooling around his legs. Then his eyes lifted to mine and I knew, without a shred of doubt, that I was now the sole object of his thoughts. “Must you really go soon?”

My entire body felt energized. Terrified by him. Drawn to him. The grittiness I’d just witnessed only made him more appealing. Less like every other pampered dandy.

“Not yet. When Major André summons.” His gaze roamed my face and came to the scar on my eyebrow. “What happened there?”

“I fell when I was younger.” Asa Lane had no place here now.

Duncan was silent a moment. “Would that I could go back in time and catch you.”