She lifted her reticule. “Because they provide weight in case I’m accosted. I have a small dagger hidden away behind the waistband of my skirt and a knife tucked into my boot.”

“Do you know how to use them?”

“Quite effectively, actually. While my siblings have always sought to protect me, they also knew I lived in the rookeries and they couldn’t watch over me every hour of every day. So they taught me how to look after myself. I do hope I didn’t damage your skull. You have a rather nicely shaped head, and I’d hate knowing I made you lopsided.”

He laughed, the sound deep and rich, echoing around her, through her, taking up residence in her soul.

“Miss Trewlove, you are . . . I am beyond words. Still, I can’t allow you to traipse off into an unsavory part of London.”

Penny gaffs were generally found in the poorer sections of London. “Again, Mr. Sommersby, you are not in a position to allow me to do anything.”

He shrugged. “I suppose I shall have to pop into the hotel to let your brother know.”

A fissure of fury swept through her. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I can’t help but believe that if something unpleasant were to happen to you and he found out I let you go off unaccompanied that he’d have my head.”

“Don’t be daft. He’s not going to find out.”

“People are wandering about. I’m certain one or two have made note of our conversing. Word is likely to get back to your brother, and I will have no defense for allowing you to go off alone.”

Why was he insisting upon accompanying her? After this afternoon, she’d fully expected him to avoid her at all costs. She was on the verge of screaming like a shrew. “Mr. Sommersby, it would be inappropriate for me to be seen with a man without benefit of a chaperone.”

“What are the odds you’ll run into anyone you know?”

“Oh, one in a thousand, I should think, but—”

“Thus we’re unlikely to be seen or recognized by anyone of importance.”

“True, but—”

“You’ve also had dinner with a gentleman without benefit of chaperone.”

He had her there, but still she felt a need to argue. “I was not having dinner with a gentleman. He was merely making use of the chair at my table.”

He flashed a grin, so devastatingly perfect that she would be content to spend the rest of her life saying things that would bring forth that smile. “Semantics.”

“I would further argue that Becky, nay the entire staff, served to chaperone that dinner.”