My carriage pulled up at the Thompson residence just as another was leaving, too late for me to see who occupied it. But I had a feeling I would find out presently. Carter seemed weary when he opened the door, and I engaged him as he helped me off with my coat.

"How are you this afternoon, Carter?"

"Just fine. And you?"

"I am well. How is Alice? Did she injure herself terribly yesterday?"

He gave his head a solemn shake, causing my heart to leap into my throat. "She has been very brave, but I am afraid her ankle has been severely sprained."

"Oh, dear. Was she seen by a physician? Is that who just left in the coach?"

He blinked at me as if he didn't know what I was talking about. Then he seemed to comprehend. "No. A physician attended her last evening. Her ankle has been immobilized and she has been instructed to stay off her foot for four weeks if she wants to keep it healthy."

"Four weeks? She will nearly miss the winter ball season."

"I am afraid so. The admiral is quite put out. I fear Lord Kingsley's visit will prove challenging for all concerned."

Blast and bother.

There went any chance of winning the admiral's empathy. I held back a scowl as Carter ushered me into the sitting room where Alice reclined on the settee, just as I had envisioned her.

"Mistress Hayes! I am so glad you're here early." Alice waved me into the wingback across from her. "Did you see Mister Dalrymple? He just left. He insisted on staying in London to see that I was recovering properly. He has attended me since breakfast."

Ah. So, Mister Dalrymple was the mystery person occupying the coach. "Well, that was very considerate of him. How are you two getting along?"

Alice's face softened into a blush, and she directed her focus to her foot, which was bandaged and resting atop a decorative pillow. "Ben is a dear man. He didn't want to let go of my hand while we were on the ice. But I am stubborn, and I insisted he let me manage on my own." She pursed her lips as she glanced over to me. "Mother always used the word strong, but I knew she meant stubborn."

"Both traits can be turned into assets. I am glad to hear you and Mister Dalrymple have become friends."

"Yes. I do consider him a friend. But I am terribly nervous about engaging Lord Kingsley. What will he think of my current state? Will he believe me incapable? Will he dismiss me without a second thought?"

"If he dismisses you, he is not worth your concern."

She nodded into her chest. "I suppose you're right. I am worrying over nothing. It's father who seems to have taken this terrible turn of events so poorly. I believe he blames Mister Dalrymple for the accident, although that is not the case at all."

"Surely, your father appreciates the attention Mister Dalrymple has given you since the incident."

"Not so. He only believes Ben visited to assuage his guilt. I am not sure what else to do to convince him otherwise."

"I'm sorry. Perhaps a tin of iced biscuits will cheer you a wee bit."

Alice beamed as I pulled the tin from my reticule, and Captain Thompson chose that moment to walk into the room. He didn't stop until he was standing in front of me, bending onto one knee and gesturing for my hand. When I offered it, he kissed my gloved knuckles. "Good afternoon, Rose. You look especially lovely today. That yellow sash suits you."

I narrowed my gaze as I waited for the smirk to appear on his face, but he looked as serious as a preacher on a soapbox. "Thank you, Captain. You also look well."

He offered a polite smile as he stood and repositioned himself in the wingback next to mine, while Alice and I blinked at each other like cats in the dark. He was at it again, but there was no other person to put on affairs for. When the admiral appeared just then, I realized I had been wrong.

"Ah, Mistress Hayes. I am so pleased you were able to attend us today. We have had quite a time of late. I am sure Alice has filled you in about her accident."

"Good day, Admiral. It is a terrible shame about Alice. But she is young. I expect she will heal swiftly."

"If she had been attended more diligently, she would not be laid up in the sitting room nursing a damaged ankle. Mister Dalrymple was sorely remiss in his duties to protect her on the ice." Although the admiral seemed to be placing the blame on poor Ben, he looked directly at his son when he said this.

"I told you, Father," Alice broke in. "I insisted Ben...Mister Dalrymple let me skate on my own. And I was doing just fine until that branch got in my way."

The admiral puffed air through his lips, but his eyes softened as he addressed her. "A young lady should not be taking such risks. That is what chaperones are for." The room fell into silence, and I realized this was the opening I needed. I would reveal the truth before it was too late.

As I took in a fortifying breath, Captain Thompson leaped from his chair and extended his hand to me. "Mistress Hayes. May I have a word with you in the parlor?"

"Now? Can't it wait until after Lord Kingsley has paid his visit? He is due any time."

"I'm afraid it cannot wait. Please."

Oh, what now? If I were to refuse him, I would look foolish.

With a conceding nod, I accepted his hand and he led me out of the room with it. I had a good idea what the captain was up to, and I was curious to hear what kind of excuse he had come up with, this time.

"I am sorry for the abrupt request, Mistress Hayes," he said as he closed the parlor curtain behind us. "I have given serious thought to the matter of Lord Kingsley and what we discussed yesterday at Regency Park. I thought it was important to speak about it before his arrival."

"You have secured my full attention, Captain. What is so important?"

Clasping his hands behind his back, he began to pace the small room, while I remained standing with my back to the curtain. "I do not like the idea of the lord courting Alice if he has been sending missives to you. Tell me, has he given you the impression he intends to take you as a courtesan?"

I rolled my eyes, wishing it was me laid up on the settee receiving sympathy not interrogations. "Yes. And I plan to refuse him because of Alice. I, too, have serious reservations about condoning their courtship knowing the lord plans to take a courtesan...regardless of who it is."

"Agreed. Which is why I have decided to encourage Alice to give Ben a fair chance at winning her affection. I know Alice is quite capable of telling a boy to shove off if she wants to do something herself. I have experienced this first-hand."

"How do you propose to encourage her?"

He let a fiendish grin take over his features as he stopped his pacing to look at me. "I thought we could contrive some method for making Lord Kingsley look bad. Not today, of course. What with everything else that's..."

"We? I will have nothing to do with any more of your clandestine plans, Captain. However, I will not reveal you should you decide to take the matter into your own hands." I grinned, in spite of myself, and the returning smile he offered could have melted the ice from a thousand year old glacier. Still, was it really necessary to drag me into the parlor without warning for this?

"So, now that we have settled that matter," I went on. "Let us call the admiral in and we will have our chat."

His ice-melting smile turned cold, and he began his pacing again as he glanced out the window. No doubt, he was wishing the young lord's carriage would pull up and interrupt us. "Fine. But I won't be held responsible for the admiral's reaction."

"You most certainly will. It was your brilliant idea that brought us here."

"And we don't have to manage it just minutes before the lord arrives for dinner."

At my wits end, I threw my hands in the air. "You, Captain, are the most stubborn, reckless..." I paused to think of something more and he quickly interjected.

"Irresponsible?"

"Yes. The most irresponsible man I have ever met."

"Am I really the most stubborn? I'm sure you have met more stubborn men than me. And what makes me reckless?"

I tried to come up with a reply when I noticed him trying to conceal a smirk, and I knew it was another trick to delay us. "You know what? Let's not tell the admiral today. If everything blows up in our faces, we will deal with the consequences together. I just hope, for Alice's sake, it doesn't cause her too much pain or embarrassment."

I spun on my heels and stormed out of the parlor, nearly colliding with the admiral as he stood at a bookcase, pulling a text from the shelf. As we regarded each other, he spoke. "What won't you tell the admiral today?"

Blast!

Jules arrived at the parlor entry, looking white as a ghost, and I turned to him, feeling certain my cheeks were just as blanched. "Well, sir..." Jules began hesitantly. "We didn't want to add another worry to your already full plate. What with Alice injuring her ankle..."

"If my plate is already full, one more thing won't make a difference."

A sober exchange passed between the admiral and his son, and I swallowed hard, knowing the captain might say just about anything to get himself out of this pickle. "Very well. Rose and I have decided to sever our courtship. There are no hard feelings, and we will remain friends."

While I tried not to react surprised by Captain Thompson's honest reply, the admiral surveyed us both with a wary eye. "Based on the shouting I heard from the parlor, it sounds to me like neither of you know how a courtship works. There will always be disagreements to be figured out. Why don't you both think on things before you jump to any rash decisions. And let us try to have a nice visit with Lord Kingsley...for Alice's sake."

Despite the fact our original plan did not come to fruition, the situation felt tenuous enough that I dared not protest. Instead, I nodded my agreement. At least, Jules started the process of coming clean rather than piling on another lie. Carter appeared just then, straightening his jacket as he made for the front door.

"Lord Kingsley's coach has arrived," he said on his way past.

Jules practically raced ahead of him. "Don't trouble yourself, Carter. I'll handle this."

"But...Captain. This is quite irregular. He's a lord who..."

"Who I am acquainted with." Jules snatched the handle, flung the door open, and strode determinedly outside.

I offered the admiral an innocent shrug, and he shook his head. "I'm afraid he has always been headstrong and impulsive, Mistress Hayes. I hope, eventually, you will learn to see past his many faults."

While I knew the captain had just flouted noble protocol by sprinting toward the coach to forewarn Lord Kingsley about our delicate situation, I did not believe he had that many faults. Some of them he had admitted to, and I felt compelled to defend him to his father. "He has plenty of good traits to help balance the scales, sir."

A half-smile graced the admiral's statuesque features as he ushered me back into the sitting room, and when Jules arrived with his honourable guest, Lord Kingsley appeared to have received an earful. More precisely, he looked as if he had passed a specter on his way to the house, and he glanced uncertainly around the room, avoiding eye contact with me altogether. His gaze finally landed on the admiral with a palpable thud.

"Admiral Thompson. It is a great pleasure to meet you." He reached his hand out for a shake, which seemed irregular for a nobleman. But I had come to learn that Lord Kingsley was not one for rigid protocol.

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Kingsley. As you are our first guest of noble standing, please let us know if there is anything we miss along the way."

"I do not require additional pomp and circumstance. Just pleasant company." Still ignoring me, Lord Kingsley then turned to Alice and lowered to a bended knee. "Dear Alice. I heard what happened on the ice yesterday, and I want to extend my deepest regrets for your injury. Do not worry. I have every hope our visit will be agreeable."

Alice beamed, fanning her already pink cheeks. "I am so glad to hear that. I must admit, I was worried."

The lord slipped into the wingback beside Alice, and their banter proceeded pleasantly from there. The admiral took up a commanding position in the wingback opposite the lord, interjecting when the conversation allowed, while Captain Thompson and I were forced to share a chaise lounge that kept us in quite close proximity. I desperately wanted to know what transpired when he met Lord Kingsley's carriage, as the young lord's avoidance of me slowly and surely became obvious by the time dinner was called.

During the meal, the lord was finally forced to acknowledge me when Alice mentioned my friendship as something she treasured dearly. But, even then, he only bowed his head politely, hardly daring to meet my gaze. By some miracle, the admiral never made mention of Jules and my courtship, and afterward, he dominated the lord's time by sharing a book of naval battles he had taken from his collection, giving Alice time to rest on the settee.

When the endless visit finally came to a close, and the admiral retired to his study, Jules and I stayed with Alice to discuss her opinion of the events.

"He was terribly attentive, wasn't he?" she said as a blush coloured her skin. Although, truth be told, her face had remained perpetually flushed during most of the lord's visit. "Should he be inclined to court me, it will be a difficult choice to make between him and Mister Dalrymple."

"What makes you think Mister Dalrymple will ask to court you?" Jules's enquiry had Alice focusing on her feet.

"I didn't want to tell anyone before the lord paid his visit, but Ben has already made his courtship intentions known to me. He was being polite, allowing Lord Kinglsey to attend me before I made my choice."

I knew my shock had to be as obvious as the captain's, but his smirk broke through as if he hadn't even tried to restrain himself. "Indeed? And what are your initial thoughts on the matter?"

"Oh. Well... I don't know whether Lord Kingsley will propose courtship, yet." Alice was still staring at her feet as she offered her reply in a distant voice. "But if he does... Oh, dear. I just couldn't say." She glanced up, giving us both a searching look. "I would have to weigh the risks versus the rewards. I am not ignorant to the ways a nobleman conducts himself after marriage."

"What ways are you eluding to, Alice?" Jules leaned forward in his chair, pinning her with a brotherly, if not over-protective, stare. To which Alice responded with a firm head shake.

"Will you never consider me an adult, brother? I know things that would curl your hair."

"Like what?" His voice rose, and when his eyes landed on me, I returned the favor. Did he think I was responsible for Alice's greater than average knowledge of life's less-refined truths?

"Calm down, Jules. Mother shared many things with me so I wouldn't be surprised or taken advantage of when it was time for me to marry. Parents do their daughters a terrible disservice by keeping their minds innocent. A whole bushel of problems can arise when those naïve women are released into the care of an equally ill-prepared man."

By the end of Alice's discourse, Jules mouth was hanging fully open, and a smirk grew on my lips as I watched him process his sister's words. The only regret I felt was that I had not met the siblings' mother before she passed.

"It seems I have been left sorely out of the loop," he said. "And, all this time, I thought you needed chaperoning. Perhaps, I should invite you to the sparring ring. If a man does not suit your fancy, you can punch him in the chops."

Alice scowled at her brother. "Stop acting so petty. I like when you chaperone me. I enjoy being your sister. But I refuse to be dependent on a man to make decisions for me. As for Lord Kingsley, I am not fooled by his charm or his interest in my intelligence. In fact, my intelligence will likely help me decide whether he is worthy of my interest."

I wore an unrestrained smile as Alice and I shared a kindred exchange, while Jules took to shaking his head in apparent puzzlement. Surely, he knew his sister was unlike most pampered women. Or was this the moment when she had proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt?

"I think it's time I took my leave." I prepared to stand, and Jules shot out of his chair to offer his hand. I glanced around to find no other bodies present. "You can dispense with the courtly manners, Captain."

"Please, Mistress Hayes. Do you think I have no manners at all?" He held his lips tight, which was not so unusual. But I feared I had injured his feelings this time.

"I apologize. That came out sounding worse than I meant it. Will you walk me to my carriage?"

He appeared to recover, although his relief did not reach his lips, and I bid Alice farewell as Jules ushered me to the door. "I hope the afternoon was not too unpleasant for you," he said as he helped me on with my coat.

"It turned out fine, although I have been wondering what you said to Lord Kingsley to have him behaving as if I had the plague."

His demeanor swiftly changed to something I recognized as apprehension. Or maybe it was guilt. "I told him not to mention your profession or give any indication you two knew each other in the context that you do. I may have come across more forceful to his ears, which likely accounts for his severe reaction."

"So, he knows you are aware of the missives?"

"I did not speak of them outright, but I had no control of his interpretation of our exchange."

I clenched my teeth, stopping whatever angry sentiment my mind tried to conjure. This man never failed to confound me. "I suppose it was a blessing your father did not mention our courtship. I held my breath every time he spoke. Perhaps, he didn't bring it up because he thought he overheard a lover's quarrel in the parlor."

"Yes. Perhaps." The captain's eyebrows tweaked, and he held my gaze quite pointedly as we arrived at the walk beside the carriage. What was going through that head of his? "It almost makes me think we should court just to avoid all this confusion."

Saints preserve us.

"You cannot be serious."

Again, he looked as if I had insulted him. "Why can't I? It wouldn't take much to manage. We would merely have to increase the number of times we see each other, and you would resort to occupying your benefactors in the privacy of your home."

"First of all, I do not always have a say in where my benefactors wish to be entertained. And, just so I am clear, if this modified courtship does not involve the traditional courtship activities, I do not see how that is any different than what we are doing now."

"Unless, there were traditional courtship activities involved."

I blinked several times. It was unclear how many. "What, exactly, are your suggesting as courtship activities?"

The captain's lips tightened again, and I watched a whole array of emotions pass over his features before he reached for the door to the carriage and swung it open. "I believe I spoke out of turn, Mistress Hayes. Forget I suggested it. This has been a long day."

I remained firmly in front of him on the walk. I needed a moment to read the situation correctly. And, if my gut had it right, the captain did, indeed, have feelings for me and was at a loss for how to manage them. The other grand question was... How did I feel about it? "Would you like to escort me to church this Sunday? It would help with our charade. And, moreover, I would enjoy the company."

"May I enquire if it is merely the company you would enjoy? Or is it my company?"

With a sigh that I dearly hoped he did not take poorly, I smiled at him. "I enjoy your company, Captain Thompson. You rarely fail to amuse me, as well as exasperate me. And what is a relationship without a few disagreements to be figured out."

His signature smirk appeared, and he nodded his head. "Agreed. I will come round your residence with a carriage on Sunday morn. And, perhaps, we could take dinner at McCaffrey's on the Thames afterward. They have a superb shepherd's pie."

"I would enjoy that."

I stepped into the carriage, allowing the captain to shut the door, and our gazes remained locked on one another until the coach had traveled beyond the shrubbery to block our view. What exactly was going on here? Was this the beginning of a what they called infatuation? I hated to think what might become of our friendship given our professions. Surely, this was something that needed to be stopped before it got out of hand. Or, possibly, it had already progressed that far.