The Firebird

But hearing Mrs Hewitt and the others speak so rudely of him, Anna felt her temper rise in answer to it. Keeping her reaction in control, she calmly paid her honours to the other women as she passed, then raised her chin with new determination as she crossed the grass.

He turned his head, and watched her come towards him, with no alteration of his stance or his expression. She could see, then, why he had not wished to burden General Lacy’s reputation by his presence at the banquet, for the skin across his cheekbone had been split and badly bruised.

She saw the light of curiosity flash briefly in his eyes as she approached him; watched it change to dark amusement as she spoke.

‘Mr O’Connor.’

‘Mistress Jamieson.’ His head inclined politely.

In a voice that carried clearly, she said, ‘I am sent to fetch you, for the Empress has herself expressed a fond desire to meet you, having heard so much about you from the general and his wife.’

Whatever he’d expected her to say, it was not that. She saw the visible suppression of a smile, the smallest twitch along the hard length of his jawline, but he did not answer straight away, and standing there she felt an echo of the feelings she’d had standing at the Calais gate and waiting to discover whether Gordon would indulge her or expose her, for depending on the way that Edmund answered Anna knew she could so easily be made to look a fool.

He paused, and seemed to weigh his choices. Though he did not look beyond her to the place where Mrs Hewitt and the merchants’ wives were standing, Anna knew he was as conscious of their keen attention as she was herself, just as she knew the more respectful nod he gave her was entirely for their benefit, as was the charming smile he aimed at her, and his well-mannered offer of his arm for her to take.

‘Well, lead on, then,’ he invited her, ‘for I’d not wish to disappoint the Empress.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

He didn’t speak until they’d nearly reached the Swan Canal, and then he said, ‘You haven’t got the face for it, you know.’

‘For what?’

‘Deception.’ His low voice was still amused. ‘It’s a fine thing to announce you have a royal pair of aces, but it is enough to look at you to know you only hold a pair of treys. I doubt those hens back there believed your tale.’

The velvet of his sleeve felt warmly soft to Anna’s fingers, but the arm beneath was hard. She let it go. ‘I do not care what they believe.’

No longer supporting her hand with his elbow, he let his arm straighten again to his side, but he did not give any more distance between them. ‘If that were the case, then why bother to charge to my rescue?’

She answered him, ‘Truly, I have no idea. But if you will speak about cards, sir, allow me to ask what possessed you to play Mr Morley for such foolish stakes as a pair of French shoes? Here in Petersburg, playing for stakes is not legal.’

‘For money,’ he smoothly corrected her. ‘Playing for money is strictly forbidden, I know, but the late Tsar apparently had no objections to footwear, whatever its country of origin. That’s why we played for the shoes.’

He was such an impossible rogue, Anna thought, always twisting around her best speeches. She tried again. ‘Wagering anything on my account was a risk you should never have taken.’

‘’Twas no risk at all.’

She argued, ‘And if you had lost? What then would you have owed Mr Morley?’

‘My sword. But there wasn’t a chance I would lose.’

‘You are prideful, sir. And overconfident.’

His mouth curved briefly. ‘Not at all. But I’ve acquired certain skills in life that on occasion serve me well.’

‘You cheat, you mean.’

‘Is this how you say “thank you”, then, in Scotland? I confess I’m ill acquainted with the manners of your country.’

Anna might have made a sharp retort about his being ill acquainted with most manners, but she bit it back and opted for civility. ‘I thank you, sir, it was most kind, but I cannot accept them.’

‘Mr Morley will hardly be having them back now you’ve worn them all over the town and the gardens.’ His gaze angled down to the hem of her gown, where the toes of the shoes briefly showed as she walked. ‘Anyhow, they were made for that gown, so they were. They’re the very same colour as those little flowers, there.’

She was so surprised to think he’d taken note of such a pointless detail as the shade of the small sprays of flowers, that it took her several seconds to collect her thoughts sufficiently to get her bearings. Both the general and Vice Admiral Gordon were tall men, resplendent in their regimental uniforms with all the gold braid gleaming in the sun, which made it easier to spot them from a distance, standing not far off from where they had all been when she had left them. ‘Shall we go and join the others?’ she suggested. ‘I am sure you’ll be most welcome.’

Edmund stopped, though she’d walked on a few more steps before she noticed he was no longer beside her. When she turned, she found him looking at her strangely.

‘You were not sent to collect me.’ It was not a question.

Anna answered anyway. ‘No.’

‘Yet you took the trouble to come find me. Why?’

‘Because I did not think it fair you should be so deprived of better company,’ she told him, adding, ‘And to thank you for the shoes.’

‘Aye, well, you’ve done that brilliantly, you have.’ His tone was dry. He looked in his turn to the place where all the others stood engaged in lively talk. ‘As for the company, I would not deem it better, necessarily, nor think I would be welcomed in its midst, with such a face as this.’