Page 44 of The Red Woman on Mars

“Feet perpendicular, like this. Raise your sword arm. Higher. Keep your elbow clear of your body.”

Vivian obeyed, feeling absurd and hampered by her restrictive skirts.

Xavier’s eyes were bright when he looked at her. “Good. We’ll do a straight thrust. Come forward toward me with a lunge.” Vivian leaned her right foot forward and thrust her sword out clumsily. Xavier easily parried. “Again.”

Learning fencing was a bit like learning Martian dancing. She moved through the choreographed steps that Xavier showed her.Their bodies stayed at a distance, a sword’s length away, but Vivian found herself completely focused on the moment in front of her. The backdrop of Yarrow House and August’s quiet observation faded away.

And then, suddenly, she made it inside Xavier’s guard, pressing the tip of her blunted sword into his chest. He let out a grunt and grinned down at her. With one long arm, he reached for her sword hand and lifted it to move the sword off his chest. His hand was warm. “Very nice. You’ll leave a bruise I won’t soon forget.”

Vivian stepped back. “I’m sorry! Mr. Yarrow was right. We’re unevenly matched.”

Xavier held her hand a moment longer. “I like that we’re unevenly matched.” He pulled her fingers from the sword handle.

August cleared his throat. “X, we should go. The family governance meeting is starting soon.”

Xavier bowed to her. “Miss Bowen. May I—may I call upon you later at the reverend’s home?”

“I suppose,” Vivian agreed. What more did they have to discuss? She remembered, suddenly, Xavier was the reason Delilah had abandoned hope for a love match in favor of the loathsome Mitzi King.

Xavier nodded seriously and clapped his hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Let’s make this quick, shall we?”

Vivian walked slowly back to the house, replaying the thrilling moment when she’d stepped inside Xavier’s guard. What would it be like to learn to defend herself with steel?

In the house, Luz had not yet returned. Vivian poured herself a cup of coffee and curled up on a comfortable chair to read. She opened toChapter Thirty-Three: After Survival: The Next Generation of Martian Collective Sovereignty. She was puzzling over the fascinating history of the Martian water purification system when a series of sharp taps startled her.

Vivian put down her reader and opened the door. “Mr. Dorsey!” She reflexively stepped back to let him into the room and looked involuntarily to her reader, the law text still visible. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

Xavier had changed clothing since she’d seen him on the fencing grounds, but his cravat was askew, and he had not brought a hat. Vivian had never seen him look so disheveled. He didn’t speak but only paced the room, looking anywhere but her. Vivian took the opportunity to return to her seat and discreetly close her reader so he wouldn’t see his textbook on the screen. What was wrong with him?

“I—I—”

“Yes?” Vivian prompted.

Xavier ran a hand over his short black hair, still not meeting her eyes.

“Spit it out, would you? I’ve never known you to be at a loss for words.”

This sparked a glare, and then he burst out, “In vain, I have struggled, but I cannot suppress my feelings. Miss Bowen—Vivian, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

Vivian stared up at him blankly, her mouth opening in astonishment. “You what?”

“You are brazen and opinionated, and you do everything you can to vex me. I’ve tried not to love you. I don’t want to love you. I love you against my will and my reason.” He finally seemed to run out of words and sat down heavily on the couch opposite her.

“Is that all?”

Xavier covered his face in his hands and said in a muffled voice, “That is all.”

Vivian suppressed an absurd desire to laugh. “You don’t seem happy about your feelings.”

“No.”

“And how do you expect me to respond when I know you took Caspian away from my sister?”

Xavier removed his hands from his face to give her a condescending smile that caused anger to rise in her chest. “I do not deny that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from this despicable act of human bondage.”

“Delilah wanted Caspian,” Vivian said in frustration. “She would’ve chosen him. They could have had a love match. It’s not up to you to make decisions for my sister.”

“Your sister clearly did not esteem Caspian above her other suitors. Why shouldn’t she be content with another? My only goal was to persuade Casp away from this path.”