Page 32 of A Remarkable Rogue

He was only being kind, she knew, as the dear friend he’d always been. Most men of his social standing believed all women needed husbands to protect them and complete them.

Yet she wanted nothing of the kind, and she certainly didn’t want Charles Langley.

No, the man she wanted made her tremble in arousal with only a heated glance, had her longing to trail her lips across every inch of his muscular body, had her aching for the pleasure he could give. Being in his bed wouldn’t be simply chasing away a night of loneliness. It would be a meeting of bodies and spirits, urgent and fierce, unlike anything she’d ever experienced be—

“Captain Reed.”

With a gasp, she spun around and came face-to-face with Agnes Sinclair. Sydney’s cheeks pulsed hot with an instant blush. Good heavens! Had she accidentally uttered her wanton desires aloud?

But the plump older woman only beamed brightly at her from beneath her gigantic feathered bonnet. “Captain Reed,” she repeated and looped her arm through Sydney’s to lead her for a turn about the room, “recently paid me an afternoon visit. Lovely man, the captain. Knows how to hold his tea.”

Sydney opened her mouth, then closed it. What on earth was she supposed to say to that?

Lady Agnes’s lips twisted into a smile of private amusement like a cat who’d found the cream. “Such a dashing young man, don’t you agree?”

Very much.“Well, I cannot say.”

“But you’ve met him, of course. What do you think of him?”

Sydney caught the curious glance Agnes slid her way, as if the question were some kind of a test.Odd.Why should she care what Sydney thought of the captain? “I’m afraid we’ve only spoken briefly.”And kissed for not long enough at all.

“Yes, my dear.” Agnes patted her arm, then demanded, “But what do youthinkof him?”

What she thought was that Nate Reed was capable of both boiling her blood and soothing her racing heart the way no other man ever had. Not even Michael. It was as if he personally knew the pain of what she’d been through, as if he knew her own heartache.

She certainly wasn’t going to share any of that! But with Lady Agnes doggedly awaiting a response, she had to say something. “I think…the captain is quite heroic.”

“Ah, you mean Toulouse!” A touch of pride sounded in the older woman’s voice.

Sydney frowned. Pride for Captain Reed? How peculiar. How did Lady Agnes even know Nate?

The older woman’s eyes shone brightly. “But do you also know about Amiens?”

Sydney’s heart lodged in her throat. “He was nearly killed in another battle?”

“Many, many battles, according to what Arthur has told me.” Agnes gently squeezed Sydney’s arm to reassure her. “But Captain Reed didn’t fight at Amiens. There he was too busy rescuing two dozen women and children who had gotten trapped in artillery crossfire and leading them to safety.”

Sydney blinked. Nate rescued women and children in the war?

“That was why Arthur truly gave him that medal and promotion, you know. Not because of Toulouse or even Waterloo but Amiens.” Agnes tugged Sydney forward on their turn about the room. “He found them huddled together in an abandoned farmhouse and led them away to safety before the two armies could advance.” She lowered her voice. “They were French, you know, but he saved them just the same. Show me any other man among the British ranks that day who would have risked his life for French women and children, I ask you.”

Sydney couldn’t. Nor could she wrap her mind around this new bit of information. Nate had never mentioned Amiens or what he’d done in the war. The mystery of him deepened with each new bit of information she unraveled, like pulling a loose end of yarn from a piece of knitting.

The two women reached the end of the room near the doorway. Bivvens dutifully appeared, silently holding both the shawl and reticule she’d brought today and the one she’d left the other morning in her flight from the house.

She smiled gratefully at the butler’s thoughtfulness.

“Captain Reed asked me about you,” Lady Agnes commented casually.

Sydney froze, her hand in midair as she reached for her shawl. “Oh?”

Agnes nodded, sending her ostrich feathers bobbing, and a conspiratorial gleam lit her eyes. “I do believe the dashing captain is smitten with you!”

Sydney swallowed. Hard. He wasn’t smitten. The dashing captain wanted to arrest her for treason, while she simply wanted…

Him.

Nine