“He watched her as she carried the stone over to one of the walls and set it down. She exhaled and wiped her brow. Then she glared at him.He smiled—one of his best, he thought. "You ought to bend your legs when you lift the stones," he called out. "It's better for your back.""It's better for your back," she mimicked under her breath, "lazy, good-for-nothing, stupid little—""Excuse me?""Thank you for your advice." Her voice was sweetness personified.”

“Will you be quiet?" he asked, smiling down at her. She nodded.He pretended to think about it. "I don't believe you/"She planted her hands on her hips, which had to be a ludicrous postition, naked as she was from the waist up. All right," he acceded, "but the only words I'll allow from your mouth are, 'Oh, Gareth,' and 'Yes, Gareth.'He lifted his finger.What about 'More, Gareth?'"He almost kept a straith face. "That will be acceptable”

“He rolled his eyes. Why was he surprised about anything having to do with her? Of course she'd be able to lift a large stone. She was Henry. She could probably lift him.”

“She thumped her weapon (others might call it a cane, but heknew better) against the floor. “Fell off your horse?”“No, I—”“Tripped down the stairs? Dropped a bottle on your foot?” Herexpression grew sly. “Or does it involve a woman?”He fought the urge to cross his arms. She was looking up at himwith a bit of a smirk. She liked poking fun at her companions; she’donce told him that the best part of growing old was that she couldsay anything she wanted with impunity.He leaned down and said with great gravity, “Actually, I wasstabbed by my valet.”It was, perhaps, the only time in his life he’d managed to stunher into silence.Her mouth fell open, her eyes grew wide, and he would haveliked to have thought that she even went pale, but her skin had suchan odd tone to begin with that it was hard to say. Then, after amoment of shock, she let out a bark of laughter and said, “No,really. What happened?”“Exactly as I said. I was stabbed.” He waited a moment, thenadded, “If we weren’t in the middle of a ballroom, I’d show you.”“You don’t say?” Now she was really interested. She leaned in,eyes alight with macabre curiosity. “Is it gruesome?”“It was,” he confirmed.She pressed her lips together, and her eyes narrowed as sheasked, “And where is your valet now?”“At Chatteris House, likely nicking a glass of my best brandy.”She let out another one of her staccato barks of laughter.”

“Miss Bridgerton,” he said, “the devil himself couldn’t scare you.”She forced her eyes to meet his. “That’s not a compliment, is it?”He lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a feather-light kiss across her knuckles. “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself,” he murmured.To all who observed, he was the soul of propriety, but Hyacinth caught the daring gleam in his eye, and she felt the breath leave her body as tingles of electricity rushed across her skin. Her lips parted, but she had nothing to say, not a single word. There was nothing but air, and even that seemed in short supply.And then he straightened as if nothing had happened and said, “Do let me know what you decide.”She just stared at him.“About the compliment,” he added. “I am sure you will wish to let me know how I feel about you.”Her mouth fell open.He smiled. Broadly. “Speechless, even. I’m to be commended.”“You—”“No. No,” he said, lifting one hand in the air and pointing toward her as if what he really wanted to do was place his finger on her lips and shush her. “Don’t ruin it. The moment is too rare.”

“As his hands moved to his trousers, he saw that she was pulling the bedsheets over her. "Don't," he said, barely recognizing his own voice. Her eyes met his, and he said, "I'll be your blanket".”

“But Benedict Bridgerton was obviously determined not to be a gentleman this afternoon, because when she moved one of her feet-just to flex her toes, which were falling asleep in her shoes, honest!-barely half a second passed before he growled, "Don't even think about it.""I wasn't!" she protested. "My foot was falling asleep. And hurry up! It can't possibly take so long to get dressed.""Oh?" he drawled."You're doing this just to torture me," she grumbled."You may feel free to face me at any time," he said, his voice laced with quiet amusement. "I assure you that I asked you to turn your back for the sake of your sensibilities, not mine.”