Dangerous by Amanda Quick

hall.
    “Prue, wait, I would like a word with you.” Trevor hurried after her.
    Prudence waited for him on the bottom step of the staircase. “Don’t try to talk me out of this, Trevor. I am very bored with parties and soirees. If we are to stay in Londonuntil the end of the Season, as you wish to do, I must find something interesting to occupy my time.”
    “No, no, it’s not about your silly investigation.” Trevor glanced around to make certain none of the servants were within hearing distance. Then he leaned forward.
    “Since you somehow learned of the duel I had scheduled with Angelstone, I don’t mind telling you a rather interesting fact I have learned about the infamous Fallen Angel.”
    “What’s that?” Prudence asked warily.
    “He may have a ferocious reputation, but the man’s a bloody damn coward.”
    Prudence was shocked. “Trevor, how can you say that?”
    “Perfectly true.” Trevor nodded once in satisfaction. “Man’s an out-and-out coward.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “He’s the one who called off the duel, you know. Apologized rather than meet me on the field of honor this morning.”
    Prudence was infuriated by Trevor’s interpretation of events. “If you want my opinion, Angelstone showed the sort of mature, responsible behavior one would expect in a well-bred gentleman. If you truly believe he’s a coward, then you are a fool, Trevor.”
    “Now, Prue, calm yourself. Truth is, the man’s a coward and that’s a fact. By this evening, the entire social world will know it.”
    “Rubbish. Utter rubbish.” Prudence picked up her skirts and dashed up the carpeted stairs.
    Angelstone had kept his word. He had spared Trevor’s life. Prudence prayed that the Fallen Angel would not put too high a price on the damage she had apparently done to his formidable reputation.

Four
    our days later on the night of the Thornbridge ball, Prudence decided she had had enough. She was thoroughly annoyed with Sebastian and she let him know it the moment he sought her out in the crowd.
    “My lord, you are making a laughingstock out of my brother.”
    Sebastian, dark and predatory-looking in his black and white evening clothes, managed to make every other man in the room look like a fop. He seemed unsurprised and unmoved by Prudence’s accusation. His mouth curved in the familiar humorless smile.
    “At least he is a live laughingstock rather than a dead one,” he said. “Isn’t that what you wanted, Miss Merryweather?”
    She glowered at him through her spectacles. He was being deliberately difficult. “No, it is not what I wanted. Not precisely, that is.”
    Sebastian’s brow rose inquiringly. “You would rather I had accepted one or two of the numerous challenges I have received from him in the past few days?”
    “Certainly not. You know perfectly well that the last thing I wanted was a duel between the two of you. That was the very thing that I wished to avoid.”
    “You have gotten your wish.” Sebastian’s amber eyes gleamed. “I have kept my end of the bargain. Why are you berating me, Miss Merryweather?”
    Prudence felt herself turning pink at the reminder of the deal they had struck in his library. “You know perfectly well I expected you to handle this entire matter in a more subtle manner, my lord. I did not think you would turn it into a joke.”
    The realization of exactly how Sebastian was dealing with her brother’s outrage had finally come to Prudence earlier that afternoon. Hester, torn between amusement and affection for Trevor, had outlined the latest gossip to Prudence only a few hours ago.
    “It is common knowledge that Trevor is issuing a challenge every time he learns that Angelstone had talked to you or danced with you,” Hester had explained over tea.
    “Oh, no.” Prudence had gazed at her friend in shock. “Why on earth can’t Trevor learn to keep his mouth closed?”
    Hester had shrugged. “He’s very young, my dear. And quite determined to protect