No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper

forest had been like the beauty of a thunderstorm or a wild animal, something he couldn’t conceive in terms of feminine appeal. Now he could evaluate her, at least superficially, as if she’d been any other woman of his acquaintance.
    She had good bones, even if she needed more flesh on them. Good posture too, and a certain primitive grace. Her mouth was firm and well shaped, and she had good teeth, from what he could see. Now that it was clean, her hair was actually a rather pretty sort of dark blonde—a bit dull at the moment, but there was doubtless some feminine art to fix that, or perhaps enough good meals would do the trick. And her hazel eyes were really quite striking.
    As he watched her take an unasked-for seat in the chair opposite his desk, he had an idea. It was a scandalous and perhaps entirely immoral one, but a way forward all the same.
    At the same time, Joan lifted her eyebrows. “See anything green?”
    Simon didn’t recognize the phrase, but the meaning was clear enough. “My apologies,” he said. If she’d been another woman, he might have offered a compliment to mollify her, but he didn’t think Joan would welcome that. “I was wondering what your plans were.”
    “I don’t know yet,” she said. “We didn’t get much more than his name and the date.”
    “And they threw you through time with only that?” Nice considerate way to treat a woman.
    Joan shrugged. “They knew I was competent. I can think of a couple things off the top of my head.”
    “Oh?”
    “One,” Joan began, holding up a finger. “I break in. I’ve got black clothing and the equipment I need. If I can find his house—”
    “You’ll have the law on you. Reynell spends most of his time in London. That’s probably where the manuscript is, and he lives in a very good part of town. The police would show up, and they’d probably catch you.”
    “Possibly before I burn the book,” she said, grimacing. “All right. I pose as a servant.”
    “He’s not hiring, and you don’t know how to act like a servant.”
    “You could teach me. And I could say that the real one got sick. Bribe her or knock her out and hide her somewhere, though that complicates things either way. I’ll need enough time to search the house too, so I’ll try to get some information beforehand.”
    “And that’s all you can think of?”
    “Right now? Yes. Give me a little while, and I’ll come up with something better.” Joan leaned forward, putting her elbows on the desk. Incredibly, a hint of a smile touched her mouth. “He doesn’t know that I’m here, and he doesn’t know why. So I’ll take my time, learn the place, learn his habits. Eventually I’ll see an opening.”
    “I think,” said Simon, “I know a way we can make one.”
    “Really?”
    “It’s not precisely, um…” He cleared his throat. If Joan had been a woman of his world, Simon would have been about twenty seconds from getting slapped. He still wasn’t sure he was safe. “I don’t mean to insult you by this, and—”
    Joan rolled her eyes. “What’s the idea?”
    “When Eleanor and I return to town, you come with us. You’ll be a friend of my family’s. That will admit you to our social circles, and from there, you can cultivate an acquaintance with Reynell.”
    “Seduce him, you mean,” Joan said matter-of-factly.
    “Or merely spend enough time around him to learn where he goes and for how long.”
    “Hmm. You think he’d go for it?”
    “Alex has always competed with me,” Simon said, keeping his voice even. He remembered evenings out and friendly rivalry over women and cards. He’d thought it was friendly, at least. “He’ll want revenge as well now, and seducing someone close to me will seem like an easy way to get it.”
    “Sure of himself, isn’t he?”
    “He’s always had a way with women. And a hard time resisting the beautiful ones.”
    “I’m not beautiful,” Joan said easily. “Not to you people. I might not ever be. What