Callum smiled at himself. He knew how to keep the ladies coming back for him and it was the reason he was such a successful rake. Unlike other young men of his age who were sowing their wild oats, Callum went out of his way to ensure that his ladies enjoyed their trysts just as much as he did…if not even more than he did.
Creak!The door opened and he knew then that the singer had successfully snuck out of the room. He heaved a sigh of relief then.Her getting caught could have ruined her and her business.
“Who is there?” a shrill voice that undoubtedly belonged to a young lady said. She must have realized that the room was not empty when the door opened. “Reveal yourself this instant!” the voice said again.
Callum smiled and raised his hands as a gesture of good will. “I am sorry for the intrusion. No need to fear,” he said.
The young lady scoffed through her tears, “I never said I was afraid. I just want to know who is creeping in the dark.”
“If anything, I should be the one to ask that question, my lady,” Callum said. “After all, I did get here first.”
“I demand to know who you are,” she insisted in a rather fierce voice. The woman seemed to be spirited and fierce, just as he liked his ladies. “You might as well be a scoundrel who is waiting to pounce on innocent people,” she continued.
“In the Earl’s home? And if I was a scoundrel, what would you do about it? You are no constable, are you?” he asked.
“I will not ask you again; reveal your name this moment.”
“But, of course, you know I am no scoundrel. If you really believed that I was a scoundrel, you would have fled. Rather, you stayed here to talk to me. Could it be that you are intrigued?”
The woman huffed in what seemed like disbelief. “I am by no means intrigued by you, sir,” she said firmly.
“Instead of revealing my identity, my lady, why don’t I tell you what I was doing here before you came along and ruined my evening,” he said.
“You were here stealing the valuables in this house?” she asked scathingly.
“And if I was stealing the valuables, how would I have gotten past the staff?” he asked, amused at her accusation.
“I do not know,” she responded.
“You seem like a rather brave woman,” Callum said.
“How so?” she asked.
“You do not seem so flustered by the fact that you are in a closed room with a strange man,” Callum said, “Anyone else would have run after hearing the voice of a stranger. Unless…”
“Unless what?” she asked.
“Unless you are the scoundrel that you have accused me of being,” Callum said, “who knows? You may be here to steal valuables yourself.”
“How dare you accuse me of such?” the woman said in disbelief, “I am a proper lady.”
“You see,” Callum replied, “that is all part of your ploy. No one would pay mind to a woman or expect her to commit such a crime.”
“You are simply ridiculous!”
“I have not done anything to you that you have not first done to me,” Callum said. He heard a huffing sound and then the soft footsteps of someone walking away. “You are leaving so soon?” he asked, “when I thought we were just beginning to enjoy each other's company.”
“Enjoy each other's company?” she repeated, as though she could not believe her ears, “you call accusing me of being a criminal enjoying each other’s company?”
“I apologize, my lady. I had expected that the both of us would have a more pleasant ending to the evening. One that might involve you apologizing to me.”
The woman gasped in shock and Callum waited for the tirade of insult that was sure to follow. He did not have to wait for long. “If anyone should apologize, it should be you,” she said, and he heard the sounds of her footsteps as she walked away.
ChapterThree
Louise could not believe what the ruffian in the room had just said to her. It was not enough that she had to run away from the gossips who wanted desperately to get information from her, she now had the bad luck to be in the same room with some rake who was bent on embarrassing her.
“How dare you?” she seethed, blinded by not just anger but also frustration. Louise walked abruptly toward the door, eager to put as much distance as possible between herself and the man in the room. She would rather be hounded by a bunch of gossips than stay another minute around that rake. She had placed her hand on the doorknob to open the door when she heard a voice just beside her.
