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been in such a hurry to depart that there had been no time for the lamps within the carriage to be lit and moonlight limned the lines of Gresham’s face, making his already rugged looks seem harsher somehow. Maddie was reminded that despite his noble lineage, this man was a solider—had spent nearly a decade fighting against Napoleon—and for once he looked it. It was difficult to remember when he was recounting an amusing tale, or poking fun at himself, that he was a trained warrior.
    “Thank you for seeing me home,” she murmured, the silence prompting her to say something, anything, to disperse the eerie quiet. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
    “That’s what worries me,” her companion said. “What was your brother thinking to abandon you in such a place?”
    Gresham’s tone was curt, unlike him. And for a moment Maddie wondered if his anger could all be over Linton’s hasty departure. Still, his implication that her brother had done the wrong thing set her back up. “He wouldn’t have gone off and left me there alone without good reason,” she said hotly. “I realize that Linton isn’t always the pattern card of respectability, but he doesn’t shirk his duty.”
    At least not when he can help it, she thought. In truth she was annoyed with her brother herself. She had known him to be reckless in the past, but never had he simply vanished when she needed him as she had tonight. It was unlike him. But worse, it reminded her that his behavior, which had been on a downward spiral in the past year or so, was getting worse.
    “He certainly did abandon you tonight,” Gresham said in a clipped tone. “Though I suppose he knew well enough that I’d look after you if it came to that.”
    “You make it sound as if I am a child in leading strings in need of a nanny,” Maddie objected, disliking the idea she needed a keeper. “I am perfectly able to care for myself, thank you. Indeed, if you will just let me out in the next street, I will see myself home.”
    “You’ll do no such thing,” Gresham said with a frown. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wasn’t trying to insult your independence. The truth of the matter is that the streets of London are not safe for a young lady of gentle breeding. They are damned unsafe for every sort of person at one time or another.”
    Knowing he was right, Maddie still could not bring herself to back down from the issue. She folded her arms over her bosom, in a protective gesture. “I don’t see you requesting an escort every time you venture out of an evening,” she said sullenly.
    “You don’t see me every night,” he said. “I could be requesting Winterson to see me from place to place every evening for all you know.”
    The mental picture of Winterson escorting a cowering Gresham from entertainment to entertainment surprised a giggle from her. As he must have intended, for he looked quite pleased with himself.
    “I don’t meant to be pettish about such things,” she said carefully, her anger gone for the moment. “It’s just that you can have no notion how frustrating it is to be unable to go about on one’s own or make descisions for oneself.”
    “You forget that I spent the past decade in the military. I think I can understand the drawbacks of following orders,” he said with a smile. “Though I did have some freedom, since I was an officer. I do understand your frustration. But the rules are not there arbitrarily.” At her scoff, he amended, “Well, not entirely arbitrarily.”
    “I do understand the safety issues,” she said. “It makes perfect sense. The only strictures that truly anger me are the ones that exist solely to keep ladies in their place. Like that ridiculous stricture against being seen at Mrs. Bailey’s. For the most part it was not much more scandalous than many a ton ball. But because men have decided it’s shocking for unmarried ladies to be exposed to gaming, I was forced to risk my