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tried to steal my watch yesterday.”
    “But Gideon…” Kilmartin spoke gently, rather the way one would address an escapee from Bedlam. “ Why ?”
    Gideon yanked off his hat and pushed an agitated hand through his hair. “God, I wish I knew. It was… a reflex. It just… it just infuriated me to watch that enormous man shake a girl who could never possibly defend herself against him.”
    “But she’s a thief,” Kilmartin explained, straining for patience. “And you’re a barrister.”
    “I know,” Gideon groaned.
    “Why didn’t you just hit him?”
    “I don’t do that anymore, Laurie.”
    “And why did you bring her to my lodgings? She’ll get fleas or some other vermin on the furniture, no doubt.”
    “Oh, please, Kilmartin. Your furniture would be improved by the addition of a few fleas.”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Gideon thought he saw the girl’s mouth twitch a little. He turned swiftly to look at her, but found her face a sullen blank. Perhaps he’d imagined it.
    They turned to look at the pickpocket, who was now scanning the room with her huge eyes. “Calculating how much you can get for the candlesticks?” Gideon snapped. She glanced at him—guiltily, he thought—and returned to gazing straight ahead, her hands folded in her lap. And then Gideon pictured the man’s hand clamped around her thin arm; the girl would likely have a bracelet of bruises. More gently he asked, “Did that man hurt you? Are you injured?”
    The pickpocket’s eyes widened in surprise; she gave her head a little shake: no.
    “You could just turn her loose, like a rat,” Kilmartin suggested hopefully.
    “ Thirty pounds , Kilmartin. Every penny I had. I was on my way to buy the town house in Grosvenor Square. I rather hoped to make a wedding gift of it.” Gideon threw himself onto Kilmartin’s settee and slouched in frustration.
    “Perhaps you can give the pickpocket to Constance as a wedding gift instead.”
    “Oh, very amusing, Laurie. Do you know what I now have to offer Constance? Precisely nothing.”
    “And here I thought Constance loved you for your own dear self.”
    Gideon hurled his hat at Kilmartin, who dodged it.
    “You know I would loan the money to you if I could, Gideon. But my father still controls my funds.”
    “I know you would loan it, Laurie, and I thank you. But I would never ask it of you. I must do this myself.”
    “Doing things yourself is vastly overrated, Gideon.”
    “If you say so, Laurie.” There was a pause; Gideon jounced his knee in thought. “Perhaps we can find the girl some sort of employment.”
    “Does she talk?”
    “She hasn’t yet. I’ve considered that she may be mute. Though she seems to understand English well enough.”
    “Ah. So you’ve purchased a mute female pickpocket. I must say, Gideon, it doesn’t rank among your wiser investments.”
    A little gingerly, Kilmartin moved closer to the girl and peered into her face. She turned to glare at him. He reared back in surprise.
    “Good God, Gideon. She’s a bit of a looker, isn’t she? Those eyes . Freakishly lovely, really. You didn’t have something less… savory in mind for her, did you, when you bought her?” Kilmartin turned back to Gideon looking half worried, half intrigued.
    “Oh, for God’s sake, Kilmartin.” Gideon was disgusted. “And take care not to get too close. She kicks.”
    “I also bite … if sufficiently provoked.”
    The two men swiveled in unison.
    She spoke .
    Not only could she speak, but that… that voice . A low drawl with an edge of ragged velvet, it was unlike anything Gideon had ever heard. It shivered through him, like a tongue applied to the back of his neck, or fingernails dragged gently up his back. In that voice, “I also bite” sounded less like a threat and more like… an erotic promise .
    His own voice seemed to have retreated in deference to the splendor of hers. “So you can talk,” he finally managed. “Why have you not spoken until