Introducing Marcus and Charlotte, Part 2

Lord Cosgrove, the hero of Unmasking Miss Appleby is a man. The heroine, Charlotte, is a woman who’s pretending to be a man. She’s doing an excellent job of it, but there are admittedly some areas where she lacks experience.

Boxing is one of these areas.





Lord Cosgrove is an outstanding boxer who regularly spars with Gentleman Jack. He enjoys a good fight. When he interviews Mr. Albin (Charlotte) for the position as his secretary, one of the questions he asks is:

“Can you fight?”

Albin blinked. “Fight?” He glanced down at his hands. “I guess so, sir. I’ve never tried. Why?”

Poor, innocent Charlotte! She’s about to encounter footpads—and while Cosgrove finds the experience exhilarating, Charlotte . . . doesn’t.

She looked around for her hat. It lay against the wall. She walked over to it on unsteady legs, picked it up, placed it on her head.

She tried to laugh as she turned back to Cosgrove. The sound came out with a slight wobble in it. “I’d heard London streets were dangerous.”

“Never doubt it,” Cosgrove said. “Come along, lad. Let’s get home. I need a drink.”

And with that drink comes a critique of Charlotte’s fighting skills . . .

“Brandy?”

Charlotte hesitated. Perhaps it would stop her hands shaking? Uncle Neville always said brandy cured all ailments. “Thank you, sir.”

Cosgrove poured two glasses and held one out to her.

Charlotte didn’t sip cautiously; she took a reckless mouthful. The brandy scorched her tongue, stung her nose, filled her mouth with heat. She swallowed. The heat burned down her throat into her belly.

“If you will forgive me for saying so, Albin . . . you would benefit from some instruction in the science of boxing.”

“There’s a science to it, sir?” She drank another mouthful. The heat expanded through her body.

Cosgrove paused, his glass halfway to his mouth. For a moment he stared at her, his eyebrows raised in disbelief, and then he said, “Of course there’s a science to it.”

Which leads to Charlotte’s first boxing lesson . . .



[Image: Detail from Jack Broughton’s Rules, public domain, courtesy of Wikipedia]