The scent of roses and lavender drifted to her nose, leading her deeper into the gardens as she inhaled deeply. It seemed it was the first real inhale she had taken in hours. Days.
When she was far enough away from the house, she turned. There was something haunting about these gardens that went beyond their beauty. Something ineffable, but real. A feeling they inspired that soothed the soul and calmed her spirit.
In the distance, beyond the emerald expanse, the grand house rose like a palace from a fairytale. If this was such an enchanted realm, did that make her intended her true love match? She chuckled at her own fancifulness. She was definitely past the age of believing in fairytales.
It seemed as if she was trying to talk herself into this marriage by inventing fanciful notions.
She pivoted, turning her back on the house and gardens. A few more steps brought her to the entrance of a maze. Before plunging into the green tunnels, she let her gaze roam once more over the gardens of the estate her fiancé would one day inherit.
She needed to think. To strategize. What possible excuse could she give to refuse to marry the young, wealthy, and purportedly handsome heir to a dukedom? If she told her parents she wanted love, devotion, faithfulness, they would think she had taken leave of her senses.
Perhaps she had. Perhaps the match her parents had arranged was the best she could hope for.
As if you could ever do better.
Her mother’s words came back to taunt her. She had to admit that in a year and a half of endless teas, stilted conversations, and glittering ballrooms, she had found no trace of the love she longed for.
She knew it existed. Even in society's artificial glow, she had glimpsed true affection between some couples.
But perhaps she wasn’t made to inspire it.
Her parents knew her best, didn’t they? And they had never found her especially lovable. Not as a child, not now. Perhaps this arrangement was their way of doing what they thought best for a daughter who lacked whatever mysterious quality made one worthy of being loved.
She turned down another lane, traveling deeper into the maze. The aromas of lilies, gardenias, and roses perfumed the air here, wooing her nose. Given the right circumstances, she could be happy here.
So what if her husband didn’t love her? No one ever had. And possibly no one ever would. She had to face reality and adjust her expectations. Not a grand love, then. But maybe a congenial union?
Unfortunately, she didn’t know if even that would be possible with Lord Montford. This proposed engagement meant so little to him that he hadn’t even attempted to make her acquaintance, much less court her.
Unless…Maybe he was as unhappy with this arrangement as she was. Maybe his parents had contrived this union without his consent, just as hers had.
If that was the case, she might find an ally in him. She would withhold judgment until she met Lord Montfort and was able to ascertain if there could be genuine affection between them.
The rumble of deep, masculine voices arrested her step. She stilled, straining to hear where the voices came from. Wasthere someone else in the maze? Meeting a strange man in this secluded part of the gardens, alone, could be ruinous.
Stepping quietly so as to not give away her presence, she turned down a different path. But instead of getting farther from the voices, she seemed to be getting nearer, until she got close enough to discern words and snippets of conversation.
She shamelessly eavesdropped, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. As the identity of the other visitors to the maze became evident, a plan formed in her mind. This could be the opportunity she needed. If she dared seize it.
CHAPTER 2
NosoonerhadMichaelarrived at his parents’ estate than he escaped to the gardens. The only thing more tedious than a house party was a house party in honor of your brother’s betrothal. It would stand to reason that having secured a marriage for the heir, his parents should feel satisfied and back off from trying to persuade him to marry for the time being.
It was, in fact, the opposite. Nothing like a wedding on the horizon to get his mother to turn her matchmaking efforts on him. His father would lecture him about his duty and strongly suggest that he should find a bride as well.
At three and twenty, he had no intention of marrying for at least another decade, so he planned to avoid his parents' company for as long as possible. Ideally, for the entire week. Then he could go back to his regiment and find some reprieve from matrimonially inclined relatives.
Was it too much to hope they would be so busy with his brother’s marriage plans to forget about him? After all, he wasn’tthe heir. They had succeeded in roping his brother into the parson’s trap.
He could hide in the maze until it was time to get ready for dinner. No one knew the labyrinthine paths better than him. It had been his favorite playground since he was a boy. He would find refuge there. He had almost reached his objective when his escape plans were threatened.
“My lord!” Running footsteps accompanied the call. He pretended not to hear, hastening the last few steps to dart into the maze. They wouldn’t find him here. He had turned one corner, secure in his victory, when the tenacious footman came dashing into the maze after him.
“My lord!” the footman called again, and with a sigh, he was forced to stop and turn in his direction. Damn it. If he had reached the maze a minute before, he could have avoided being found.
“Yes?” he responded impatiently, but then his face broke into a smile when he recognized the footman. “Thomas! How are you, old boy?”
“I’m well, milord. Thank you for inquiring. His Grace sent me to inform you that he requires your presence in his study,” Thomas said between gasps for breath, still trying to maintain proper decorum between them, despite growing up together and having spent many a summer gallivanting around the estate. Thomas was the son of the housekeeper and the estate manager and was his favorite playmate as a child since his brother, a full five years his senior, considered him too young to play with.
