“Lord Knightly! Miss Leyland!” Lady Letitia drew her horse to a halt near them, causing them to stop as well. Two ladies were with her, and she quickly made introductions. After which she said, “That’s a gorgeous horse, Miss Leyland.”
Regina blushed. “Thank you. She belongs to Lord Knightly.”
“But Miss Leyland may have her if she wants her,” he said.
Lady Letitia wrinkled her nose and smiled cunningly. “Are you courting her again?”
“No,” he said.
“Absolutely not!” Regina insisted with firm conviction.
Lady Letitia laughed. “You do make a handsome couple.”
“We’re striving to put the past behind us,” he said.
She leaned so far forward toward him that he was surprised she didn’t topple out of the saddle. “You’ll never guess what I got my little hands on.”
“My Secret Desires?”
Her face fell. “Well, yes, but it’s rude to guess correctly and ruin my surprise.”
“It was a lucky guess, I assure you.”
She brightened. “My friends and I were discussing it over tea yesterday, and I think I should warn you that some ladies are determined to lure you into gardens for a bit of mischief in an attempt to determine if you are indeed Lord K.”
He chuckled low. “They shall leave the garden convinced I am not.”
“But will they leave it kissed?”
“I very much doubt it. I read the book as well, Lady Letitia. It is the passion of the woman he is kissing that he reacted to, that swept him away, that silenced his voice of reason, that made him want with a desperation that is near impossible to satisfy. It was more than merely a kiss. It was breath, life, and love. It was a world where dreams dared to exist and yearned to become reality.”
“But in the end, he abandons her. Not at the altar. Otherwise, I might suspect Miss Leyland here of being Anonymous. But he simply disappears, leaving her waiting on the railway platform, all her hopes for a life with him dashed.”
He shrugged. “Some dreams are not meant to be.”
“That is my only fault with the story. I dearly wanted them to be together at the end.”
“Instead, he was a rotter,” Regina said.
And Knight refrained from glaring at her.
“Did you secure a copy as well?” Lady Letitia asked her.
She smiled with a touch of irony in the twisting of her lips. “I did manage to find a copy.”
“Didn’t you think it was brilliant?”
“I suppose it was somewhat entertaining.”
Lady Letitia placed a hand over her heart. “I want Lord K to return to her. I believe they are destined for each other. I do hope Anonymous will continue their tale.” She glanced back at her companions. “Well, we must be off. It was lovely to see you both. And together as it were, considering your tumultuous past. Gives me great hope that Lord K could be forgiven.”
“You speak of him as though he truly exists,” Knight said.
“To me”—she looked at her friends—“to all of us, he does. Good day.”
The trio trotted away, and Knight glanced over at Regina. “You might have to reconsider the demise of Lord K. Perhaps you should give him and his lady the happy ending Lady Letitia wants.”
Her smile was wickedly frightening. “Oh, his lady will get her happy ending—she will find his horrifying demise incredibly rewarding.”
