Coming to an abrupt halt, she whirled around. “Are you jealous? You hear someone might favor me, and suddenly you’re giving me attention. Do not for a single moment believe I am fool enough to trust all the flattering words you are so skilled at delivering with such utter conviction.”
“I’m not... I just... I simply want the opportunity to apologize again, to seek forgiveness.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “’Tis given. Now leave me be.”
She spun on her heel—
“Am I Lord K?”
Facing him, she narrowed her eyes to that of a fine-honed blade designed to slice him to ribbons. “How the devil should I know?”
“I lied earlier. I had skimmed through the pages, until I found the garden scene everyone is on about. I once held you in a garden exactly as described.”
She released a long, drawn-out sigh. “Which would make me the author. Well, I didn’t lie. I’ve not read the book, so I’ve no inkling regarding what transpired in thegarden scene. However, based upon your reputation, I suspect you held a good many ladies in the same manner in a good many gardens. Look to one of them. Now, good night,my lord.”
With that, she marched to the door and disappeared through it.
But she was wrong. He’d never held any other woman in a garden in the same manner as described. Only her.
She hadn’t been bluffing at the table, but was she bluffing now? Could she possibly be Anonymous? But knowing how she valued her privacy, he couldn’t imagine her putting the personal details of her life to paper and then publishing them. No, what he’d read of the book thus far and the memories of their time together that the words and descriptions conjured were simply coincidence. Introductions happened all the time. As did assignations in gardens.
Yet like the lady in the tome regarding her gentleman, the night they’d met was one he’d never forget.
Chapter 2
April 1870
“No flirting this evening, Knight,” King grumbled as his coach journeyed over the rough road. “I don’t want to have to search through various alcoves for you when I’m ready to take my leave.”
“Dash it all, King, if I’d known you were going to spoil my fun, I’d not have agreed to accompany you on this detour before meeting up with Bishop and Rook. I can’t for the life of me determine why you’re going to all the bother and delaying our amusements with the others. You’re not going to marry a chit born out of wedlock.”
“Mother has a soft spot for wounded creatures and feared the girl would suffer through the embarrassment of having no one in attendance at this affair where Bremsford is introducing her to Society. Although the twenty thousand pounds he’s settled on her is certain to draw some young bucks.”
He was also including in her dowry a small estate on the outskirts of London that included several acres of lush land and a manor to serve as her dower house when the time came. Tonight, it was the settingfor the grand ball that had been the topic of wagging tongues among the elite for weeks. “Do you know anything about her other than her scandalous beginnings and Bremsford wanting to pawn her off to someone legitimate?”
“She’s the daughter of his longtime mistress, who was an accomplished actress, according to Mother. Although she doesn’t approve of infidelity, she still enjoys a good love story and apparently Bremsford’s was one for the ages. The earl was devoted to the girl’s mother and remains devoted to his illegitimate offspring more than to his legitimate ones. I can’t imagine any of it has sat well with his countess, his heir, or his other two daughters.”
“Do you think any of them will be attending tonight?”
“I rather doubt it.”
The coach came to a stop. A footman stepped forward and opened the door. Knight waited until his friend, the duke, had disembarked. While they were equal on many levels, Knight never forgot that until he inherited his father’s title, Duke of Wyndstone, King outranked him, and Knight was conscious of showing his friend the deference he deserved when they were in a public arena.
As they wandered toward the manor, a young lady caught Knight’s attention and gave him a shy smile. Tipping his hat, he bestowed upon her a grin filled with the promise of a kissing lesson to be given in a secluded corner. She was in the process of pressing her fan to her right cheek, the signal foryes, was only an inch away from it, when her mother grabbed herarm and began dragging her along. The lady glanced back. He pressed a hand to his chest, to indicate his sorrow that she’d be watched by a hawk.
“I said no flirting,” King reminded him.
“I’ve not sampled Lady Lisbet yet. A kiss doesn’t take that long.”
“So you say, but your reputation states otherwise.”
“Depends on the lady, I suppose. Where’s your sense of adventure, King?”
“Waiting for me after I’ve seen to this tedious task.”
As they climbed the few steps to the open door, several unaccompanied men were making their way inside. Knowing a good many of them, all unmarried, Knight decided they’d been drawn by the pounds. The spares also probably wanted to look around the residence in which they might possibly live—if they didn’t have one of their own. No reason for the abode to remain vacant until she was a widow.
He noted the presence of a few other ladies, no doubt their curiosity getting the better of them. Or perhaps they saw an opportunity to contrast themselves against the earl’s daughter. At twenty-seven, he had yet to participate in the game of courtship. He was here tonight only because he believed it important to remain in the good graces of every decent lord. One never knew when the support of a particular nobleman—or permission to marry his daughter—might be needed. And Bremsford was a man of influence.
