Page 66 of The Duke’s Wager

She ought to say no, really. It was the only possible answer, the only answer she could give. There was absolutely no chance of her spending time with him again, she could not, would not, watch the sunrise with him.

Her lips seemed to disagree with her mind, and, “Yes,” escaped them before she could truly think about it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Luckily for Lucy, the carriage ride home from the opera was quiet – giving her ample time to revisit the moments she had shared with Edward. It had been unlike anything she had ever experienced and she wished nothing more than to turn back the clock and be stuck in that room with him for eternity.

The mere thought of what could have happened set her body on fire. The feel of his hands on her skin, his lips against hers… everything had been perfect.

He had asked her to meet him at the cemetery. Lucy knew, of course, that this was impossible, yet she could not help but entertain the thought.

Would he kiss her again? Hold her in his arms? Just the thought of it was enough for her to want to take the risk and go, though she knew that it was a bad idea.

She was so enamored with her thoughts that she climbed out of the carriage without accepting her father’s hand and she walked into the house dreamily.

Once inside, the blissful silence that had lasted the carriage ride ended abruptly.

“I am glad we attended tonight. People were talking about you.”

Henry’s voice was filled with pride, and Lucy managed a small smile. There really was no correct response to his statement.

“It was a rather lovely show, would you not agree?” her father said.

The irony of this nearly made her howl with laughter. He of all people had found the show beautiful? Then again, he did seem to have an affinity for keeping people locked up, so perhaps it was his kind of story.

She quickly realized that he was still waiting for an answer and she nodded eagerly. “Yes, father.”

“Of course…” Now Henry’s voice became curt. “You missed the ending.”

“Yes.” Lucy hesitated, knowing that the wrong words would land her in a world of trouble. “That was unfortunate. I apologize, father.”

“I wonder,” Henry continued, his mouth a thin, angry line. “Where on earth could you have been? What could have possibly happened to send you running away, and where, pray tell, could you have been for the entire ending of the show?”

Lucy licked over her lips nervously. She had to answer, and she had to answer quickly.

“I…” She hesitated, then settled for a half-truth. “My corset was too tight. I suddenly found myself struggling to breathe, and I had to… go out and get some fresh air. Just… The hall was quite crowded, and I…”

She trailed off nervously, while her father looked at her through narrowed eyes.

“You better be telling the truth, girl.”

He knew.

Panic set in, but she managed to push it down through logic and reason. There was no possibility of him knowing anything. This was merely his way of testing her, of ensuring that she told the truth.

“I am, father. Where else would I have been?”

“Hmm.” He seemed dissatisfied with her unwillingness to confess all imagined sins and plead his forgiveness. “If I find out you were lying… if I find out that you were with that boy…”

Of course, that was what he was worried about. Heaven forbid that a man look in her direction – or worse, that she would look in the direction of any man.

Still, his words caused a fair bit of panic. Was it merely a guess? Was he throwing possibilities into the air and hoping to find some semblance of truth in a vague statement?

“What boy, father?”

Feign ignorance. It was the only way of getting him off her trail, and Lucy could feign ignorance better than any other. She had to learn how to do that, if she wanted any semblance of happiness.

She had been rather young when she mastered the craft of playing stupid and it had served her well.