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Delicately placing her feet into her satin slippers, she hurried to the bedroom door and pressed her ear to the hardwood, listening to be sure that Mr Radcliffe’s throwing stones at her window had not roused anyone else in the house.
Once she was certain that all she heard was silence, she gripped the door handle and gently eased the door open. Holding her breath, she poked her head out through the doorway, looking first one way down the hall and then the other. It would be just her luck that one of the maids had not yet retired to her bed, and she would be stuck trying to talk her way out of it.
When she was absolutely sure there was nobody around, she slipped from her bedroom and carefully closed the door behind her before heading for the servants’ stairs. Though Lady Balfour rarely rose during the night anymore, Daisy knew that she was the most likely in the household to do so, yet she also knew that her stepmother would never in a million years use the servants’ stairs during the middle of the night.
The staircase was much too dark and cold at night, and Lady Balfour had often commented upon it, suggesting that she would never use it even in an emergency.
Reaching the bottom of the servants’ stairs with little difficulty, Daisy took a moment to suck in a breath and calm herself. The servants’ hallway, which led off to the kitchens and several other working rooms, had always seemed mightily long to Daisy, but now it seemed far too short.
All she had to do was run down it to the back door and up a few short stone steps, and then there would only be a short shingle path to the side gate of the house. Soon she would be face to face with Lord Philip Radcliffe again, and then what would she say to him?
How could you leave me waiting in that room for hours when you had no intention of showing up? she thought angrily.Why would you kiss me and assure me that you would see me at our tutoring sessions and then not turn up?
There were so many questions flitting about in Daisy’s head, and being the woman she was, she wasn’t afraid to ask them, though she quickly realised that she was frightened of the answers.Perhaps he has come merely to tell me that he cannot tutor me anymore,Daisy thought, forcing herself down the servants' hallway.Maybe things are broken beyond repair.
At the back door, she paused and sucked in another breath. Though she was still angry with him and quite heartbroken that he hadn’t shown up when she had been so excited for their next tutoring session, she couldn’t help feeling a rush at the thought of being close to him again.I merely wish to give him a piece of my mind,she told herself firmly. It couldn’t possibly be anything more than that.
Yet as she hurried up the few stone steps from the back door and came to the servants’ yard above, her heart began to race even harder, and pretty soon, her feet were hurrying down the shingle path. She moved as swiftly and quietly as possible, glancing this way and that to be sure there wasn’t anyone else around before she slipped through the archway and headed towards the side gate.
Reaching it, she held her breath and reached for the latch, pulling it up and cringing when it creaked a little. Within seconds she had opened the gate, and Lord Philip slipped through quickly, glancing behind him as he came as if he thought he might be being followed.
“Oh, Lady Daisy,” he exclaimed when she closed the gate behind him, and she was surprised when she turned, practically stepping right into his waiting arms.
Gritting her teeth against the urge to get closer to him, Daisy gripped hold of his forearms and tried to hold him at a distance, feeling how close the metal gate was to her back and knowing that if he really wanted to get closer to her, then she would have nowhere left to go. She was trapped between him and the gate, though it wasn’t entirely uncomfortable save for the way his closeness made her heart race.
“Lord Philip, what are you doing here?” she hissed under her breath, all too aware that several of the townhouse windows were ajar or even wide open due to the unusually warm night.
“I have been a fool, Lady Daisy. I have been an utter fool, and I have come here to beg for your forgiveness,” Lord Philip announced, and at the desperation in his voice, Daisy felt all her anger melting away.
Just seeing how his deep blue eyes glowed with concern in the moonlight, she felt her chest tighten and her heart skip a beat. “My behaviour has been atrocious, and I sincerely wish you to believe me when I say that I am sorrier than I have ever been.”
Daisy couldn’t help smiling at him though her chest tightened further with the worry that maybe Lord Philip actually regretted what had happened in the carriage. Was it such a bad thing that they had kissed?Of course, it was a bad thing,Daisy thought firmly, determined not to fall into the silly trap of becoming that kind of woman.It has caused all this, and we were such good friends before!
She opened her mouth, prepared to say that she forgave him, but before she could say anything, Lord Philip continued, “Though I do not regret what happened in the carriage, My Lady, it was most inappropriate of me, and that is the only thing I regret.”
Daisy’s hands tightened their grip on his forearms, hoping he would see it as a sign to stop speaking. He had said enough. She could sense how he was feeling, and it was so similar to her own feelings that she was relieved.
“I think we can both agree that things should never have gone so far.” She smiled at him warmly. “My Lord, I forgive you.”
Lord Philip visibly relaxed before her eyes, and he half-stepped closer to her. For just a moment, Daisy wondered whether he might kiss her again. She even felt herself lifting her chin slightly, preparing to accept it. But then she reminded herself of the mess the last kiss had made, and she quickly pursed her lips, hoping against hope that he would not lean down and press his lips to hers. She wasn’t entirely sure she would have the strength to stop him if he did.
“You’re sure you can forgive me?” Lord Philip asked, his voice quite desperate still, and it tugged at Daisy’s heartstrings, “because your friendship means too much to me. I fear that is why I did not come to our tutoring session. I was fearful of facing you after what happened. It was stupid and foolish, and I ought to have handled it more maturely, but there it is. I cannot change what has happened now.”
Daisy started to chuckle then. It was impossible to stop herself from doing so, even when she saw the look of distaste that crossed Lord Philip’s handsome face.
“Philip, do you always babble so much when you are trying to apologise?” she asked, hoping that he would be able to see the playfulness in her gaze just as he always seemed to whenever they were going over a lesson. He looked startled at that and straightened up slightly, looking down at her with startlement in his gaze.
“Philip?” he echoed.
“Yes, that is your name, is it not?” Daisy responded, trying to continue to sound playful, though she was a little embarrassed, wondering whether he might have taken it the wrong way. When he shrugged his shoulders and nodded, she added a little more confidently, “And we are friends, are we not?”
“Yes,Daisy,we are,” Philip replied, saying her name in such a way that it caused her knees to grow weak. Fighting the emotional turmoil roiling in her stomach, Daisy straightened up and released his arms, taking her own from his grip so that she could smooth the front of her robe.
“Good, now that is settled, I think we can both agree to forget that anything ever happened in your carriage,” she announced, staring at him with encouragement.
“You mean we ought to forget the kiss and act as though it never happened?” Philip suggested, and Daisy couldn’t help rolling her eyes at him. For a handsome nobleman studying medicine, he wasn’t half dimwitted sometimes.
“Yes, Philip, that is exactly what I mean.” She sighed and placed her hands on her hips to show her annoyance at him. She was pleased to see the playful smile that spread across his face.
