AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERTWO
Tillie stood balancedon one of the cross pieces of the pergola, thorns ripping her slippers and stockings.
Of all her plans to avoid socializing with potential suitors, this had likely not been her best.
But her mother had promised her some fabulous introduction and she’d panicked. She’d still not learned the identity of her suitor. And she’d like to know who the gentleman was before they met.
The moment her mother had left her side to retrieve the unknown gentleman, Tillie had begun searching for her escape. The doors of the ballroom had been opened to allow the evening air in. Each door had its own balcony, one of them directly over the pergola.
As children, she and her siblings had often climbed off the balcony and onto the pergola and then shimmied down one of the main supports to the terrace. But it had been years since she’d attempted the move and the climbing roses had grown a great deal since then. Now the entire pergola was covered in vines with thorns.
Which she likely would have noted if it hadn’t been so dark. And she slightly less desperate.
She was stuck. There was no way she might climb down one of the four posts covered as they were.
Nor could she return the way she’d come. There was enough of the drop from the balcony to the pergola that she doubted she’d be able to hoist herself up.
Drat. She needed help.
Why did it have to be Baron Greenburg who came strolling by tonight?
He was the last man she’d want to rescue her.
Well, perhaps not the last. He wasn’t ill-mannered, or awful to look at, or mean-spirited. In fact, he’d always been quite handsome. Her attraction to him had never been the problem.
Alex was five years older than her, and he’d obviously found her a nuisance as a child. He’d gone so far as to call her a hoyden on three separate visits.
Which was likely true. After all, she was currently stuck on top of a pergola in the middle of a party.
But his irritation had just crushed her because as a young girl, she’d found him so interesting.
He was thoughtful, and academic, and yet still so masculine with his sandy blond hair, strong jaw, and his searching blue eyes.
Double drat.
“I solemnly swear not to laugh.” He promised from below. “Tell me, who am I making vows to in the dark of night?”
She let out a long breath. “It’s me. Tillie.”
He made a choking noise that sounded a great deal like he was covering a laugh.
“You promised,” she said as she waved her finger in the dark before she let it drop again. She was in no position to chastise.
“Tillie.”
He rumbled, his deep baritone washing over her in the most pleasant way as the intimacy of her name rolled off his tongue. She shivered, despite herself. And then, Tillie waited, her breath holding in her lungs. He’d likely say something like, I should have known or still a hoyden I see.
“I know,” she said closing her eyes. “I’m still the same silly fool, aren’t I?”
He let out a rich chuckle then, despite his promise and her cheeks burned even as her ire began to rise. He’d promised.
But his next words deflated her armor of rising anger. “Tillie Crosby what you are is ever interesting. How did you get up there?”
Interesting. That was likely better than hoyden. “I climbed from the balcony.” She picked her way to the very end of the pergola, so she was now perched just over where he stood below.
She bent down, noting he still seemed rather far beneath her. Had she really climbed down this thing often? She frowned as she tried to see the details of his face. Was he actually as appealing as she remembered?
“May I ask why?”
