“No, you aren’t intruding,” he assured her. “I won’t keep you here against your will—if you wish to leave, I respect that. But you’re not bothering me with your presence here, and I confess Iwillworry if I know that you’re wandering the grounds unchaperoned.”
“You’d have nothing to worry about. These grounds are quite safe.”
“Begging your forgiveness, my lady, but you can’t know that for certain,” he said. “There are too many people here tonight. You can’t know what everyone’s intentions are.”
“Everyone is inside,” she pointed out. “The grounds may be safer than the ballroom.”
“Not everyone is inside. I’m not inside.”
“Ought I to worry about your intentions?” Her tone was teasing, lighthearted, and it was apparent to Nicholas that she wasn’t at all worried about his intentions, no matter what she might have said. That was all right with him, of course—he had no desire to cause her to worry.
He smiled at her. “Of course not,” he said. “And if you feel secure with me here, you are welcome to stay.”
He couldn’t help thinking about what Phineas had said about the scandal sheets and the dangers inherent in being caught out alone with a young lady. His friend had spoken to him harshly tonight, but he was also quite correct on that score. And yet, what could Nicholas do? It wasn’t suitable to walk away and leave a young lady out on her own. There was no telling who the next person to happen along this way might be. It could be someone much less safe than himself. He could cause a scandal by being out with this young lady, whoever she was, but someone else might cause her actual harm, and that would be infinitely worse. No, the best thing to do was to stay.
Nicholas spotted a bench nearby and took a seat. The lady, whoever she was, sat down too—not on his bench but on an adjacent one. They were near enough to have an easy conversation, but not so close that anyone who found them here could think anything scandalous was going on. She was wise, he thought, to have made that choice.
And suddenly he found himself thinking again about the lady he had met at the masquerade. What an inconvenience that was—he had come out here to get her off his mind!—and yet, he foundhimself in a very similar situation to the one he’d been in that night. Here he was, alone with a lady, unsure of her identity, in the middle of a garden, admiring her character and enjoying her company.
Was there the faintest chance that this was the same person?
What a miraculous turn of events that would be! But there was no way to find out the truth. Even if he were to ask her, he couldn’t trust the answer. Lady Hannah had taught him that. People would say whatever they felt would work in order to gain his attention and approval—Phineas was quite right about that. He didn’t think the lady from the masquerade would deceive him. She hadn’t seemed the type. But if any other lady discovered he was looking for someone and didn’t know who it was, she might well pretend that she was the person he sought in order to win his attention. He would never know whether anyone claiming to be the lady he’d met that night was telling the truth or not.
He thought he might ask her to say more about the thoughts that plagued her mind and had led her to come out here on her own. If he couldn’t ask about her identity, perhaps he could at least get to know her and discover whether he might feel a connection to her that mirrored the one he’d felt with the lady at the masquerade.
Before he could say anything at all, though, he heard the sound of voices.
The mysterious lady heard them as well, for she jumped to her feet. For a moment, Nicholas thought she would run away from him, and he wouldn’t have blamed her. She had her reputation to think of, after all. She’d wisely chosen to keep a distance between the two of them, but if someone wanted to think the worst of her, finding her alone in the garden with a gentleman would certainly give them every excuse they needed to do that.
“Come!” she hissed at him.
“What?”
She reached out and grabbed his hand, towing him to his feet, and pulled him along after her. Nicholas did not resist, allowing himself to be led around a corner and into a little hiding spot off the main path.
She still had hold of his hand, he realized as the voices drew nearer.
And then he realized something else.
The scar.
He could feel it against his palm—the same scar he had noticed that night at the masquerade, the one he’d pressed against his lips. Itwasher. He knew for certain now.
He couldn’t believe it.
She didn’t seem to realize that she’d given herself away. Of course, she couldn’t possibly have known thathewas the same person, so Nicholas doubted she was thinking about that night at all. Her hand remained tight in his, holding on as if afraid that a tide might sweep them away from one another if she were to let go. He did not protest. In truth, he shared her fear, though he could never have articulated it for himself. He had lost her once. He didn’t want to lose her again. And the feel of that scar in his hand—she might see it as a flaw, he had no way to know. But to him, it was beautiful. It was the first indication that he had finally found the lady he had hoped for so long would reappear in his life. It was really her.
The noises that had driven them into hiding now came into focus. Two voices, both of them belonging to men.
“The money will be in hand soon enough, Lord Crestley,” the first voice said. “You’ve nothing to worry about. I have a plan.”
“Your plan has already taken far too long, Lord Codfield,” said the second voice, and with a shock, Nicholas realized that the first man to speak had been Lady Hannah’s father. The other man, Lord Crestley—he was the father of Lady Marina and Lady Eleanor, and the owner of this estate. What were the two of them doing out here? What was this talk of money all about?
“I’ll have it to you as soon as I can,” Lord Codfield said.
“I know that I’m not the only one you owe money to, Codfield. I’m not sure how much longer you think you can get away with this.”
“You must trust me. It won’t be much longer. Only until I’m able to secure my daughter’s marriage—and that won’t be long, I assure you. A deal has been made. It’s just a matter now of getting him to follow through on what his father promised.”
