“And that’s why you’re out in the garden alone?”
“I don’t believe I’ll have the freedom to be alone at all once I’ve been given away in marriage,” she said. “I have to take these opportunities now, while I still have them. If I don’t, they’ll pass me by forever.”
“I see,” he said again.
“Do you disagree?”
“I neither agree nor disagree. I can’t know what the future holds any more than you can. But I hope. You seem like a kind young lady, and I’d like to think that you’ll find the happiness you deserve, even if it does feel unlikely to you right now,” he said.
She looked up at him. “You’re the one who’s kind,” she said. “I know I was unpleasant when you first came out here. I was unhappy, and I allowed myself to take it out on you. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I understand,” he assured her. “We’ll say nothing more about it.”
“I want you to know that that isn’t the person I usually am,” she said. “Or, at least, it isn’t who I try to be. It’s important to me to be decent to people. I know you were only trying to make conversation with me, and I should have been nicer. But I admit, I did wonder whether you might not be a rake!”
“I hope I’ve put your fears to rest about that, at least.”
“Yes, I think if you were trying to take advantage of my solitude, you would have done it by now,” she said. “It seems clear to me that at the very least, you are who and what you claim to be—a kind-hearted gentleman who wanted nothing more than to make sure I wasn’t in any trouble.”
Nicholas nodded. “I’m glad you feel that way,” he said. “That’s exactly what I wanted.”
“If I could have had my way…” She trailed off.
“What?”
“I shouldn’t say this. It’s too forward.”
“You may as well say whatever you’re thinking,” he said. “We’ve been able to talk to one another as friends tonight. I’d like to think that means we can confide in one another—even if only for the short time we’re out here together.”
She nodded. “Very well,” she said. “Since you asked—I was thinking that if I had my way, perhaps I would have met a gentleman like yourself at a ball. If I was choosing for myself, I might have liked someone like you. That might have made the prospect of marriage seem less dreadful to me.”
Nicholas smiled, taking the compliment in the spirit she’d clearly intended it. “I’m sure any gentleman would be lucky tomarry you,” he said. “And I hope that when the arrangement is made, you find yourself with someone who can make you as happy as I’m sure you will make him.”
Feeling bold, he reached out and took her hand—the one with the scar. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it gently, hoping that she would take comfort from the gesture. If he could have granted himself one wish in this moment, it would be that she would walk away from this encounter with a little more hope for the future than she’d had when she sat down.
And yet—he couldn’t help feeling a pang of something strangely like loss. She was so lovely, with her auburn hair and piercing eyes, and so engaging to talk to! If only shewasn’thaving an arranged marriage! Perhaps he would have liked to see whether she would be interested in a courtship.
The clock chimed midnight.
The lady in the peacock mask jumped up from the bench. “I have to go,” she said, her voice full of anxiety.
“Wait! I don’t know your name!”
But she turned and ran from the garden without another word.
CHAPTER FOUR
Six Weeks Later
“We’ve received a wedding invitation,” Nicholas’ mother announced one morning over breakfast.
“Who’s getting married?” Nicholas asked, taking his seat across from her. He had no particular interest in the wedding, and he wouldn’t hesitate to say so if his mother pushed him to attend.
“Your friend Phineas’s younger brother, Jacob,” his mother said. “I hadn’t realized he was courting anyone.”
“Oh, yes, I think he’s been involved with a young lady for several months now,” Nicholas said. “Phineas did say something about it—a family friend of theirs.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” his mother demanded.
