“I really am sorry.” Simon withdrew his somewhat clammy hand. “I did not mean to mislead you.”
Anna laughed drily. “I misled myself, Lord Luminport. Please, I insist, you should leave me.”
“Well, if you are sure.” Simon clearly did not need to be told twice, as he pushed off the balustrade and headed back into the ballroom without so much as a “Farewell.”
In his absence, Anna let the bitter tears come. She stared out at the moonlit lawns and let them trickle down her cheeks, not bothering to wipe them away. If anyone noticed her distress, they did not come to comfort her. Her friends would have, but they were inside, enjoying the ball with their husbands. As they should have been.
Taking a deep, choking breath, she descended from the terrace, deciding she would go and investigate what was happening by the fishpond. Anything to get away from the merriment and music of the ball, just for a short while, to compose herself.
It is not my first rejection,she reminded herself,but it will be my last.
She would not entertain the attention of a gentleman again. Her days of seeking romance were finished, at last. For her own heart, anyway.
“I will throw myself into my work,” she vowed as she walked, the music growing fainter and fainter. “I will draw my happiness from that of others. I will write love stories and happy endings with The Matchmaker’s letters. That will be enough.”
In truth, she did not know if it hurt more that she had been cast aside by someone she did not truly have any affection for, or if it hurt because of the finality of it all. Simon had said that she was “not so bad,” and she had felt the same way about him. A ‘decent’ prospect. A ‘satisfactory’ option. Not the powerful, poetic love she had dreamed of, but a passable choice.
I am not a girl anymore. It is time to end this silliness.Indeed, continuing on across the lawn, all alone, she knew she was in a better position than other spinsters of her age. She would always have her brother to take care of her, she would have her freedom, she would be at liberty to do all the matchmaking she pleased, and she would never want for anything.
Her heart would just have to get used to it.
“My lady, I wouldn’t come much further,” a voice said, from the darkness where a group of men were preparing something. “It’s not safe.”
Anna eyed the lumpy mass they were hiding beneath a black cloth. “What are you doing?”
“Her Ladyship wants it to be a surprise,” the man replied.
Anna nodded. “Of course. Apologies for disturbing you.”
And I have the Countess, too.There were certainly worse situations to be in, and a husband might interfere with her passion for matchmaking. It would be a rare individual who would allow her to continue in her exploits.
“Are you well, my lady?” the man asked hesitantly.
Anna put on a smile. “Very well, thank you. Please, carry on.”
She glanced toward the grand manor house, shuddering at the sight of the glowing lights spilling out from the ballroom. Trailing her gaze along the vast array of glinting windows, she spied candles flickering in the Orangery that jutted out from the farthest end of the manor.
Sanctuary.She straightened up, wiped the tears from her face, and set off through the gloom toward those beacons of peace and quiet.
Reaching the glass structure and peering in to ensure there was no one there already, she slipped inside. It still held the warmth of the day within its walls, and the scent of the potted orange and lemon trees greeted her.
The chairs from the music recital were gone, but there were wooden benches lining the windowed walls. She perched on one and closed her eyes, inhaling the sweet scents and the utter, blissful silence. For a moment, she imagined she was in the greenhouse of her childhood home, listening to the gardener explain how to care for the orchids.
“What do you think you are doing?” A stern voice cut through the quiet, jolting her out of her peaceful reverie.
A blur moved toward her out of the dim light of the room, seizing her by the hand, tugging her up onto her feet. It took a second for her vision to adjust, her alarm transforming into confusion as she peered up into intense green eyes, flaring with anger.
CHAPTERTWENTY
“Do you realize the danger you are putting yourself in?” Percy growled, gazing down into Anna’s frightened blue eyes.
He had watched her step out onto the terrace with Simon, had seen Simon return indoors with a furtive, rather pleased look upon his face, and had known something was amiss. When he had gone out to see where Anna was, he had spotted her creeping across the darkened lawns to the Orangery, behaving very much like someone who was on their way to a clandestine rendezvous.
He had raced to get to the Orangery ahead of her, and passing a sheepish Simon not twenty paces from the doors, his suspicions had been confirmed. Fortunately, Simon had spotted him and mumbled an excuse, before heading back the way he had come.
“What danger?” Anna finally found her voice, tugging her hand out of Percy’s. “Indeed, what areyoudoing here? Am I to have no peace? I told you to find Lady Joan. I told you to dance with Lady Joan. Or if not Lady Joan, then any lady who takes your fancy!”
Percy grasped her hand again. “I am saving your reputation, Anna. I am here to protect you, as your friend and as your brother’s friend.”
