She’d been missing for a year, hadn’t she?At least, that’s what he had heard in the ton though any time he talked to Dorothy, he was certain Frederica’s location wasn’t quite as unknown as others seemed to think it was.
Great, and now, I have just embraced her in a dark corridor…
He jumped back away from her, still rubbing his sore jaw as he realized exactly what he had done.
Frederica was staring at him in equal shock, that pretty face turned up toward him. She had changed much in the last few years. He hadn’t seen her for some time because of his grand tour, but she was easily recognizable.
It was those blue eyes which had always done him in from their very first meeting. She had a beauty which he had quickly ignored, for he had not been worried about finding a courtship for himself at the time.
“What the hell are you doing?” Frederica suddenly cried.
“Little, quiet Frederica,” he said with a chuckle as he lowered his hand. “Who would have thought you had such volume in you?”
“This is no time for a jest.” She waved a warning finger at him.
“Pray, do not hit me again; once was quite enough.” He pointed at his cheek which he didn’t doubt was red.
“You were touching me!”
“I thought you were another,” he tried to explain though he hardly wanted to go into any more detail. He kept his affairs as secret as possible. He may have had a reputation for being rather flirtatious since he had come back from his travels, but he and his paramour were the only ones who knew about their nightly activities.
He had been certain Frederica was she. They were wearing very similar pink gowns though now as he looked at Frederica in that dress, he realized just how different they were. Slight of figure, Frederica’s curves were more obvious beneath the cotton. He snatched his eyes away, angered that he had noticed at all.
“Another?” she spluttered, a small smile appearing on her lips. “I do not need to hear any more about what you were up to up here.”
“Good, because I did not intend to share it.” He stiffened, crossing his arms over his body as he looked down at her. “Let’s instead talk about you.”
“Me?” She looked like a deer at the end of a pistol, suddenly terrified. “Why me?”
“What are you doing up here in the rafters when there’s a ball going on downstairs?” At his question, she scoffed and looked away. There had been a time when Frederica was so mild of manner that she wouldn’t have scoffed at anyone. It was somewhat refreshing to see she had changed a little. “Better yet, perhaps I should ask what the hell you are doing in London when you have been missing for a year?”
She turned around on the spot, looking panicked as she wrung her hands together.
“Where’s Dorothy?” she asked.
“That’s not answering my question.”
“That’s not answering mine, either!” she pointed out, flicking her head around to glare at him again.
“What are you doing here, Frederica?” He hadn’t used her title. Perhaps it was because she was so close to Dorothy that he felt he could drop it. They weren’t just acquaintances, were they? Dorothy had bonded them both together. “You’re alone in a dark corner of the assembly rooms.”
“As are you.”
“That doesn’t make you any more in the right. Why are you here?”
“That is my business.” She turned once again on the spot. “Good Lord, if anyone else has seen you up here, you would have been in a scandal of your own, Lord Padleigh.”
He grimaced. He avoided scandals by rule. Any flirtation or dalliance he had was behind closed doors.
“So, we’re going to keep it a secret what happened up here, aren’t we?” he asked.
“The fact you were too slow to defend yourself or what you were doing up here?” Her words actually made him smile. He fought his response, shaking his head.
“Frederica…”
“Agreed,” she said hastily. “As long as you keep secret the fact that you saw me at all.”
“What?” He stepped toward her in alarm. “You must be in jest,” he said with sudden firmness. “The entire ton has been questioning where you are for a year. When I returned from the continent, it was all anyone could talk about.”
