“Who says I’m a lady?”
“I have a distinct ear for voices,” he said slowly.
Hah! “That does not mean I’m a lady.”
“Your speech gives you away.”
Leonora chuckled. He had, in all likelihood, already guessed her identity. “I’m indeed a lady, and yet at the same time I am not.”
“Fascinating words coming from such sweet lips.”
“Sweet lips? Well, I suppose it has been suggested that I am the delight of a certain gentleman’s evening.”
“I’m sure the man who said that was no gentleman at all.” His voice had a hint of a smile in it.
“Well, he is a bit rakish.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Only a bit?”
She shrugged. “From my experience, yes, although the same cannot be said about his rakish reputation. That is somewhat big.”
He laughed. “Only somewhat, Lady Leonora?”
Leonora pulled the hood of her cape back from her head, her eyes sparkling at him. “What brings you out and about so early in the morning, Lord Dare? Don’t rakes play until dawn and rise only at twilight?”
He scoffed. “What a cheeky assumption.” He nudged his horse forward to approach her. “What about you, my lady? Riding this early all alone in the woods? Is that wise or is it reckless?”
“Can it be both? The morning air clears my head.”
“You should be careful,” he admonished, though no sting clung to his words. “Danger lurks in these woods.”
Her gaze swept over him. “I can see that.”
“Then you should know if we are discovered together that—” He cut off at the sound of more hooves hitting the ground echoed in the distance, approaching fast.
He cursed.
Her sentiments exactly. “The woods seemed to be fully occupied this morning. Should we find a spot to hide?”
He nodded, his gaze flicking over their surroundings. “Put your hood back on. We can’t be found together like this.”
Leonora pulled the hood over her head again. He didn’t need to tell her. She was all too aware that while she boldly flirted with this man in the presence of theton, her reputation would never survivethis. Well, it might, but that depended on who it was who was approaching them, whether they would be recognized, and whether any newcomers could be convinced that it was a mere coincidence that she and Dare had met here today. Unlikely.
“Come.” Dare dismounted and led his horse behind a patch of thick bushes. Leonora followed suit. “This should do.”
“First a pillar and now bushes,” Leonora murmured. “I daresay I’m learning all sorts of hiding spots from you. Is this bush an old haunt of yours?”
“Ridiculous.”
Soon two riders came to a halt a few feet away beneath a big tree. Neither dismounted. Leonora squinted to peer through the bushes, her sight partly obstructed by the mist but not enough to completely obscure her view. Inadvertently, they had found the perfect spot. One of the riders was cloaked, not unlike Leonora, but the other was not. The uncloaked rider was clearly a woman, and judging by stature and bearing, the cloaked person seemed to be a woman as well.
“A secret meeting?” Leonora whispered.
Dare leaned in, his face almost touching hers as he too peered through the spot she found.
“Well, what do you know...” he said, his voice a barely audible murmur.
“What?” Leonora asked in a hush. “Who is it?”
