Page 2 of A Wish Upon an Earl
Granted, Aubrey’s had.She’d wished for a puppy and she’d received one.He happened to be attached to a duke, who’d promptly married her friend.
And Camilla, she’d gotten her chemistry set, along with a fiancé.Sarah’s brother, to be precise, the Marquess of Ashburn.
Her friends now believed that Sarah’s wish would lead her to love.
Silly.
She’d certainly marry.Her connections were excellent, her skills adequate, her looks good enough.If one didn’t mind a shock of red hair.But it wouldn’t be in some romantic display of a knight riding in to save her.That had been a momentary fancy brought on by the excitement of the maypole.
No.Her husband would come from practical searching and skilled maneuvering through social artistry.
There would be no romantic knights involved.Period.To think anything else was complete folly?—
“Dear merciful saints,” Aubrey gasped.“Do you see what I see?”She pointed toward the doorway.
Sarah turned—shuffled, really—to follow Aubrey’s finger.The jousting lance came into view first.The thing must have been seven feet tall and barely fit through the doorway.Then she saw him.A knight in full regalia stopped in the doorway, surveying the room.
For a split second, her heart pounded.That urge to let the moment sweep her off her feet rose up in her chest.Her breath caught as dreams she’d long harbored danced before her eyes.A knight had actually come.He was here…
Their eyes locked across the ballroom.Or she thought they might have.It was difficult to tell with the visor that covered the full helmet.
Her breath caught and held.Perhaps she’d been wrong all along.Just maybe wishes could come true.Hope swelled in her stomach, making her feel lighter.He started to move, heading directly for her.It was a dream, a fantasy, a?—
He promptly knocked into an entire group of guests, sending three people scattering to the floor.Cries rose over the music and the crowd muted to see what had caused the stir.
It was a nightmare.
And fantasies were for silly girls who didn’t know better.
“He’s going to kill someone,” Camilla muttered.
“That’s the point, I believe,” Rose said with a laugh.“Get it?Thepoint.Because the pole has a…” She stopped when no one laughed and cleared her throat.“Play on words.”
Camilla frowned.“It was funny.”She absently patted Rose’s arm as she stared at the knight moving toward them in the crowd.“I might have laughed, except he’s actually going to kill someone.He doesn’t seem able to move well in that suit at all.”
Sarah did sigh then.“It might very well be me.I can’t escape in this dress.I’ll not be able to move out of his way.”
Aubrey winced as she surveyed Sarah.“It is a bit long, isn’t it?I thought it would be terribly romantic, but I see now that the length makes it rather difficult to move.”
But it was Sarah who should have winced.She hadn’t meant to insult her friend.“It’s so lovely, Aubrey.”How did she explain the sense of foreboding that had settled in her chest?“I just...”She paused again.“I didn’t mean that wish about a knight.I should have wished for something practical like a solid match or a?—”
“Don’t be silly.”Rose touched her arm.“The maypole wasn’t for being practical.It was a moment of whimsy.”
“All the same.”Sarah lifted her arm, miles of fabric trailing down from her elbow to the floor as the knight made his way directly toward her.It wasn’t her imagination, he appeared intent upon a collision course, leaving a wake of destruction in his path.“Our clumsy knight is making his way over to the medieval maiden.”She swept her hand down her costume.“And I won’t be able to escape, should he point that lance at me.”
“Oh dear, you’re right.”Aubrey nibbled at her lip.“But then again, I’m sure he won’t—” She stopped, her hands coming up to her face to cover her mouth.Because a portly man wearing a monocle backed into the knight’s path.The man, knocked by the lance, crashed directly into Lady Weatherby’s bosom.“Never mind.He’s moving rather slowly.Perhaps you should go take a turn about the garden.Get some fresh air?I’ll join you in a moment.I’ll just see if I can’t minimize the damage here first.”
Sarah gave a tentative nod and then she turned, attempting to gather up the extra folds of her dress without appearing too awkward.Once accomplished, she did the only thing a woman might do when her knight in clumsy armor had arrived.She made her escape.
* * *
Jack lookedthrough the slots in the face shield of the armor he donned as a costume and let out another growl of frustration.He was an earl, for pity’s sake.His ancestors had worn this very suit regularly and with ease.
How could he be bumbling this so badly?
He consoled himself that years of the suit standing in the hall of his country estate had rusted the joints, making it difficult to move in.But the entire suit had to weigh three stone.
All his life, Jack had been an athlete.He boxed regularly, walked a great deal, was a superior horseman, and his hunting skills were highly regarded.But the weight and the stiffness combined, along with the crush of the crowd, made it difficult to move with any sort of grace.
