Page 4 of Dangerous Games of a Broken Lady
“I pray that I may have. There is nothing to fear from me, and I am sorry if—”
“You are a jealous creature, Lady Adelaide. You have always been so.”
Adelaide recoiled from the slur. She had been about to apologize for her previous behavior, but the words died on her lips. Her heart no longer felt redemptive. Pushing away any indication of visible hurt, she ushered Leah towards the front door. She did not stop until Leah was safely on her way down the cobbled road, the carriage wheels jolting away from sight. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. Friendship appeared to be nothing but hard work.
Gazing up at the blanket of stars that glittered in the clear autumn night, Adelaide drew in a deep lungful of cold air. A gentle, frosted breeze nipped at her cheeks. Wrapping her arms around herself, her eyes moved across the still landscape. A rolling fog drifted across the grass of the park beyond. Shadows shifted and darted, playing tricks on her.
Suddenly, the fog cleared. A solitary shadow remained on the park path. Tall and broad-shouldered, a long coat masked his shape. With his head dipped, the edge of his top-hat shrouded his face from sight. She could not make out a single familiar feature. A tremor of fear and confusion rippled up Adelaide’s spine. Whoever this man was, he did not move. She stood frozen to the spot, equally unable to move.
She was about to call out for assistance when the figure vanished. As quickly as he had appeared, he disappeared from sight, melting into the fog and the darkness. Adelaide was alone once more. Still holding the letter in her trembling hand, she stayed on the top step a moment longer and opened it out slowly.
Thinking of you, was all it said.
Chapter 2
The following day, Reuben Fletcher, the Duke of Bradford, stalked the young lady with the stealth of a skilled predator. In the bright light of the crisp autumn afternoon, he had followed her all the way from town, wanting to watch her from afar. There was something about the voyeuristic nature of observing that thrilled him to the core.
Not a moment ago, she had parted ways with an acquaintance and their escort and turned down a wide alleyway. He had not recognized the young lady and older woman that she had been walking with. They had tried to convince her to allow them to walk with her to her front door, but she had refused.
“The journey is so short. I do not require an escort to walk barely forty paces,” she had told them, assuring both women that she would be fine by herself. Now that she had parted from them, it appeared she wished to take a shortcut on her way home. Reuben had hoped she might. She was a strong-willed creature; he thought it one of her finest attributes.
He waited a split-second before hurrying after her, though he was careful not to attract her attention.
She paused at the end of the alley to search for something. He smiled. He could not have planned it better himself. Carefully, he crept up behind her and breathed softly against her ear. She whirled around in fright. With her mouth opening in a scream, his hand snapped towards her. Clamping his palm down, he silenced her.
“It is only me, my sweet,” he said.
Her body relaxed.
“Do you promise you will not scream?”
She nodded.
“You ought to be more watchful of your step. London can be a dangerous place, even here in Belgravia,” he chided playfully, releasing her. His skin felt hot where she had breathed against it in a panic. The lingering sensation made him wonder what it might be like to kiss her plump lips and feel her breath that much closer. He would not dare to do so, but it did not stop him thinking about it.
“And you ought to be more careful about trailing young ladies throughout the town,” she remarked curtly. Her breath heaved from her lungs. Despite the danger being diffused, Reuben could see she was still scared. “This is most unseemly, Your Grace.”
“Reuben, please…when it is only you and I, I implore you to call me by my name.”
“We should notbealone together,” she insisted in a panic. “If someone were to discover us, they would—”
“They would what, my dear? You and I are engaged. People may gossip as they please.”
At five-and-thirty, Reuben had thought it about time he ended his bachelor ways. He had sown his wild oats and played the role of eligible Lothario to the end of its enjoyment. Some six months previously, he had begun to think seriously about taking a wife. Alone at night, he had wondered how pleasant it might be to have a charming young lady at his side. Lady Adelaide had come along at just the right time. Plus, his mother and her parents had thought the match most fortuitous, indeed.
“If you insist on keeping our engagement secret, then there is much for me to worry about,” Adelaide countered. She looked wounded. “When may my mother and father make the news official? They are eager to do so, as am I. Your own mother has written several times to assure me that your affections have not altered.”
“My mother speaks the truth. They have not.” He smiled mischievously, “I desire you to be my wife, that is all there is to it.”
“So why must we continue in secret? Your mother knows and my parents have agreed. Why do you delay?”
He shrugged, “I do not see the need to herald it about town. What business is it of anyone else? You see, my love, I am not keeping it a secret. I am merely informing only those who need to know.”
“Well, I wish you would tell more people, so that I do not fear you jilting me.”
“I would never do such a thing,” he replied, taking her hand and pressing it to his lips. “You are the one I am going to wed, I assure you. I just do not appreciate playing into the hands of society’s chattering elite and obeying their every whim and custom. May we not have this simply for us? I should very much like to shock them with the news when we marry.”
“Mother wants everyone in attendance at the wedding.”
