Page 31 of The Heiress in Disguise
“When on Earth were you in the garden?”
“I stole out there to collect my thoughts after we left the balcony.”
“You arebeggingfor trouble,” Jane informed her. “You certainly aren’t supposed to leave the house.”
“Honestly, Jane, you’re as bad as my aunt!”
“I don’t know how you can say that.”
Angelique sighed. “I don’t mean it,” she said. “Forgive me. Of course you’re not. But youdoreprimand me so, and what have I done that’s so bad? I know I’m not supposed to go into the garden, but I didn’t get caught, so what difference does it make?”
“I suppose we’ll see what difference it makes,” Jane said. “You say you saw the gentleman again out there?”
“I did, yes.”
“And did he see you?”
Should she tell Jane that the gentleman had spoken to her by name? She longed for help in solving the mystery, but she was beginning to think that if she revealed what had happened, Jane would simply tell her that she had done wrong by entertaining aconversation at all, and that she ought to avoid the mysterious gentleman for the rest of the party.
“He saw me,” she said. “We made eye contact.”
“Well, I suppose that could have been worse,” Jane said. “I don’t think he’ll have too much time to trouble you for the rest of the party.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, everyone is talking about him,” Jane said. “Everyone is going to want their share of his attention.”
“People are talking about him?”
“They certainly are. Nobody knows who he is.”
“They don’t?” That came as a surprise to Angelique. “Someone must know.”
“That’s not what I’ve been hearing. Of course, you wouldn’t know, because you aren’t allowed to leave the kitchen—not that it’s stopped you today—but you haven’t been able to see the guests interacting with one another, so you haven’t seen the stir this gentleman has caused.”
“It all sounds very exciting,” Angelique said.
“Everyone is asking each other who he is. Lady Gwyneth is in a state over it—of course, he was able to figure out whoshewas very quickly.”
“I don’t think she’s exactly trying to hide her identity.”
“No, I don’t either, but she wasn’t prepared for him to withhold his own identity after hers had been given away. Well, and she isn’t the only one. Everyone I’ve passed has been talking about him, speculating as to who he could be.”
“Have you any guesses?” Angelique couldn’t deny that she very much wanted to know the stranger’s identity—it would help her to solve the mystery of how he had been able to figure out whoshewas so easily.
But Jane shook her head. “I couldn’t possibly tell you,” she said. “I’m sure he’s no one I know. But more to the point, I don’t know if we ought to trust someone unknown to everyone.”
“But I don’t see why it’s such a significant thing,” Angelique said. “After all, this is a masquerade. There must be no end of people here whose identity is a secret from everyone. This gentleman can’t possibly be the only one.”
“No, but he does seem to be the only one whose identity can’t even be guessed at,” Jane said. “Everyone else has people guessing at who they could be, but your gentleman—nobody looks like that. Nobody is that handsome.”
“Philip is,” Angelique blurted out without thinking.
“Philip—you don’t mean the valet from next door?”
Angelique blushed. “I shouldn’t be thinking of him like that, I know. I’m sure I’ll never see him again.”
“But you think he’s as handsome as the gentleman who’s such a mystery to everyone at the party?”
