Page 52 of The Heiress in Disguise
“I’d prefer not to run the risk of being seen,” he said.
“Why?”
“I have a surprise for you.”
She was startled. “Why would you have a surprise for me?”
“Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
“I think so,” she said hesitantly.
The truth was that the way she felt about him went beyond mere friendship, and she couldn’t lie to herself about that. When shethought about meeting him in the woods, all sorts of forbidden fantasies sprang to mind. What would it be like if he put his arms around her? If he held her against his chest? What if he went so far as to kiss her? Surely that would never happen, but the fantasy was enough to leave her breathless.
People didn’t think about their friends like that. She was sure of it. Angelique didn’t have many people in her life she would have counted as friends, but she understood well enough that a mere friendship wouldn’t make her heart beat fast, the way it was at that moment. Whatever she felt for Philip was something very different.
But it was also something that could never be. Like it or not, theywouldbe separated soon. Even if it weren’t for the fact that she could only ever let him know Ella, and never Angelique, she couldn’t allow herself to fall in love. It would be doomed from the start.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, we’re friends.”
“So then you’ll meet me?”
“I will,” she agreed, wondering if it was a mistake and knowing all the while that if it was, it was one she was doomed to make. There was no chance she could stay away from him if he wanted her to come.
He smiled at her and rose from his rock. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” he said, and turned away.
Chapter 23
I hope I’m not making a mistake,Antoine thought as he headed into the woods the following day to meet Angelique.
He had done all he could, he thought, to make this encounter a success. He had exchanged the partial mask he had worn at the party for a full mask that obscured his entire face.
It seemed unlikely that he would be able to get away with the same disguise in the light of day that had worked so well during the masquerade—if she saw him in the woods, especially after Philip had been the one to ask her to come here, she would suspect that he and Philip were one and the same. That wasn’t a risk he was ready to take.
He wasn’t sure exactly why he didn’t want to confess the truth. He knew only that the idea of it troubled him. He supposed it had to do with the different feelings she so clearly had for the man in the mask and Philip. He thought she liked both of them, but it was clear that she felt she couldtrustPhilip.
She saw him as a friend, maybe even a confidante. The masked stranger, on the other hand, was someone who intrigued her and made her feel uncertain. He didn’t want to lose the trust he had built as Philip.
Someday, though I am going to have to tell her the truth.
Yes. Someday. But not that day. Not yet. He wasn’t ready yet.
And who knew? Maybe he would never be required to tell the truth. When he rescued her from her dire circumstances, he would do so as Lord Cambridge, not as either of these men. She would know then that Philip had been a fiction—but need she ever know that the man in the mask had also been a part of it?
He’d examined his reflection carefully before coming out today, and he felt sure of his disguise, but even so, he grew nervous as he saw her approaching. Her face had become so familiar to him by now that it was hard to believe she could look at him and not see every bit of who he was. That he was Philip, and also, that he was Antoine. It seemed as if shemustknow, but she had given no indication so far that she did.
She caught sight of him and froze in her tracks, and Antoine recalled that she hadn’t expected to see him here. She had been coming to meet Philip. He needed to make sure at once that the wrong man being here wasn’t frightening or suspicious to her.
“Good day,” he said quietly, refraining from moving toward her.
“I—” she stammered. “I’m sorry. I was expecting to meet a friend.”
“You were expecting to meet Philip.”
“Well, yes.”
“He wished to surprise you. He sent me in his stead. I hope it’s all right with you that he did. If you’d prefer it, I can go.” He held his breath, hoping that she wouldn’t ask for that, knowing that he would have to honor the request if she did.
But she shook her head. “Don’t go,” she said. “Philip was right to send you. I—I wanted to see you again.” She blushed as the words left her mouth, as if she was saying something shameful.
