Page 56 of The Heiress in Disguise
Philip. Her heart skipped a beat at that name, even though the stranger for whom she had such powerful feelings was sitting right in front of her.
How could she care so deeply for both of them? How was it possible? And what was she going to do?
He turned and walked away, and she watched his tidy ponytail receding. He was still wearing the cape he had worn to the masquerade, the one he had used to cover her while she slept. She recalled the warmth of it now.
She leaned back against a tree trunk and pondered what had just happened—the way he’d listened to everything she’d had to say, the way he had held her hand when she had cried. How would she go home and leave this man behind in London? How would she return to life without the person who had made her feel understood in a way nobody else had ever managed?
Those thoughts were running through her head on a loop when she heard a rustle in the woods and looked up to see Philip emerging from the trees.
A shiver passed through her at the sight of his warm smile and the dark curls that fell around his shoulders. He was the most handsome man she had ever known, and the way he looked at her made her feel so special and important. But how could she have feelings for him and the masked stranger at the same time?
She felt as if she needed to choose one of them in her mind… but of course, it didn’t really matter, did it? What difference did it make if she had feelings for two people at once when shecouldn’t hope to capture a future with either one of them? It wasn’t as if she really had to choose.
“Did you get your surprise?” he asked her.
“You sent that mysterious stranger to talk to me.”
“I did,” he agreed. “You seemed as if you wanted that.”
“I’m grateful,” she agreed slowly.
“Is there abutcoming?”
“I’m not sure. He took me by surprise. Perhaps I should say thatyoutook me by surprise, since you sent him here. I’m still not sure why you did it or what you hoped to gain.”
“I didn’t want to gain anything,” he told her. “I wanted to bring a smile to your face, that’s all. But you look troubled.”
“Nothing is simple,” she said. “But this did make me smile.” She paused. “Seeing you makes me smile as well.”
Shocking herself with her own boldness, she reached up and touched one of the curls that framed his face. Perhaps it was the masked stranger’s courageousness in touching her hand that had given her the courage to do this. If so, she felt, it was deeplystrange—that sharing a moment with one man should give her the confidence to initiate a moment with another. There seemed something very wrong about that.
The strange thing, though, was that it only seemed wrong in her mind. It was only when she considered it logically that she felt there was something improper about getting close to two men as she had.
If she didn’t think about it, if she let go and trusted her conscience and her emotions, it didn’t feel wrong at all. In fact, it was as natural as breathing to her, and she had no idea what to make of that fact. The only thing she knew was that she didn’t want to pull away from him.
“Your hair is magnificent,” she said. “I’ve always wished for curls.”
“I think your hair is lovely,” he commented. “And the waves in it are very fetching, you know. It’s difficult to find anything I would change.”
Now he was reaching up to touch her hair as well. His hand was so close to her face that she could feel the warmth of it. It was a good thing they had arranged to meet in the woods, she thought. She had no idea what her family, and Gwyneth in particular, would have done if they had seen this. It wouldn’t have been good, she knew that for certain.
Just as that thought occurred to her, she heard the loudsnapof a twig breaking somewhere off in the distance, followed by the sound of feet running away through the brush.
She jumped back guiltily, staring at Philip, and saw the same anxiety she felt mirrored on his face. There was only one thing those sounds could possibly indicate.
Someone had seen them.
Angelique had no idea who it could have been—but she knew this couldn’t possibly be good.
Chapter 25
Jane retreated through the woods as quickly as she could, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. Ella had been standing and talking with that valet from next door—how could that be? She couldn’t possibly think it wise, after all this time, to continue to associate with people outside the household, could she?
Jane knew something of Ella’s history, of course. It was whispered among the servants, even though they weren’t supposed to discuss it, even though they all knew there would be trouble if they were ever caught discussing it. Ella had not been born to the life of a servant the way Jane had.
But Jane had never felt envious about that. Ella had always been someone to be pitied, for she was treated with far more disregard and disrespect than anyone else in the household. There had been a time when Jane had imagined the two of them running away together and finding employment somewhere else.
She had always assumed that, given enough time to understand how terrible her circumstances were, Ella would agree to that. She couldn’t possibly want to stayhere, after all. She was treated like dirt in this household. Nobody could want that.
