Page 62 of The Heiress in Disguise
She ran off into the dark, and as he watched her go, he hoped that it was the truth.
Chapter 28
“Fancy meeting you here again,” the masked stranger said.
Angelique smiled. “I came to the woods hoping to find you,” she said. “Fortune favors me.”
“It favors us both.” Once again, the gentleman wore the mask that covered his entire face instead of the smaller one he had worn for the masquerade party. Once again, his hair was slicked back into a ponytail. She rather wished he would let it fall free. She wanted to see what that looked like, and in truth, she felt an urge to touch his hair, if he would let her.
He probably wouldn’t. He certainlyshouldn’t. It wasn’t right that he should find it so favorable to be in her company when she still harbored feelings for Philip.
Of course, it might not matter to him even if he knew that shedidhave feelings for Philip. It wasn’t as if he had feelings for her. At least, he had never indicated that he did, nor for that matter, had Philip. It was possible, perhaps even probable, that neither man felt anything more than mild affection for her. It was possible that neither of them would miss her at all when she left.
And if that was true, Angelique might as well permit herself to enjoy her time in their company until the day came when she had to move on and say goodbye. There was no reason not to seek out the masked stranger while having feelings for Philip at the same time. Neither man had chosen her, so why should she feel any obligation to choose between them?
“Are you sure you want to see me?” she asked him now.
“And why wouldn’t I want that?”
“I don’t know why youwould,” she admitted. “I’ve never understood your preoccupation with me, my lord.”
“You don’t need to refer to me so formally,” he said. “We’re friends. At least, I hope that we are.”
“I’d like that,” she agreed. “But I have to have something to call you, don’t I? Youarea lord.”
“And you are a lady.”
“But you also know my name. I don’t know yours. I understand that you don’t want to tell me,” she added quickly. “But if you don’t wish me to use your title either, how am I to address you? You’ve left me with few options.”
He pondered for a moment. “Suppose you call me George?”
“George? Is your name George?”
“It isn’t,” he said. “George is the name of a dear friend of mine, and I’m sure he would feel only too happy to loan it to me until you and I are ready to use our true names with one another.”
“Except that I am already using my true name,” Angelique said. But she was smiling. It seemed a long time ago that she hadfeared and resented the way this gentleman drew her true name out of her, forcing her to remember who she really was. Things had changed. She was grateful for him now.
She was thankful for the little reminder of the life that had been lost such a long time ago. Even after all this time, Ella had not taken over her life completely. Angelique still lived within. And when she was here in the woods with this gentleman—a gentleman who, most ironically, had offered her no real name—she could be who she truly was.
He perched on the stump of a fallen tree. “How have you been since last we spoke to one another?”
“Oh, well enough,” Angelique said.
The gentleman frowned. She couldn’t bring herself to think of him as George, though she supposed in time she would adjust to using it. “You seem a bit… far away,” he said. “Distracted, perhaps. Is something on your mind?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“A matter of the heart, perhaps?”
Her eyes widened. “What would make you think that?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “I merely guessed.”
“Because I’m a lady?”
“Because I know that matters of love can be more preoccupying than almost anything else,” he said softly, and she wondered whether that was something he had experienced for himself. Did he know firsthand how painful—and how intoxicating—it was to be in love?
And what if he did? It didn’t mean anything. If he had been in love before, even if he was in love now, that meant nothing with regard to Angelique. He wasn’t in love withher, almost certainly.
