Page 68 of The Dreaming Beauty
“But how?” Tansy asked. “When?”
“We’ve been sewing for weeks, and it has been most difficult to keep it a surprise. Mr. Taylor could have spoiled everything when he caught us working and we weren’t quick enough to put it away. Bless that man for keeping our secrets.”
At the mention of Marcus, her lips began to lift into a smile before they froze in place. Would he care to see her in her new gown? Was he anticipating seeing her at all? She knew she should not compare Simon’s recent attentiveness to Marcus’s, but it was hard not to. It had been a miserable week without him. She missed his encouraging smile, his hands on her shoulders, and the velvety sound of his voice. She pressed the dress to her chest, letting the moment feed her vanity and lighten her spirits. “It’s an absolute beauty.” She spun around and brought it to the mirror.
Iris stepped up beside her. “I’m not sure it’s fit for the daughter of a duchess, but I think it brings out your eyes.”
“It’s perfect, Iris.”
Daisy came up on her other side. “We just want you to be happy.”
Tansy rested her head against Daisy’s. “I am, dearest. I am.”
“Then you aren’t angry with us any longer?” Daisy blinked rapidly. “Or sad?”
She had been angry and every other emotion under the sun. But not now. Not today. “No tears,” Tansy commanded, reaching for a handkerchief on her dressing table and blotting under Daisy’s eyes. “There has been enough mourning the past. In fact, I have mourned my whole life and through every story you’ve shared this week. It’s time we look forward to the future. From here on out, no regrets or apologies, just the sharing of sweet memories and the building of new ones.”
“Speaking of memories,” Aster said, stepping closer. “Did I ever tell you about the day your parents first met?”
Tansy’s lungs filled with an excited air. “Do tell!” The stories flooding from their mouths this past week had been her saving grace in Marcus’s absence. Some stung deeply, as she had been denied the knowledge of her parentage for her whole life, but others stirred up all the best moments of the past and filled her soul with them. The time passed quickly with sweet sighs and laughing, and it was not long before the carriage arrived to take them to Ashbury Court.
When they arrived, Tansy stepped down from the carriage with one goal: Marcus. He might not have come to see her at Rose Cottage, but she would find him. Once they were together and she could see his caring eyes and warm smile, all her concerns about how much he cared would be put to rest. She had so much to tell him about what she had learned, and was it wrong to want to see him when she felt the prettiest?
Aster caught her hand before she could make her escape. The look in her aunt’s eyes made Tansy stand still and listen. “I won’t hover since it is your birthday, but do take care to keep your distance from Lady Melbourne.”
Her curiosity could not be restrained. “Why?”
Mrs. Farris waved to them with her handkerchief from the front steps of the house. “Mrs. Palmer, Mrs. Wood, good day to you both.”
“Just a minute, Mrs. Farris.” Aster turned to Tansy once more. “Please, Tansy, obey me in this small thing. Now, be off with you, unless you want to listen to Mrs. Farris jaw your ear off.”
Determined not to let anything diminish her spirits, including unexplained statements and talkative neighbors, Tansy nodded and slipped away, searching all the while for Marcus. A group of children ran by her in a game of chase, making her grin. She walked around the house and finally caught a glimpse of his tall hat atop his bed of wavy hair. Seeing him again was more exhilarating than sighting a rare shooting star, and a flutter of anticipation coursed through her.
He was standing with another couple she had not seen before on the far edge of the lawn in front of a thick line of trees. Before she moved, she located His Grace on the opposite side, by the roses. He was conversing with his mother. There was still a little time before the party officially started and all were gathered, so it was easy to justify avoiding the both of them, and not just because of Aster’s warning. Scanning the rest of the grounds, Tansy realized the surest route to Marcus without being seen by his brother would be to go along the tree line and work her way up to him. She was determined to speak with him before his brother or anyone else intercepted her. Weaving through the trees, she came up behind the group of three. She was slightly downhill from them, and the strange man’s voice carried easily to her. His words caused her to stop in her tracks.
“You said you had befriended a new neighbor woman to get information from her. Did it not work?”
“In a way, it did,” Marcus answered. “There is more she is not telling me about her dreams, but I cannot be certain the information will prove useful.”
Tansy’s heart plummeted. She had trusted him with that information, and now he was airing her secrets to his friends?
The unidentified man did not hesitate to respond. “You know how to press for information, and you have a gift to know when someone is lying. If those abilities can aid our country in the war, they can help you in this. Don’t give up when you are so close. I know how important this is to you.”
Tansy kept her breathing shallow despite the racing in her heart, eager to hear what Marcus would say next. There was a pause before he finally replied, “It’s been everything to me for so long.”
Tansy’s gut began to knot inside her. She could barely comprehend what she had just heard. Marcus had become her closest friend and confidant, and now she felt as if she did not know him at all. Had their friendship truly been a ruse so he could get close enough to her to learn about her dreams? And to what end? She clutched her stomach and stepped backward, her foot snapping a branch.
Both the couple and Marcus turned toward the noise, their gazes settling on her.
Acting on impulse, she forced a smile to hide the betrayal she felt.
“Lady Tansy,” Marcus greeted. The sound of the unfamiliar title linked with her name sounded like playacting. He motioned to her as if it were not at all odd for her to be wandering through the trees, away from the party. “There is someone I should like you to meet. Do you mind joining us?”
Her tentative smile wavered as she looked at his companions. The man was tall and light-haired with an intimidating air about him, while the woman Tansy assumed was his wife was a natural beauty with a smaller frame and wild dark curls escaping her pins. The woman held her hand on top of a barely protruding stomach like she was newly expecting.
Tansy did not immediately respond. Did she want to meet the man who encouraged Marcus to use her like some disposable pawn? Without a ready excuse, however, she could think of nothing to do but dumbly nod in agreement. She stepped around the last two trees to the grass and crossed over to the group, her nerves on high alert.
“Lord and Lady Cadogen, this is Lady Tansy, the woman I have been telling you about. It is her birthday we are celebrating today.”
