“Can we talk again?” Lucy pressed, strangely desperate for him to agree. “I’ll come again tomorrow night.”
He sketched her an elegant bow. “Then I shall be here. Goodnight.”
Before she could say more, he slipped out of the door. She leapt to her feet and followed him just as the lights on the stage grew brighter, but when she stepped out into the hallway he’d already vanished.
Lucy cursed softly under her breath.
* * *
Will smiledin the darkness of the narrow passageway he’d entered to escape from Lucy. The entrance to this one was hidden behind a large gilt mirror on the lower landing of the stairwell, and he’d used it several times before to avoid detection.
He had little doubt that Lucy would be scowling down the empty staircase, her pert nose wrinkled in frustration that her quarry had eluded her. Her tenacity was just one of the many things he loved about her.
At least she hadn’t seen through his disguise. He’d deliberately kept his voice low, and worn black leather gloves to hide a rather distinctive scar on his hand that eagle-eyed Lucy might notice.
He’d even applied a different cologne to alter his scent. According to Lucy’s twin, Lenore, Lucy had once commented that ‘the only good thing about Arden is that he smells nice.’ It was still his most cherished compliment.
His pulse was pounding from their encounter, his blood simmering with desire. She’d looked so beautiful, sitting there in the darkness, her face illuminated by the footlights as she gazed, rapt, at the drama below. He’d watched her for several moments before she’d become aware of his presence, and his body had warmed at the way the light played on the upper curves of her breasts and danced along her collarbones.
He wanted to touch her, so badly he was almost shaking. He wanted to kiss those sweetly rounded curves and feast on her lips. Her impetuous kiss had been ridiculously brief, just the brush of skin. He’d fisted his hands in his lap to stop himself from reaching over the back of her chair, cupping the back of her neck, and kissing herproperly, as ardently as he’d done in Sylvia Greenwood’s garden all those years ago.
He'd left before temptation got the better of him.
Still, he would take the kiss she’d promised. . . tomorrow night.
CHAPTER5
Lucy jolted forward on the seat as the Montgomery coach came to a rocking halt, and she leaned toward the window to call up to the driver.
“Is there a problem, Mister Cox?”
“I’m sorry, Miss. There’s a crowd ahead, blocking the road.”
“Can you turn around?”
“I’m afraid not. The street’s too narrow. Woah there!” That last command was clearly directed at the horses, who had begun to fidget in agitation. “They’re all coming this way.”
Lucy sighed. She was keen to see the Phantom again, and this delay was irritating.
She’d dreamed of him last night. Strange, fitful dreams in which both the Phantom and Will Arden had made an appearance. Both men were with her in the steamy, humid jungles of the Amazon, playing hide-and-seek, flitting between the trees. She’d never been quite sure which man she was chasing. One moment it was Arden, the next it was the Phantom in his black mask. It had all been rather frustrating.
A shout snapped her back to the present.
“It’s some sort of protest, Miss.” The coachman said. “We’ll have to stay right here and let them pass us by.”
Chants and shouting filled the air as the crowd approached, and Lucy peered out of the window in sudden apprehension. The mood seemed angry, confrontational.
What were they protesting about?
The first people passed the carriage, and she saw that some had scarves pulled up over their noses, while others had their hats pulled down low in order to disguise their features. One brandished a banner that read; ‘Feed the hungry! Protect the oppressed! Punish crimes!’ while another read, ‘The brave soldiers are our brothers; treat them kindly.’
A man in a dark green coat bellowed, “The fat Prince Regent gets a million a year in public money, but gives only five thousand to the poor!”
The crowd brayed and booed enthusiastically.
“The starving ‘ave been abandoned!” another voice shouted. “The veterans ignored!”
The discontented noise swelled like a wave, and the carriage was suddenly surrounded on all sides by people slapping their hands on the wooden panels, and making it rock violently on its springs.
