Colonel Hadley,
I enjoyed meeting you and your wife at Astley’s Theatre last week when my parents and I were invited by your employer Mr. Maddox to dine with the troupe. I have heard many good reviews of your skills as a riding instructor from acquaintances of mine. I wish to engage you for lessons. To be quite clear, I am already an accomplished rider but since I attended the performance at Astley’s Amphitheatre I have become entranced with idea of learning to trick ride. Your performance in the Battle of Waterloo was inspiring and I believe you would be the perfect instructor to teach me these high-level skills. Please make an appointment to discuss at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Lady Susanna Ashby
Chapter One
May 1826
Susanna sat onthe edge of her bed, watching the moonlight make a dappled pattern across her bedroom floor. She had made a terrible mistake. Her impetuousness had landed her in trouble before, but never had she been so reckless. She covered her mouth with one hand as a small sob rose in her throat. Stuart Kinrade was her worst mistake yet. How had she let herself be so thoroughly seduced by him?
When she had first begun taking lessons from the colonel last year, she had simply wanted to challenge herself by learning something new. She had been enthralled by the riding done at Astley’s Theater. And it had been a challenge. After lots of hard work and plenty of bruises she’d found an incredible sense of accomplishment in her new skills. The most surprising thing to come from her lessons was the friendships she had made with Colonel Hadley and his wife and by extension the performers at Astley’s Amphitheatre.
Susanna sighed and peeled off her gloves throwing them down next to her. She toed off her heeled slippers. If she was honest with herself, she could admit that she had been lonely these past few months. Changes had come to her close-knit group of friends, her beloved book club, each of them falling in love and getting married. She sniffled. Not that she wasn’t happy for them, she had had a hand in helping each of those relationships forward after all. But now everyone was wrapped up in their own busy lives. Each of them moving forward and she was still stuck here in an endless loop of social events, gossip, and banal flirting.
She shook her head and fell back against the counterpane. When had she become so maudlin? How had she let herself be led so easily down the path of ruination? She covered her face with her hands. Her friendship with Stuart had begun with him offering her pointers on a trick she was struggling with, a backbend flourish while her horse reared up onto its hind legs. Then they had spent time together walking about the city on several afternoons. Stuart was so attentive, listening to her stories from the ballrooms, tidbits of silly gossip. And finally, she had confessed how lonely she had been feeling. Surrounded by people but no one really knew her.
His magnetic personality and persuasive words had thoroughly seduced her and she let herself be swept away by the attraction between them. Stolen kisses in dark corners of the theater and late-night coffees at Findley’s had all been illicit and exciting.
“Meet me tonight after the show,” Stuart had whispered in her ear this evening as she exited the theater. “Let me have you, Susanna. Those toffs are idiots if they can’t see you, how bold and exciting you are. I see you, my star.” His arm wrapped snugly around her waist from behind as his tongue licked the shell of her ear making her sigh with pleasure. Weeks of sneaking out to meet him, of anticipation, all bubbled to the surface.
“Yes,” she had whispered.
For such a large sacrifice on her part, the whole experience had been underwhelming and a bit painful. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes trailing down into her hair. She brushed them away. Her foolish emotions always getting the better of her.
A soft knock at the door had Susanna quickly wiping moisture from her eyes. The door opened and Jenni slid into the room. “I’ve come to help you change for bed, miss.”
“How did you know I was home?”
“It’s my job to know.” Jenni bustled over to stand in front of Susanna. “Now let me help you out of that dress.”
Susanna sat up and lifted an eyebrow in silent question.
Jenni sighed. “Sam came and told me you were home.”
Susanna nodded. Of course, her coachman would tell Jenni. He was the most loyal of servants, always discreet. But she knew that he and Jenni worried about her choices, especially of late. She sniffled as she turned around. Jenni began to undo the row of buttons down her dress. “Jenni, do you think there are some mistakes that can’t be corrected?”
“Yes, but not any you have made. You may not always think through your actions first, but I know you are a good person. You wouldn’t do anything truly bad.”
“But what if I had?” She chewed her lip.
Jenni’s fingers paused in her task. “You are a good person,” she repeated. “You’ve helped me and Sam so that we could continue to be together and not lose our jobs. You are always helping your friends with one thing or another. If you were in real trouble, you would have an army of people who would help you to figure out a solution.”
Susanna slipped her arms out of the sleeves of her dress and let it slither to the floor. She wasn’t so sure of Jenni’s assertion. Her friends would all be scandalized if she ever admitted she had been seeing one of the performers at Astley’s. Only Ellie even knew she had been taking trick riding lessons. Ellie would tan her hide for sneaking away from proper social functions. Luckily, her friend was happily tucked away in Marbury with her new husband.
Susanna sighed as Jenni finished undressing her and helped her slip a nightgown over her head. The familiar nighttime routine helped calm her whirling thoughts. No one could know how far her shameful behavior had gone. All spring, she had felt adrift, lacking in any purpose. She straightened her shoulders. No longer. She had made a huge mistake by being with Stuart and she must end their liaison. This Saturday she would sneak out one last time, and tell him in person they could no longer see each other.
Chapter Two
Miles slapped hisbrother on the back. “Thanks for saving me from the braggarts at that table.”
They stepped outside onto the large stone veranda and into blissfully cool evening air. The noise of voices and laughter from the card room were muffled to a dull roar as Daniel pulled the glass-paned door shut behind them. “Not enjoying the political fray anymore?”
Miles shrugged his shoulders. “It is what it is.”
His twin frowned. “You don’t have to be active in the House of Lords. Not all are.”
