Miles blew out a long breath. “Did you see the costume she was wearing? It was totally indecent; everyone could see her calves for God’s sake!”
Daniel shrugged. “I suppose she has to have some room for movement. Staying balanced on that horse in an arabesque was jaw dropping.”
Miles couldn’t stop a grin from splitting his face. He glanced over at his brother. “She looked like a Roman goddess coming in on those two horses, didn’t she?”
“Or like Titania, Queen of the Fairies,” Daniel replied.
“Yes! Exactly,” he sighed. “What am I going to do about her? How did I ever think that I could be enough for the Queen of the Fairies?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“This is theworst thing you’ve ever done, gel!” Susanna’s father strode back and forth across the sitting room of their suite. He vibrated with anger, his brogue deepening when he was upset. She and her mother sat next to each other on a settee in the sitting room of her parents’ hotel suite.
Her father stopped in front of her mother. “And you! I trusted you to watch out for our daughter. Instead, you are socializing with friends all over Dorset instead of keeping an eye on her!”
“I believe we were both socializing all over Dorset, my lord.” Her mother arched one imperious eyebrow.
Her father coughed into his hand. “And look what happened, she was gallivanting through the English countryside with the circus—”
“Father, it was really only one day that I traveled with Colonel Hadley and the troupe. I was with Jenni and Sam for the first part of my journey and then we had terrible luck with Sam getting hurt. And then I ran into trouble with the stagecoach losing a wheel. Hawksridge found me and we both got caught in a rainstorm. You know how he hates to be disheveled—”
“—and staying in a stranger’s home, a bachelor at that!”
“But he saved us from highwaymen that had attacked our post chaise! Hawksridge was nearly killed. I told you he lost his memory and Mr. Marlow was kind enough to take us in for a few days. And he is not a stranger. He is the man from the letters. The true love of Lady Wells!”
Her father ran a hand down over his face. “If I hear one more thing about those blasted letters I swear I will have an apoplexy. And why would you participate in that performance tonight? You have ruined yourself! What will I tell Lord Macrae?” He paced away. “Perhaps he will not hear of it? They are far removed from London gossip. Mayhap we can get you married before he hears the tale.”
Susanna’s blood chilled. “But, Father—”
Her father whirled to face her. “It is either that or the nunnery for you, young lady.”
Susanna bowed her head to stare down at her hands in her lap. Now was not the time to argue with her father.
Her mother rose from her chair with a sigh. She crossed to her husband. “My dear, why don’t you go down to the common room and have a whisky or two? Let me talk to our daughter for a moment.”
“Talk some sense into her,” he muttered. But he picked up his hat and quit the room.
Her mother came back and sat down next to her. “Now tell me what really happened on this misguided adventure of yours. How did we end up here tonight?”
Susanna turned to face her mother. “Everything I told you both is true. Hawksridge came after me at the behest of his brother and our friends to fetch me home. And all the bad luck we ran into was the truth. What I did not say was the part where I fell hopelessly in love with him.” She blinked back tears that threatened in the back of her eyes. But two tears slipped past and traveled down her cheeks.
Her mother’s eye crinkled at the corners. “But why is that a reason to cry? And what has it to do with tonight?”
She sniffed. “Because it was all so wonderful while it lasted. But when he regained his memories, he was so angry that I had lied and let him believe we were married. I hurt him. But he hurt me, too.” She swiped at another rogue tear. Blast it, she had cried enough already. “He doesn’t want to love me back. He is too afraid that it will all end in tragedy. He said hehadto marry me now because I had been compromised. Well, I won’t have him like that, I tell you.”
Her mother ran a hand down over her hair and then gripped her chin so she had to meet her eyes. “So, you made yourself unmarriageable. Is that it, you foolish girl?”
Susanna shrugged one shoulder. “Yes. You know how much he cares about his reputation and his politics. Now no one would expect him to marry such a scandal even if it’s found out that we were traveling together.”
“I think he simply cares about doing the honorable thing.”
Susanna shook her head. “He can keep his honorable intentions. I only wanted his heart.”
*
Before he andDaniel had crossed through the gardens, a royal page rushed up to them. The boy bowed and then held out a thick, embossed, cream-colored card. “Lord Hawksridge, Lord Weston. Your presence is requested by the king at supper after the performance.”
Miles accepted the invitation. “How does he know we are here; I wonder?”
