The crowd erupted in cheers and clapping.
“That was the most marvelous thing I have ever witnessed,” Miranda confessed, a quiver of awe still resonating within her.
“I must admit,” her aunt said, “it was inspiring.”
Miranda looked at the baron. “Even you, my lord, cannot ever grow tired of such a wondrous feat.”
The lights were reflecting in his rich-brown eyes, and he smiled.
“I admit the lighting of Vauxhall is spectacular.” Then he pushed away his empty plate. “Unlike the thinly sliced ham.”
They laughed again and awaited their tray of cakes and pastries, which a waiter brought over. Miranda gave little attention to the sweet treats as she wanted nothing more than to partake in the dancing and then go exploring.
After the dessert course, they left their supper box, secure in the knowledge it would remain a sanctuary for the rest of the evening when they needed it, whether to rest between dances or as a place to order a beverage. And being by the dance floor, it was most convenient.
Under her aunt’s watchful eye, Miranda allowed Lord Mercer to take her into his arms for a waltz. She should have known the manager of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens would feature the most sensual dance.
When she felt Lord Mercer’s hands upon her, her heart skipped a beat. Her body was ready for him to hold her close. Her lips tingled as if he would kiss her in front of everyone.
Looking straight ahead in good form, still, she couldn’t help but see his chiseled chin and wicked mouth out of the corner of her eye.
“This almost seems tame compared to Lord and Lady Hartwell’s dinner party,” she said.
He tensed under her fingers.
“You should not speak of anything that happened there.”
“Why not? Will it happen again?” she asked hopefully, preferring the naughty kissing baron to this polite and proper one.
“It will not,” he said before glancing down at her. “It cannot. Do you understand?”
Before she could answer, he whisked her around the floor toward the Turkish Tent. Miranda sighed. He could think what he wished, but her female intuition told her he very much wanted to kiss her again. And if he tried, she would let him.
After all, she had research to do.
WHILE MOST WERE STILL listening to the concert, Lord Mercer told her it was nearly time for the unique spectacle of the famous Cascade. Miranda urged him to hurry for she didn’t want to miss a minute of it.
They walked toward the thicket, Lord Mercer on one side of her and her aunt on the other. There was nothing much else to see in the vicinity until they came upon a structure shrouded in a dark curtain. Workmen were already raising this, allowing Miranda to take a closer look.
There was a scene of natural beauty consisting of a bridge, a mill with its large wheel, and a bare cliff. But all was still and silent.
“Not impressed yet,” she stated.
The baron laughed, but it was Aunt Lucinda who remarked. “Just you wait, my dear. I’ve seen it before and even I want to see it again.”
They heard the bell over in the Grove, heralding the Cascade’s entertainment and as if it were the flute of the Pied Piper, people came from every direction in the gardens.
Some pushed and shoved, but Lord Mercer held his ground, and Miranda and her aunt were shielded by him, standing at their back.
“I believe Vauxhall has become more and more unruly,” Aunt Lucinda remarked.
Miranda didn’t mind. The excitement of the crowd added to her own. In the next instant, concealed lamps were lit, and the scene before her came to life.
She gasped, and the sound was echoed by dozens of others around her as the fake waterfall for which the entertainment was named started up like magic, appearing to realistically cascade down the cliff’s face. When it reached the bottom, it caused the mill wheel to turn. Accompanying this movement was the deafening roar of such a tumbling body of water.
Miranda couldn’t take her gaze from the astonishing scene, especially when coaches and lifelike pedestrians, including smartly uniformed soldiers, appeared to cross the bridge at regularly timed intervals, all of them utterly artificial.
“Are you still unimpressed?” Lord Mercer asked.
