“I wanted to make sure I saw you before you left for luncheon,” he said once she took his arm. “I wish to ask if I might write to you.” His lips pursed a moment. “I know I am being bold, Miss Cassia, but I have enjoyed our time together so very much.”
“As have I.” She had been able to talk with him with more ease than any other man of her acquaintance. Surely that meant she must be falling in love.
“I hope to have another occasion to come to Hertfordshire in the next few months. I cannot travel there immediately, for I must attend to a visit with my old friend Colonel Brensweck, after injury.” He nodded and continued. “But I found I greatly enjoyed Blythesome’s company and would not mind coming again to Meryton.”
“I would love to receive you at our home, when you do come back this way.” Cassia’s eyes met an unencumbered grin covering Caliazo’s face. They rounded the path and were almost back home.
“Cassia,” called Gynelle from the door, “we must be going.”
Cassia turned back toward her walking partner. “Until we meet again.” She gave a long curtsy and extended her hand, which he kissed purposefully. At least this time she had remembered the gloves.
Caliazo mounted his horse and tipped his hat toward her. She grasped the bouquet and sniffed the flowers as she cast a smile toward him.
As he rode away the sharp voice of Master Clovis met her ears. “Ladies, you must hurry, for you know her Ladyship abhors tardiness…”
Cidel came rushing toward the sisters. “Oh my. The time has gotten away from us, hasn’t it.”
“You know,” said Cassia, glancing down at the flowers, “I don’t think I shall join you for luncheon.”
Cassia watched Gynelle’s brow furrow and Cidel’s countenance held utter horror. “You cannot simply ignore the invitation, for she will think it abominably rude.”
Cassia coughed delicately. “Please tell her I have a cough, that you have heard it yourself.”
“Cassia,” said Gynelle, her eyes knit in concern.
“Ladies, it is my last day with these woods. I shall not be swayed. I do not wish to cause you displeasure Cidel, but I will not be beholden to that woman any longer. Please send her my regrets, all that you can honestly convey.”
Both young women glared toward her and then hurried, arm in arm, across the great lawn.
Cassia headed for the woods. She meandered absently for at least a half hour, thinking fondly of Caliazo and the ridiculousness of Master Clovis and the Magess. It wasn’t until she heard someone clear their throat loudly that she froze. Suddenly she realized that she had wandered into the same clearing where she had seen Ember and that his owner was staring right at her.
“Your sister is a horrible liar.” High Mage Darkwood’s voice came out in a rush. “I had just talked to Caliazo and knew you were at home, then when Miss Retton claimed you were indisposed, I guessed you might be rambling through these woods.”
How did he know her so well? His swift speech had matched his gait so that now he stood not ten feet from her.
“I wasn’t aware you had returned from London,” Cassia’s mouth tried to catch up with her racing mind.
“Yes I have just arrived,” said High Mage Darkwood, with his hair still windblown, as his eyes followed hers with frightening intensity. He stood tall. “I came to find you.”
Cassia attempted to control her staggering step backwards. She searched for a reply, but before she could formulate one, he spoke again.
“I realized, in London, that I felt that so many things were out of my control, I then became aware that you had been on my mind incessantly, or nearly so, and I feel compelled to make my feelings known to you. At least ofthatI have control. I...love you, and you must allow me to share my heart.” He bit his lip momentarily, but then found his composure again, along with his decided gaze. “Since our meeting, I have been taken by your beauty and your sharp mind. And when I learned of your wit, and your unabashed ability to stand up to me, and especially my headstrong aunt...I stood intrigued. Now, I know you have no magical ability to speak of, but I have accepted that. There is also of course, the unfortunate difference of our ranks and fortunes, not to mention the impropriety of your mother, but I am willing to overlook such disadvantages.” He redoubled his stare. “Tell me you will accept my proposal and consent to being my wife.”
Though he fingered the hem of his waistcoat in agitation, his dark eyes shone with assured triumph.
Cassia reeled, she wondered, she fumed. She simply could not meet his audacity any longer, and glanced down toward Caliazo’s flowers, which she still held, gripping them like a summoning charm.
“High Mage Darkwood: in a circumstance such as this, I think it is incumbent upon me to graciously accept with utter humility the offering so poorly presented to me. However, I can assure you,” she squared her shoulders and lifted the bouquet, “that even had younotpresented your proposal with such arrogance, with such unimaginable lack of gentlemanliness, I would never have accepted it.”
The smug look on his eyes clouded with confusion and then heated into rage. Then his countenance tightened, his jaw set in cold anger. “This, this insult is your answer?”
“Yes, sir.” she said confidently, taking a deep breath to steady herself.
She watched his eyes dart from side to side and then back at her. “May I ask why you have rejected me without an ounce of civility, or even a shred of explanation?”
“I should not think civility requisite when the initial invitation entirely lacked such a virtue itself. I have my reasons, of which I am sure you could discern had you thought about anyone beside yourself for a moment. I remember now that Lieutenant Malum warned me you prefer to rely wholly on your persuasion, but you will not pressure me. I am fully aware how often you wish for your own way. Some people,” she brandished the flowers toward them, “care and think about others. You could learn a lesson from them. Then maybe you wouldn’t have ruined the happiness of my sister and Blythesome, or even Lieutenant Malum. In every case you use your power to benefit only yourself and what you deem worthy. If you only knew of the pain you have caused Gynelle. I’ve never seen her care for anyone like she did for Blythesome.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “You might learn a lesson from people like your cousin, who have far superior manners.” Her eyes glanced at the bouquet and then back at him with finality. “I never wish to align myself with you.”
Darkwood’s eyes shot to the flowers, the meaning of such a token finally dawning on him. “Did my cousin give you those?” His uneasiness manifested in a shrewd glance and quick pacing back and forth. She nodded. “Has he proposed to you?”
