“You have no idea.” Mr. Archer groaned and scrubbed at his face. “I cannot bear to talk to anyone else today.”
A voice called out for him, and Katherine spied a gentleman scouring the area. Her gaze dropped to Mr. Archer, and he groaned.
“I shan’t be responsible for my actions if I am forced to have one more conversation about the riots,” he mumbled.
But just before the gentleman drew up, Katherine tossed a shawl over Mr. Archer’s face, covering him as best she could. The gentleman glanced at her but did what everyone did—identify and ignore. With no more than a passing glance, he walked right by without noticing the male legs stretched out beside her.
Peeling back the edge of the shawl, Katherine looked down at Mr. Archer. “It is safe. For now.”
The gentleman tucked the covering under his head as he stretched out with a sigh. “Your shawl is magical.”
Katherine’s stomach flipped as she recognized the possibility set before her. Not allowing herself to rethink her actions, she adopted as much of a significant tone as she dared to employ and said, “Yes, I’ve found shawls are very good at hiding people. So well that it can be impossible to recognize even your closest friends.”
But Mr. Archer merely hummed in agreement and settled in as though he was about to nap.
With a sigh, Katherine let the moment pass. “Has it been a difficult day?”
Mr. Archer peered out at her with one eye. “Your brother pesters me about the riots in the South, which he is certain are going to infect our county and destroy everything we hold dear. My father disappeared to lose appalling amounts on racing. My mother believes our family is going to be ruined at any moment. My sisters give me palpitations every time we go out into public. Scads of work await me at home, but I am stuck here at this wretched party. It has been a perfectly delightful day.”
Katherine smiled and chuckled more from sympathy than amusement. “That is quite dire, indeed. What has happened?”
“Naught but a string of failures,” he mumbled with a heavy sigh. And before she could ask for clarification, Mr. Archer began to speak of his hunt for the Mystery Lady.
For all that the gentleman was quite intelligent, Katherine couldn’t understand why he was so blind. He expounded more about the lady he’d met, and the closeness he’d felt, yet never once did he seem to recognize just how much this conversation aligned with the ones he’d shared with his Mystery Lady.
Could he not see how much he talked with her? Shared with her? Trusted her?
The pressure in her chest built as she longed to shout the truth at him. A dozen scenarios played out in her head, imagining what such a conversation would look like, but despite all the hope buried deep in her heart, she couldn’t picture a single one that ended happily.
Mr. David Archer was her friend, which was miracle enough. Would she press her luck by attempting more?
Katherine easily imagined what would come to pass if she did. Mr. Archer would be kind. Polite. He’d hide his revulsion behind a mask of gentility. Then he would take his leave and never speak to her again. And once more, Katherine Leigh would be left to her own devices. Alone.
Worse than that, the ties that bound them could not be severed altogether. As he was her brother’s close friend, Katherine would be forced to see Mr. Archer regularly. The gentleman would never be so cruel as to give her the cut direct, but her rejected feelings would be a wedge between them, impossible to forget or ignore.
Mr. Archer had fallen for the Mystery Lady, after all. Not Katherine. Would he have been so free with his affection had he known who was beneath the mask? The face beneath it didn’t possess a fraction of Miss Lyon’s beauty or Miss Hooper’s youth.
Surely only a foolish person repeated the same action again and again, expecting new results, and Katherine was no fool. Or she tried not to be. The past was a stern teacher, and Katherine knew better than to expect even the great Mr. Archer to be wholly different from everyone else.
Vulnerable hearts were trampled, and forcing the issue only increased the chances of that happening.
So, Katherine nodded and listened. She was his friend, and this was what a friend did. And she loved him enough to simply be his friend if that was all he desired. Better that than to lose him altogether.
“I cannot help but worry that I won’t find her again,” he said with a frown. “I have already cut my list in half. What if she isn’t among the remaining? What will I do then?”
“I have no doubt you will sort it out.” It was easy to speak the words, for Katherine felt they were entirely true. Mr. Archer always had a knack for seeing her; surely he would eventually discover his mistake. And perhaps she could nudge him along.
Drawing in a deep breath, Katherine swallowed and forced her voice to remain calm as she said, “Perhaps you underestimate just how much the costume hid your Mystery Lady. Simple though it may have been, clearly her mask obscured her face and voice, altering her in ways you do not recognize without the costume. She could be sitting right beside you, and you might not realize it.”
Mr. Archer opened his eyes once more and turned to look at Katherine, and she met his gaze without flinching. Pouring her hopes into her eyes, her heart begged him to shake off this ignorance. To recognize. How could he not? Every time he described his Mystery Lady, he described her. Not merely because they were one and the same, but independent of that phantom, Katherine met all the desires he had expressed for his lady love.
“There you are,” called Benjamin.
Katherine fought back a scowl as she cursed her wretched brother.
Chapter 16
When Benjamin Leigh had returned home from school, it hadn’t taken long for David to build a friendship with the fellow. His company was easy and effortless, and Benjamin had a talent for making merry, so it was little surprise that he was a favorite amongst Greater Edgerton society.
