Four simple words, yet they struck Katherine with such force, for Mr. Archer said them with such utter sincerity. And she couldn’t help but wonder if he truly believed it.
A snort pierced the haze surrounding the pair, and her attention jerked to a couple dancing beside them; the gentleman’s gaze swept Katherine and turned away with clear dismissal whilst the lady’s lips were clamped tight together as though holding back a laugh. In other settings, she knew how to defend against such barbs, but Mr. Archer had stripped away her defenses, and she felt every prickle of pain as it burrowed into her heart.
Katherine’s gaze darted to him, but he was staring at their tormentors.
Her heart’s hold slackened, divesting control back to her thoughts, and they raced with the possibilities. Was this just another ploy? A way to convince her to stay? Was that another chuckle? Were they all laughing at her? Entertaining themselves by watching the spinster make cow eyes at the eligible bachelor? Good heavens, she was fairly plastering herself to Mr. Archer, what else were they to think?
Tugging free of his hold, she stepped backward, shaking her head. Mr. Archer moved with her, drawing near, but Katherine held up a staying hand. Turning on her heel, she hurried away from the dancers, weaving through the crowd.
*
“Mind your business, Stavely!” David couldn’t prevent the words from bellowing out, drawing even more attention. The bounder didn’t even look the slightest bit chagrined, merely curling his lip as he let out another scoff before he and his partner disappeared into the swirl of dancers.
David forced himself not to shove the others out of the way. It wasn’t as though they deserved to suffer for his own stupidity—except Stavely. That fellow deserved a lesson in manners. But Miss Leigh was far more important.
He had to find her.
Holding fast to the sight of her brown coiffure in the sea of ribbons and flowers, David ducked between the people. She wouldn’t give him the slip. Not this time. Miss Leigh fled the drawing room, and David fully ignored the others who attempted to stall him with greetings and conversation. Forging ahead, he followed as she stepped through a side door.
A burst of cold air swept through the heat of the house as she disappeared into darkness, and David didn’t slow, gaining ground as he reached her exit.
The Angleseys boasted a proper estate, and unlike the Breadmores, they had more expansive grounds than a small garden. However, like most fine houses, the areas closest to the building were carefully manicured, and David found himself once more in a dark garden, chasing after Miss Leigh. At least the curtains inside were wide open, and the candlelight from inside helped him avoid obstacles as he took the twists and turns deeper into the greenery.
“Miss Leigh, please!” Dodging around a shrub, he stepped into an opening surrounded by trees and flowerbeds, though they were all bare at present, ready for the snow to fall.
“Leave me be, Mr. Archer,” she said with her back to him.
“No.”
Whipping around, Miss Leigh scowled. “Did you come here to mock me some more?”
David gritted his teeth, reminding himself that an instinctual reaction wouldn’t help matters, and held up placating hands. “I was not mocking you, and you know it.”
“Oh, I do, do I?” she said, placing her hands on her hips and tipping up that challenging chin of hers. “What I know is that a man who hardly knew I was a woman a month ago is suddenly declaring his undying love for me and claiming me to be ‘lovely,’ with no clear provocation—except my impending departure.”
Folding his arms, David sighed. “You are repeating yourself, Miss Leigh, and it hasn’t altered my intentions. I am still here, hoping you will believe me.”
“When the thought of you and I together is so downright ludicrous that people cannot help but laugh?” Then, holding up a warning finger, Miss Leigh hurried to add, “And do not deny it—this is the second time I’ve been the butt of the joke. Isn’t the thought of you and me in a romantic situation positively hilarious? Prime fodder for a farce!”
It was as though she was driving nails into his heart with each word, but he stood there, waiting as she spouted her troubles once more. Though her expression and posture spoke of defiance and anger, David recognized fear when he saw it.
Miss Leigh finished, and her lungs heaved as though she’d run a race, her eyes blazing with passion—though not the sort David longed to see.
“I know how difficult it is for you to trust. You’ve been given so many reasons not to,” he murmured, creeping close with careful steps. “And your entire life has been upended of late. The upheaval surrounding your siblings would be great enough, and now, I am asking you to be vulnerable as you’ve never been before—and to trust that my feelings are true.”
With wide eyes, she stared at him, and he took the opportunity to slip his fingers around hers. Miss Leigh gave a start but didn’t pull away as he lifted her hand to his lips. As they’d begun as friends, he’d been allowed so many freedoms that most sweethearts were not granted, and he knew all too well how soft her skin was there. He longed to feel her elegant fingers beneath his lips, rather than the lifeless silk of her evening gloves.
David held her hand in his as he met her gaze. “I wish I could say your fears are unfounded, but I know all too well the mistreatment you’ve suffered and how unutterably dense I’ve been.”
His thumb brushed against the back of her hand, and Miss Leigh’s gaze widened as she stood there like a startled statue.
“I cannot explain why I did not see the truth sooner—any more than I can explain why I see it now. But I do, and I do not doubt that you are the woman for me. My perfect match.”
Despite the careful styling of her hair, a few wisps broke free, brushing across the curve of her cheek. David searched his heart and mind for words to offer her, but as he stared into her eyes, he couldn’t understand how he’d spent so long thinking of her in such a platonic light. Even her spectacles appealed to him, as they had the tendency to slide down her nose, perching slightly askew and upending her primness.
“A simple and easy pairing, no doubt,” she replied in a tone that held a touch of tartness, though it didn’t disguise the tremor beneath it. “Many people marry for convenience’s sake.”
David nearly ruined it all by laughing at that ludicrous statement. Nothing about this courtship could be considered easy, simple, or convenient.
