***
Cade waited in theemptylibrary. It was nearly midnight. Where was Danielle? Had she decided the dance was pointless? Had she convinced herself he’d been jesting? He paced around. He would wait. She’d begun to mean something to him. Their talks. The questions she’d asked. They’d felt real, true. And that kiss in the coach. That had been unbelievable. It had been unfortunate that Amanda had arrived shortly after. He’d seen the look of hurt and accusation on Danielle’s face when she’d realized Amanda was more than a casual acquaintance. After he’d dispatched the woman to hurry back to Danielle’s side, he’d been elated when she’d allowed him to purchase the perfume. He’d never felt that before, that desire to so please a woman, well, not outside of bed. Not since… his mother.
He’d actually admitted to Danielle that he was frustrated with his mother. That was something else that was surprising. He’d told Danielle more in the short time he’d known her than he’d ever told anyone. And he wasn’t even sleeping with her. His mother had been the reason he’d left. He hadn’t been able to stand watching her cower in fear of her husband any longer. He was tired of trying to talk her into leaving his father. Tired of trying to fight off a man who was twice as big as he was every time he laid into her. Finally, he’d left. And left Rafe to deal with it. Alone. It was the worst thing he’d ever done and for a man who’d stolen, lied, and fought countless people, that was saying something. Coming back to London had been his one chance to do right by his brother. He would if it was the last thing he did.
He hadn’t expected to meet Danielle, however. Danielle had made him feel things he hadn’t felt… ever. A part of him wanted to run, to leave London, to never look back. It was what he did best, after all. Another part of him wanted to stay, to lay down roots, to kiss Danielle again. To dance with her.
He paced over to the window and looked out into the darkened gardens. He glanced at the clock again. Damn it. Danielle wasn’t coming and he was a fool to wait for her. He strode over to the desk, jerked open the drawer, and pulled out a sheet of paper. He fumbled in the side drawer for a quill and ink pot. He scribbled off a note and folded it. Then he headed for the door. He would go up the servants’ staircase and leave the note on her pillow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
He’d promised her a dance at midnight. Just like a fairy tale. The idea of missing it tugged at her heart, but Danielle couldn’t indulge in such foolishness. Not now that she knew what her mission was. Baptiste’s ship was sailing tonight. Whatever Grimaldi suspected of Cade was not more important than trailing Baptiste. That was what they’d been waiting for.
She had to stow away aboard a ship calledThe Elenor,which would be following Lafayette’s ship. She must once again dress as a cabin boy. No doubt the former cabin boy had recently resigned. Knowing Grimaldi, that had been no coincidence. More likely he’d paid off the young man. Grimaldi didn’t take risks. But Danielle was about to. She was about to take a big one. She would have to pretend to be someone she was not with a lot of strangers, convince them, and follow Baptiste to his destination. She must leave immediately. She had no time for fairy tales.
She hurried up to her room, her feet nearly flying over the stairs. There wasn’t much to pack and she’d be taking less on the ship as Cross. But for now, she would have to take it all with her so Mrs. Huckleberry and Lady Daphne weren’t burdened with her things.
A pang of regret throbbed in Danielle’s chest. She’d miss these people. Missing people other than her family was completely foreign to her. She’d missed her father desperately, but she no longer felt it as acutely as she once had. She’d missed her mother, too, but she’d never hadfriends,people whom she actually liked and who she believed liked her in return.
She would miss her talks with Mary and the outrageous things Mrs. Huckleberry said. She’d miss Lady Daphne, too. The woman had been so kind and helpful, treating her with nothing but respect. An unfamiliar sensation tugged at Danielle’s chest. Regret. Another foreign emotion. Regret wasn’t something she indulged in. It was too messy, too complicated, too rooted in the past and Danielle strove to live for the moment.
She would miss Cade, too, if she were honest, but she didn’t have time to think about that. There would be time for memories later. This moment was all she was ever guaranteed. But she would feel regret. Regret that she couldn’t say good-bye to Mary and Mrs. Huckleberry. Regret that she couldn’t give Lady Daphne more notice, that she would be leaving her without a lady’s maid so suddenly.
She was allowed to leave a note, Grimaldi had informed her, as long as it revealed no details. She’d hurried to her writing desk and scribbled on a piece of paper.I have to leave. I am sorry. Danielle. She wrote two more notes. One for Cade and one for her mother.
She knew Grimaldi allowed this only because he didn’t want them to look for her. Such a search would only end in failure or worse—disaster. She set the note on the center of the pillow that rested atop her neatly made bed. She shoved her two other gowns and all her other belongings including her hair ribbons, stockings, a packet of hair pins, the vial of hergrandmere’s lavender perfume, and her new orchid perfume into her worn leather valise. Choking back something that felt suspiciously like tears, Danielle took one last look at the small room that had been hers for such a short time. That’s how everything was in her life. Short. Temporary. No roots. No connections. It was easier that way.
She eyed the note she’d written for Cade. On her way out, she would sneak across the hall from Lady Daphne’s room and slip it onto his pillow. For some unknown reason she felt as if she owed it to him to say good-bye.
She took a deep breath and spun around to leave, Cade’s note in her hand. The second she opened the door, she gasped and the valise dropped from her numb fingers to sit lopsided next to her foot. Cade stood in the doorway, filling it with his presence. So tall and broad-shouldered, her heart leaped in her chest. “Cade,” she whispered.
His hand hung arrested in midair. He had been about to knock. He pulled his fist behind his back and his brow arched sardonically. His eyes took in her pelisse and the valise at her feet. Then they studied her face. “Going somewhere?”
She swallowed hard, crumpling the note in her hand. “I—Why are you here? How did you know where my room—”
“I know a great many things,” he said. “As to why I’m here, you owe me a dance.”
“I…” She bit her lip. “I thought you were jesting about that,” she admitted hesitantly.
“Jesting?” He braced an arm against the door frame. “Didyoufind the idea of us dancing to be amusing?”
The word lodged in her throat, a lump of regret before she forced it out. “No.”
“Neither did I. I was waiting for you in the library, but it seems I’ve come at an inopportune time. You’re leaving?” He glanced at the valise once again and back at her.
She might as well tell him. He’d find out soon enough. The note burned in her hand. “I’m… I’m… Yes.” She nodded. “I am going, but I’m not at liberty to discuss where.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “Sweetheart, we’re all at liberty to discuss our whereabouts. You simply mean you do notwantto tell me.”
She’d learned long ago that the best way to distract someone from a question she didn’t want to answer was to ask a question of her own. “Where have you been tonight? Out with Miss Jones?”
His grin dissolved. “No. I made it clear to Miss Jones that our acquaintance was at an end.”
Danielle crossed her arms over her chest. “Acquaintance? Is that what you call it?”
“She doesn’t compare to you, Danielle,” he said softly, a boyish look on his handsome face.
That stopped her. She shouldn’t have asked him about it. She sounded like a jealous fishwife. Now he’d gone and said one of the loveliest things she’d ever heard. He’d actually rendered her speechless.
