"I want him to stop hiding from himself," she said at last."And I want...I want the chance to choose him—not to have him handed to me like a punishment or barred from me like a sin."
Genny's eyes shone."There," she said softly."That is a beginning."
Esme nodded, feeling oddly calmer.
She returned to the desk.
The letter waited, its folded edges accusing.
Slowly, she drew it out and read it again.
You are a menace...I think I may be in love with you.
Ink and truth.
She could not send it.Too much could go wrong between her chamber and his hands—too many eyes, too many misunderstandings.Words on paper could be burned or waved in a mother's face.
But spoken words?
Those, at least, would be hers.
Deliberately, she tore the letter into small pieces, watching them fall like black-and-white snow into the wastebasket.
"Tomorrow," she whispered to the empty room, "if you come, James, I will not be sensible."
It was a terrifying promise.
It felt, for the first time in weeks, like her own.
She snuffed the candle and lay awake in the dark, listening to the city breathe.
The Mutual Mischief Society had begun with a rescue from boredom.
At Haverleigh, it would either end—or become something entirely different.
Esme did not know which frightened her more.
But as sleep finally crept in, she found that fear was no longer the heaviest thing in her chest.
Hope had crept in beside it.
Chapter7
James approached the musicale as if it were an execution.Haverleigh House blazed with candlelight, music drifting out through the open windows.He handed his hat and gloves to the footman and flexed his fingers, smothering a groan.
"Lord Redford."
The butler's announcement carried him into Haverleigh's grand salon, chandeliers gleaming over a sea of silk and black coats.Pippa, Lady Haverleigh, hovered near the musicians, conferring with a violinist.Her fair head turned at his name and her face lit.
"Redford!I'm so glad you came.Christopher said you would sulk at your club."
"I am very nearly offended," James said."I save my sulking for more intimate occasions."
The Duke of Haverleigh followed, dark brows lifting."We assumed you would only appear if you smelled mischief."
"That, or Mrs.Trentham's lemon tarts," James said."I hear you have both."
Pippa's eyes narrowed."You also heard that Lady Esme would be here."
