Page 24

Mariah pursed her lips. “Only because I had quite given up on finding him.”

“No, you hadn’t, but go on.” Joan’s eyes sparkled as if she, too, had a secret suitor.

“Then I heard a voice at the window, asking if he might come in. I asked who it was⁠—”

“As if you didn’t know!”

“And he said Harry,” Mariah finished with a blissful smile. “I said yes, before I thought better of it, and then he climbed through the window!”

“Oh.” Joan sighed happily. “What did you talk about? How long did he stay? Are you not worried your parents will find out?”

Mariah shuddered. “I don’t want to think of what would happen if Papa learned of it. And you are the only soul on earth who knows, so if he discovers it, I shall know whom to blame.”

“You can’t think I would reveal it! Even if it weren’t the most exciting secret imaginable. If my mother were to find out I had anything to do with it, I would never be allowed out of the house again.”

Mariah nodded. “Right. It is our secret, then.”

Joan heaved a sigh. “All I have is the secret part, while you have the suitor, too.”

“That’s just luck,” Mariah said. “I would do the same for you.”

Joan laughed, somewhat wryly. “I expect no less, if anything remotely like it should ever happen to me.”

They had arrived at the park, and Mariah’s steps quickened as they left the city streets behind. It was early still, but the day was so fine there were already many people taking the air. The most fashionable ladies wouldn’t come until later, but gentlemen were exercising their horses and flirting with the ladies who had already ventured out. Even though she knew there was no guarantee of success, even though the chances of meeting one particular man this particular morning in the sprawling park were very small, her heart skipped a beat, and that strange fluttery feeling invaded her stomach again.

They walked for over an hour, cheerfully greeting every gentleman they passed. Mariah smiled and chatted politely to all of them, listening carefully to every word they said. Some she had met the other night at her parents’ ball, and some knew Joan, who couldn’t keep from offering her thoughts on each man as soon as he had gone on his way.

“He’s a terrible rake, you know,” she would whisper. “Douglas says he’s gambled himself to ruin!”

Douglas was Joan’s older brother. Mariah could only laugh and whisper back that Douglas knew a great many scandalous gentlemen. They even met Douglas himself at one point and he introduced them to some of his friends, all of whom were deliciously wicked in Joan’s opinion. But otherwise, they had no luck and Mariah was beginning to grow discouraged when they reached the path around the lake.

There they met Sir George Bellamy, a friend of Mariah’s father, who looked as pleased as punch to see them. “Good morning, young ladies, good morning,” he cried. The five dogs he was holding all began barking at them. “Hush, there, hush, I say,” he shouted to the dogs. “Just some girls, don’t you know. They’re always on the lookout for a squirrel, or even better, a skunk,” he confided to them, over the barking.

Joan choked and began coughing into her handkerchief, but Mariah, accustomed to Sir George, smiled politely. “I hope we are neither,” she said.

Sir George blinked at her, then cackled with laughter. “No, no, no, not at all! And never say I said so.” Something caught the dogs’ attention, and as a pack they swerved to the left, barking and baying at the shrubbery nearby. Joan’s fingers dug into Mariah’s arm as Sir George tried to haul them back out of the bushes.

“Mariah,” Joan murmured, her voice rising in excitement. “Look.”

Mariah had already seen the man. He was standing farther down the path with some other gentlemen, just about the right height, with casually tousled dark hair and a very charming smile. She stared hard, wishing he would turn his head so she could see his profile. Could it possibly be? He was handsome, that was undeniable; not as she had pictured Harry, but she’d already told herself not to put any credence in the way she thought he looked.

He saw them then. She could see the interest spring into his eyes. A pleased smile crossed his face. Her heart jumped. He looked happy to see her. Harry would know her by sight, wouldn’t he? He said something to his companions, his gaze drifting back to her.

As eager as she had been to find him, Mariah found herself suddenly unprepared. She wet her dry lips and gulped in a deep breath. He was heading their way. Her stomach stopped fluttering and twisted itself into a hard knot. She realized she had stopped dead in the middle of the path and was squeezing Joan’s hand in a vicious grip.

Joan didn’t seem to notice. “Good heavens, such a handsome man,” her cousin was saying. “And he seems to know you! Mariah, he’s coming directly to us! He even ignored Lord Tilburton’s greeting. What shall you say to him? How shall we get an introduction? Good heavens, how on earth have I never met him in two entire seasons in London?”

“Joan,” Mariah said in an unsteady voice. “Be quiet.”

“If you want me to walk about with Janet,” Joan managed to say as he approached them, “squeeze my hand twice.”

And then he was there. She tipped back her head to see him. Up close, he looked even less as she had imagined Harry, but his attention was fixed on her in a very flattering way. For a second they just looked at each other. Perhaps this was the moment, Mariah thought dazedly, that she would tell her children of, years from now: When I met your father...

Fortunately, Sir George was still at hand or there would have been a brutally awkward moment. “Ah, another young man wanting an introduction, I’ll wager!” he boomed cheerfully as he dragged his pack of dogs over. “Like bees to the lilies, these young men,” he teased Mariah. She tried to pretend she hadn’t heard him while her heart pounded, her palms grew damp, and her smile felt about a foot wide. “Lady Mariah, Miss Bennet, may I present to you Mr. Tobias Crane, nephew to Viscount Crane,” said Sir George. “Mr. Crane, Lady Mariah Dunmore and Miss Joan Bennet.”

Tobias? thought Mariah in confusion. Who would call someone named Tobias Harry?

“Miss Bennet. Lady Mariah.” The gentleman bowed. Although he spoke to both, his eyes remained on Mariah, filled with admiration. “What a very great pleasure to make your acquaintance.”