Page 17 of Her Wicked Duke
She stepped out the back door and then followed the wide path to the gardens.
The gardens were starting to bloom. A grand fountain was in the center, up ahead, and Mary was sitting on a bench in the middle of a copse of cherry blossoms, a napkin in her hand that she weaved through her fingers idly.
“Sister!” Anne called out as she approached the bench. Mary looked up, startled but smiling at the sight of her sister. “I apologize for not sending word ahead, but I must speak with you. It is urgent.”
Anne’s eyes were wide, and she glanced around the garden. She did not want the humiliation of the servants or her sister’s husband overhearing her.
“Might we go on a promenade?”
“Is everything all right, Anne?” Mary asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
Anne bit her lip before shaking her head. She toyed with the ribbon of her bonnet underneath her chin. “I fear it is not.”
“Tell me everything.”
They promenaded in a park not too far from Yore House. They wore bonnets to protect their faces from the early spring sun, and Anne shivered despite the shawl she had wrapped around her shoulders.
She knew the shiver was not from the cold but the fear.
As they walked, her sister read the letter from her stalker-admirer.
“Oh, Anne,” Mary breathed, lifting her head when she was finished. Her eyes were as terrified as her sister’s. “Not again.”
“I know.” Anne swallowed nervously. “I thought it had stopped after I pulled out of the previous Season. I had not even thought it would start up again. Oh, Mary, what shall I do?”
“Have you told Mama and Papa about this?”
Anne shook her head. “I fear Mama might perceive it positively. She would tell me that I might want to give this admirer a chance, especially if he is rich.”
Mary sighed, knowing the ways of their mother. “And Papa?”
“I think he would suggest I wait until the stalker gets bored,” Anne admitted. “Mary, I am scared. I do not know how the letters are delivered, if he is even watching me right this moment, if I am unsafe for every social event thrown this Season. And look at the threats he made! He knows exactly who I danced with the night before. Am I putting the lives of potential suitors at risk?”
“Think only of yourself, for now,” Mary insisted. “The gentlemen can handle themselves. I wish for your safety only. You are chaperoned at every event, aren’t you?”
Anne thought of Alexander essentially chaperoning her the night before in her brother’s absence until he had walked out. Idly, she wondered if he would agree to do it again…
“Christian is away on his tour,” Anne said miserably. “He helped out with the letters. It seems that his presence scared the stalker off. But with him gone, they started to come again.”
“When did they start?” Mary asked gently.
“During the last Season.” Anne sighed. “There were a few events that were wonderful. I had some suitors visit the following day, but while I anticipated an offer of courtship from at least one of them, I received no letters in the following days.”
“Then, a week later, I received one of these letters. The first of many, addressed toMy beautiful Anne…” She pressed a hand to her forehead, distressed, but also relieved that she was sharing this burden with her sister.
“At first, they seemed quite charming. A secret admirer who watched me from afar but said he could not approach me yet. And then, they became more intense. They went from love proclamations and poetry to threats and warnings. He started knowing which suitors had visited me, and suddenly, those suitors stopped coming, as if they had been warned off. I lived in fear for not only myself but for them as well. It was why I pulled out of the Season.”
And the letters stopped while I had not pursued any suitor.
Anne lifted the letter helplessly. “My first ball after a year of not attending social events, and here is another letter, a mix of love declarations and threats. I do not understand how he knows all of this but still will not approach me. I wish him not to do so, of course, but it unnerves me that he could be watching me from anywhere. I do not know if he watches the gentlemen call on me, or if he isatthe events. All I know is that I am quite scared, Mary.”
They slowed their pace as Mary took it all in. She reread the letter as if trying to answer Anne’s worries about how the stalker managed to know these things.
“It is clear he thinks he should have a chance with you,” Mary said after a moment’s thought. “But it looks like he is holding back. Have you turned anyone down? Could it be a suitor you rejected?”
Anne shook her head. “Not that I am aware of. But until I find out who it is—if I ever do—and until Christian returns, I am without a chaperone and, if this continues, without any prospects.”
“I know you do not know him all that well, but Patrick could always chaperone you,” Mary suggested. “He is always saying he wishes he was closer to the family, and I am sure he would love to be of help. He is most respectful and would keep his distance but at the same time ensure you are not alone.”
