Page 3 of Lady Elizabeth's Winter Stranger
Her urge to smile ebbed, as she pictured all those extravagant garments going to waste in Caithness.
No, she couldn’t go to Scotland to squander her youth and spirit tending to Great-Aunt Agatha and her pack of panting, slavering, piddling pugs, almost as smelly as their mistress.But that meant marrying Stanton Morley-Bridges.Which meant signing up for a lifetime of misery.
Could she make herself so unpleasant tonight that her unwelcome suitor decided he’d rather have teeth pulled than marry her?Except her father would interpret that as breaking faith, and he’d send her to Caithness anyway.
Whatever she did, she couldn’t stand out here in Lorimer Square until she turned into a block of ice.Every cell in her body rebeled at the thought of waiting meekly in the house for her parents to return, as each second ticked closer to her meeting with the man her father wanted her to marry.
But if she intended to roam, she needed to wear something that hid her rank.The green outfit announced far too loudly that she was from a rich family and she shouldn’t be out and about on her own.She let herself back into the house and ventured down into the kitchens.The benches were crowded with various showpieces that would be served at the dinner tonight.On the coat stand near the door, she found what she wanted.
The voluminous cape belonged to the housekeeper, Mrs.Dawkins.It was warm and practical and made from a serviceable gray wool that would arouse no curiosity.Even better, it had a generous hood that would conceal her face.
The horrible choices awaiting Elizabeth had her stewing so hard that she was out the front door and down the steps again and on the short street leading out of the square without realizing it.Before she understood the risk she took, she was halfway to Piccadilly.
She stopped in confusion.She couldn’t march down one of the capital’s major thoroughfares without an escort.Even in her snit, she remained aware of that.
But the prospect of slinking back to the house made her gorge rise.
She wanted space.She wanted growing things around her.In built-up London, Hyde Park was the nearest that she was going to get to that.Green Park was closer, but it was too open and too close to home for her to escape notice.
It was dangerous for unaccompanied women to wander around Town.She might be in the better part of London, but Seven Dials wasn’t a million miles away.On the other hand, she was yet to see a soul and she could make her way to Hyde Park via backstreets.She’d have to cross Picadilly at some stage, but her cloak should ensure that she remained inconspicuous.
It was Christmas Day.Surely any footpads would be with their families, the way honest men were.In frigid weather like this, a footpad would have to be desperate indeed to lie in wait for a potential victim.
On a normal day, she’d never chance gallivanting around Town on her own.But Christmas wasn’t a normal day.With sudden purpose, she tugged the hood further forward and turned onto a side street that took her in the direction that she wanted to go.
Chapter 2
The park was mercifully empty.Or at least the part of it that Elizabeth was in.She drew a deep breath to settle her pinging nerves and strode down a path between the huge plane trees, leafless at this time of year.Hoofprints and bootprints in the snow provided evidence of earlier traffic.In the distance, she saw a few couples walking together, but nobody looked in her direction.
The next breath that she took went some way toward easing her roiling anxiety.While she was still angry with her father, being outside settled her.She started to think, instead of wallow in a morass of horror.
There must be some alternative to the unacceptable options of Caithness or Stanton Morley-Bridges.Perhaps the spirit of Christmas had softened her father’s attitude and he’d already thought better of his decision.She could perhaps negotiate another season in London, with the promise that she’d accept one of her long-term suitors before summer.She didn’t love any of the men who pursued her, but there were one or two she liked as friends.Or a miracle might take place: some gentleman might claim her heart at last and she’d gladly agree to a wedding.
No, all was not lost.
She slowed her furious pace and started to pay attention to her surroundings.She’d emerged into a clearing with a marble statue of a faun.The sky was gray, but showed no sign of sending down any more snow.
Her walk had done more good than she’d expected, but she’d tempted fate long enough.It was time to return to Lorimer Square to prepare to convince her father that he was being unreasonable.She needed to be safely back before anyone discovered that she’d dared to walk about unchaperoned.Or else Papa would hit the roof, and any chance of persuading him out of his decision would go up in smoke.
She turned to find a man studying her from under the trees.
Her heart slammed to a stop, as alarm turned her blood colder than the winter air.All the warnings about never going out unaccompanied in the capital clamored in her ears.She cast a frantic glance across to where she’d seen the other people, but they were no longer there.
“Please don’t be frightened, miss.”The man spread his hands palm upwards in a conciliatory gesture.“I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He had a pleasant voice.Deep and musical and with a clipped upper-class accent like her own.He was dressed like a wealthy man, too.His low-crowned hat was all the fashion, and his greatcoat had more than enough capes to impress the dandyish set.
None of that meant she wasn’t in danger.She studied him for a tense second, wondering if she could outrun him on the snow.He was tall and broad-shouldered, and she had a grim feeling that he’d catch up with her before she got halfway across the clearing.Even standing still, he gave the impression of loose-limbed athleticism.
Elizabeth cursed her stupidity.And her temper fit.And her father for making her so angry in the first place.Despite knowing that it wouldn’t make a scrap of difference if the stranger decided to assault her, she backed away.
To her relief, he didn’t shift any closer.“May I escort you back to your family?Ladies shouldn’t be out alone in the middle of London, even on Christmas Day.”
She didn’t answer.Instead, she studied him, noting that he looked sincere.While he wasn’t conventionally handsome, he had an interesting face.Prominent bone structure with hollows under his cheekbones.A long nose, a high forehead, dark winged eyebrows over deep-set eyes.Right now, he looked troubled, but something about the set of his mouth told her that he was more accustomed to smiling than frowning.
As if to prove that, he ventured a smile that set all sorts of interesting creases into his face.He kept his tone light.“I’m completely harmless, I swear.”
“So you say,” she bit out, then had cause to regret speaking, because his gaze sharpened on her.He’d notice her accent, just as she’d noticed his.He’d pick up that she was a woman of rank.
