Page 70 of Beyond Scandal and Desire
“We exist in real life, Aslyn. Not in a fairy tale. There are no happily-ever-afters between a lady and a bastard.”
Then what am I doing here?
“Did Kipwick ever take you to Cremorne during the later hours when proper people aren’t about?”
His change in topic startled her, yet she welcomed it, not favoring the direction the conversation had been going.
“What makes you think I wanted to go during that time of night?”
His gaze demanded the truth, and she realized he was the sort of man with whom lies did not sit well. She suspected no one uttered falsehoods in his presence.
“The way you asked to stay the night I met you. I suspect if Fancy and I hadn’t been there, you’d have argued with him in hopes of convincing him to stay later.”
She shrugged. “I have a mild curiosity.”
“I have business there tonight. Care to join me?”
The duchess would definitely not approve of this. “I would have to sneak out—”
“You seemed to handle that well enough the other night. I’ll have my carriage at the end of the drive at midnight. Just remember to bring a key.”
She met him. He’d known she would. She possessed an adventuresome spirit they couldn’t tame, and he was grateful for it. In his carriage, she’d sat opposite him, fairly bouncing on the squabs with her excitement. Now they’d disembarked and were preparing to walk into the gardens.
“What if I see some lords I know?” she asked.
“There will be some fancy swells about, but it’s unlikely they’ll recognize you. This time of night they’re not studying faces, they’re concentrating on bosoms.” There wasn’t enough light to see if she was blushing although he suspected she was.
“You like to shock me—or at the very least try to do so.”
“Did I succeed?”
“I wouldn’t admit if you did.”
“Good girl. Keep the hood of your pelisse up and your hand on my arm. No one will bother you.”Except for me, possibly.
“Except for you possibly,” she said as though she’d read his mind.
“I will be on my best behavior.”
But he recognized that even his best wasn’t good enough for her. She deserved a man of pedigree. Not one who’d been conceived in error, deemed unworthy of life, and was unwanted.
She couldn’t say why she was willing to risk so much to see Cremorne at its darkest. Rumors abounded that activities had become so disgraceful late at night, the area drawing such incorrigibles, that the gardens’ very existence was in jeopardy. Some were calling for it to be shut down. Perhaps a chance to see a bit of history before it was gone was what drew her.
Whose leg was she striving to pull? While she wanted to see the wickedness people got up to, she welcomed any opportunity to spend time with Mick.
As they wandered into the gardens, she felt remarkably safe in his company. No one was going to bother him. He swaggered with a confidence and a predatory air that signaled he was not one to be challenged, wasn’t accustomed to losing.
She spotted two lords she recognized, one an earl, the other a viscount. While they were dressed in fine attire, they walked as though the earth had suddenly tilted on its axis and they couldn’t find their footing. Raised to understand that one’s carriage spoke volumes regarding one’s place in the world, she was suddenly intrigued to see how very true the axiom was. Neither man possessed the bearing of someone who would sit in the House of Lords. Several second, third, fourth sons wandered by. Having never even danced with them, she wasn’t concerned they might find her familiar.
All of the men and the few women who paraded by were loud and boisterous, laughing gaily.
“Let’s have something to drink,” Mick said.
She wasn’t at all thirsty, rather more curious about what she might find deeper into the gardens, but he hardly gave her a choice as he led her into a tavern-like structure and ordered up two pints of ale. Immediately she was intrigued, having never tasted it before. With her first sip, of its own accord, her face skewed up. He laughed.
“It tastes better once you get to the bottom of the tankard.”
“Why would they put the best at the bottom?” And how had they managed it? What a trick that must be.
