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Her mother’s eyes widened slightly, as if she suspected Eliana was not being entirely truthful. “Do you want to go?”

“Oh, yes.” Eliana suspected she’d spoken too quickly. “That is, it’s a lovely day to go out, and the count is pleasant company. I believe. From what little I saw of him.”

Blast it, she could feel her cheeks heating. She busied herself with pulling her sweet roll apart, though she did not think her parents were deceived.

Her mother let out a little cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “If you say so.”

“The gentleman in question will introduce himself to me immediately upon his arrival,” Lord Blake said. “And Hetty will go out with you, of course.”

“Of course,” Eliana said, relieved her father wasn’t making a bigger fuss about an unknown gentleman coming to call upon his daughter. Perhaps her mother was gently kicking him beneath the table. “I’m sure Hetty will enjoy the sleigh ride as well.”

“From Kiev, you say?” Lord Blake let out a harrumph. “I fear the Russians are not the most trustworthy of allies. They’re in thick with the Ottomans.”

“I agree that the situation in the Bosporus is likely to turn unstable,” Lady Blake responded, “but perhaps we might refrain from political discussion at the breakfast table.”

“Don’t mind me,” Eliana said, and took a last bite of her sweet roll. “I need to make ready for Count Nikolai’s visit.”

It wouldn’t take her three hours to prepare, of course, but she needed to escape before her parents thought up any more awkward questions that she could not answer.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“You’re taking rather a chance,your highness,” Reece said as he helped Sebastian into his greatcoat. “What if someone recognizes you?”

“I’ll keep my hat low and my muffler high,” Sebastian said.

Indeed, the very recklessness of it made his mind feel clearer than it had in months. He’d become mired in routine and expectation. It was beyond refreshing to break out, to feel like he was living life on his own terms, even if it were only for the space of one evening and one day.

He’d spent a restless night, unable to put Miss Eliana Banning out of his mind. At first light, he’d penned her a note and sent Reece to make sure it was delivered. Only then had he been able to sleep—a deep, revitalizing slumber that had left him feeling ready to face anything.

True, so far their interactions had been based on deception. But there was something more there, something he’d be a fool to ignore.

Or perhaps he was simply deluding himself.

Either way, he had to meet her once again, to be sure. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life unhappily moldering away in London. It was time for a change—and if Eliana Banning wasn’t the change he needed, then he would bid his mother and sister farewell, and go back to Berleburg. He and his father disliked one another immensely, but surely there was something a royal prince might do, even if he was in the wrong line of the family to actually inherit the throne.

“The sleigh is waiting for you a block over, your highness,” Reece said, following him to the back door. “I wish you well on your adventure.”

Sebastian nodded his thanks. Perhaps he was acting like an idiot, but at least his blood was flowing, his steps strong and sure. His boots crunched over the snow as he strode to the gate set in the snow-encrusted brick wall and let himself into the alley.

As promised, the brightly painted sleigh waited at the end of the next street. A groom stood beside the horse, holding the reins and looking a bit chilled.

“I am here on behalf of the prince,” Sebastian said in his Russian accent. “Please inform Lord Ramsey the sleigh will be returned by dusk, with his highness’s due thanks.”

“Good to see the contraption get some use, now that milord’s children are grown and gone,” the man said. He thumped the gray mare on the shoulder. “Be gentle with Belle. She’s got a sensitive mouth.”

“I will take good care of the horse and the sleigh.” Sebastian gave the man a handful of coins, still warm from his pocket.

“Very good, sir.” The groom bowed, then headed briskly back down the street, hands tucked in his armpits for warmth.

“Well then, Belle.” Sebastian stripped off his glove. He let the mare snort her warm breath into his palm, then patted her soft nose. “Let us go courting.”

Less than a quarter hour later, Sebastian pulled to a stop outside Lord Blake’s town house. His heart thumped uncomfortably beneath the heavy wool of his greatcoat, but he took a deep breath of frost-scented air and willed himself to remain calm as he dismounted from the sleigh.

That fragile balance tipped the moment the front door opened and Miss Eliana Banning stepped out. Her golden curls spilled from beneath a winter hat of white ermine that matched her muff, and she wore a bright red pelisse, glorious scarlet against the white snow and subdued bricks of the buildings.

Without the mask, she looked less mysterious, and even more beautiful. It would be easy to believe there was little more to her than a pretty face—in fact, until last night, he had. Yet there was far more to Miss Banning than met the eye. And perhaps more than even she herself suspected.

“Good day, Mademoiselle Red.” He swept her a low bow, then nodded at her scarlet coat. “You are living up to your name, once again.”