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“Consider it, please.” A soft, pleading smile. “Tonight, for example, is a perfect opportunity to put the past where it belongs and move on. Wouldn’t you say? To better tidings.”

“I could not agree more.”

Of course, Lord Fernside had no idea about what had happened. Nobody did.

Caroline and His Grace had decided to keep their actions a secret for now, the reasons for such being obvious. No need to get Esther excited. And no need to get Isabella’s hopes up. Best to keep things subtle until… well, they had not gotten that far yet.

But just because they were keeping their secret hidden did not mean they were avoiding one another as before. In fact, the opposite was true. To those watching, it would appear that Caroline and His Grace had made amends and had agreed to a sort of truce, happy to be in the same room together, prepared to speak pleasantly to one another, even being friendly and damn jovial. Not romantic. Not suggestive. Simply, companionable.

However, once they were alone… as they had been several times these last few days… that was a different matter.

“Thank you,” Lord Fernside said with some relief. “In fact, let us go find His Grace? A drink, perhaps? It seems like you might need a buffer, and I am willing to provide said buffer,” he chuckled. “The least that I can do.”

Caroline actually felt herself smiling, for despite her insistence on hiding, she did very much want to see His Grace again. Why, the way they flirted secretly, teasing and testing the limits of what they could do, was half the fun, and she loved how HisGrace took liberties with her once they were alone—the things he would make her say and do! Oh, how she relished it.

She cast her gaze back into the room in search… only to catch a quick glimpse of a face that made her stomach sink, her face pale, and the walls of the room seem to close in around her.

It could not be.

Surely, she was imagining it—seeing things!

She searched again, desperate to prove herself wrong. Eyes scanning from face to face, panic mounting, heart threatening to leap out of her throat. No! There was no way!

“Miss Dowding…” Lord Fernside touched her gently on the shoulder. “Is everything all right.”

“Fre - fresh air,” she stammered, stumbling forward. “I need fresh air.”

“I will join you?—”

“No!” she cried, fixing Lord Fernside with an apologetic look. “I mean, perhaps if you find His Grace and let him know I will be there shortly? I just… I need a moment alone.” A forced smile and a fluttering of her eyelashes.

“All right… I will?—”

She did not hear what he said, turning and stumbling from the room in search of the balcony, her mind racing as she tried to convince herself that she had just been seeing things. She must have been. There was no way he would be here. But the more she considered, the more she was forced to admit that among the crowd, meeting her eyes and seeing her as had been her fear now for two years, was her father.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Frederick found Miss Dowding standing on the balcony by herself. With her back to the door, she stood over the railing, looking out at the garden that surrounded the back of the manor. Seeing her there, noticing that the balcony was empty save for her, he took a moment to watch and admire her.

God, she was something else.

The moon was waning tonight, yet it still shone brightly upon Miss Dowding, illuminating her as if it shone purposefully to entice him. Her porcelain skin glimmered. Her dark hair glistened. Her dress, ocean blue in color, was strapless and sleeveless, hanging down her back and softly kissing her skin. From where he stood, he could make out her curves clearly, round and supple, soft and tempting, crying out for him to sneak in behind her and wrap his hands around them.

Behind him, Frederick could hear the ball in full swing, but out here, he felt alone with Miss Dowding, as if nothing elsemattered, as if the world and all the people in it were nonexistent save for them.

“See something you like?” he asked as he started toward her.

She jumped and spun about, eyes wide in fear—more than he had expected. Indeed, she looked frightened, as if she had come out here to hide and was terrified at being caught. It had Frederick pausing, worried now that something was wrong.

“Your Grace…” She breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me.”

“I did not mean to.”

She smiled for him, a sign that everything was fine, and he went to her. “You take pleasure in sneaking up on me, don’t you.”

He reached her, a quick glance to make sure that they were alone, and he stepped in and kissed her on the cheek… and then moved to her lips. She did not fight him, her hand moving to his waist and holding him there as her lips worked. The kiss, that was supposed to be a quick peck, grew to something more, and Frederick had to force himself to pull away.

“I had considered watching you and saying nothing,” he admitted with a grin, “but then I would not have been able to kiss you.”