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B eatrice rolled onto her side.

A small smile formed on her lips as she stared out at the new day just beyond her window. It took her a while to calm down after her rendezvous with the handsome stranger last night but she felt more awake than she ever had. She sat up in bed, stretching her sore muscles.

She practically ran all the way back from Water Street last night. Her feet hurt and her calves were sore, but she would do it all over again in a heartbeat. She may not have made it to the party, but she did manage to cross one item off of her list.

Her eyes widened.

My list!

Beatrice scrambled out of bed and scurried to the chair she threw her overcoat on before she fell into bed last night.

She picked up the heavy cloak. It was unbearably hot during the cool summer night, but it was all she had that had a hood that allowed her to hide her face.

However, the hood turned out to be pointless. The masked man saw her face. Chewing on her bottom lip, Beatrice let her mind slip back into the memories from last night.

She could feel his warm breath on her when she fell into him when that woman screamed. She laid her hand over stomach where she felt his hard body as he held her closer as they kissed.

Beatrice’s eyes fluttered shut as her body began to heat.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Beatrice let out a yelp as she jumped.

“I’m sorry Lady Beatrice, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Candace, her maid. Beatrice looked at her father’s time piece she kept on her desk. It was almost time for breakfast.

“No, it’s all right, Candace. You just startled me.” Beatrice opened her closet and threw the coat in, slamming the door shut just as Candace opened her bedroom door.

“Are you all right?” Candace was just a few years older than her which Beatrice loved. She was so used to having older sisters around that when both Eleanor and Sarah were married she missed having them with her. Candace helped fill that void.

And she was good at keeping secrets. When Beatrice came to her with the gossip she overheard about a party on Water Street It was Candace that got her the details.

Candace looked over her shoulder as she closed the door. “So? Did you go last night?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

Beatrice smiled and squealed as she ran over to her maid. “I didn’t, but…”

Candace’s owlish eyes grew wider. “But what?” She squeezed Beatrice’s hands as she pulled her to the bed.

“I met a man.” She squeaked as she plopped down on the bed.

Candace let out a squeal of her own.

“Hush!” Beatrice raised her hands to cover Candace’s mouth. “Where’s Mama?”

Her maid pulled away and waved Beatrice off. “She’s in the breakfast parlor reading the letter from Sarah for the umpteenth time.”

Beatrice scowled. “Is she still insistent that I go to the ball this afternoon?”

Candace chewed her inner cheek and nodded. “I’m afraid so. The Duchess says there will be plenty of young men there and you’re all any one can talk about.”

Beatrice threw herself back onto her bed.

She didn’t want to be married like her sisters.

Sure, they both seemed happy and in love with their life, their husbands, even the adorable little cherubs they both produced in their respective marriages.

But, if Beatrice was honest with herself, which she usually is, and her mother, which she usually is not, she would say that the life of spinster didn’t seem so bad.

“Her Grace wrote how excited she was to see you and your mother today and,” Candace’s brow furrowed in concentration. “How did she put it?”

Beatrice rubbed her temple in a failing attempt to stave off the headache that was forming thinking about the afternoon’s ball. “She can’t wait to see me shine as the season’s diamond she knows me to be.” Beatrice said with a growl.

She sat up with a huff. “Which is ridiculous. Everyone knows this seasons diamond is Lady Cecilia and her perfectly golden hair. And she can have it. Sarah knows I don’t want to be this season’s diamond.

She just wrote that because she knew it would work Mama up into a frenzy and make my life miserable.

I swear she’s getting back at me for all the times I was a brat to her. ”

Candace smiled. “Your mother is very… let’s go with energetic, this morning.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes and made her way back to her closet. She threw her overcoat in there quickly just in case Candace was not alone. She didn’t need her mother seeing her coat thrown on a chair and not in its proper place.

She opened the door to the closet and pulled out the coat.

“Well, I’ll give Mama the afternoon. I promised her this season, so this season she shall have. But I had last night.” She pulled the coat to her face and inhaled. It smelled of the summer night and the sweet smoke smell her mind now associates with her masked man.

Candace stood from the bed and started to put the room to rights. “Please tell me you didn’t do anything unbecoming of a respectable woman last night.” She chastised.

Beatrice let her mind drift for a moment and saw the handsome masked stranger before her. She sighed into the coat.

“I may have kissed a man.”

Candace dropped the pillow onto the bed. “May have?” She asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

Beatrice felt her blush deepen. “Most definitely did.”

Candace’s eyes widened. “Who? When? Where? At the party?”

Beatrice shook her head. “I didn’t make it to the party. I was looking for the address, keeping to myself like you told me to and I accidentally bumped into a man. He took one look at me and no matter how much I pretended that I belonged there he knew I didn’t. He ordered me home and I refused.”

Candace gasped. “Lady Beatrice! You promised me that you were only going to take a quick peek at the party and leave.” She started to worry her bottom lip. “Maybe you shouldn’t do this anymore. I was worried sick about you last night. If your mother found out-”

Beatrice walked over to where Candace started to pace. “Candace, look at me. I’m fine! I followed your directions to the letter. I think I walked right past the house and while I was looking I accidentally walked into a man.”

Candace peered into Beatrice’s eyes. “He didn’t take advantage of you?” Her voice held a slight tremor.

Beatrice extended her arms and pulled Candace into a hug. “Of course not! And if he would have tried I would have put those self-defense moves you showed me to work.”

Candace giggled. “Oh heavens, if your mother truly knew all of our conversations she would have me fired immediately.”

Beatrice placed a kiss on her maid’s cheek. “I would never let that happen.”

Her maid sighed and walked over to the closet. “Are you going to tell me about this mystery man?”

Beatrice sat at the dresser and began to brush her hair while Candace pulled out her dress for the day.

“Mystery is right. He was wearing a mask that covered the top half of his face so I didn’t get a clear look at him. It was also after midnight and it’s not the most well lit area of London.”

Candace groaned. “The more I hear of this the more I’m rethinking helping you with your escapades.”

Beatrice smiled at her reflection. “You love it.”

She heard a muffled laugh from behind her. “I do. I shouldn’t. But I do.”

“Still, he had this formidable presence, like he could be dangerous if he wanted to be, but he was holding back for me.”

Candace appeared behind her. “I think you’ve read too many of your sister’s romance novels.”

Beatrice scrunched her face at her maid’s comment. It was true her sister Sarah was the romantic and her books of choice usually dealt with broad chested men saving the poor damsel in distress. While Beatrice didn’t mind those stories, her tastes lied with mysteries and adventure.

“As I was saying, he demanded I leave at once and I refused. So he offered me a trade, one kiss for me to go home.”

Candace’s jaw dropped. “And how did he know you were looking for a kiss?”

Beatrice raised a slender shoulder. “I have no idea. I guess I looked like I needed a kiss.”

The two women giggled until a knock sounded at her door.

“Who is it?” Beatrice called.

“Ms. Adams, miss. Your mother is wondering where you are.”

Beatrice dropped her shoulders. “Please tell her I’m getting dressed. I’ll down soon.”

“Of course, miss.”

The two women waited until Ms. Adams’s steps receded before bursting into another fit of giggles.

“In all seriousness, Lady Beatrice, please be careful. I know you have concocted this list of things to do in your mind, but you can’t check anything off if you’re dead.”

Beatrice guffawed as she stepped into the dress Candace held. “I think you’re being a bit dramatic, don’t you.”

Candace helped tie the silk ribbon at the back of her dress and met Beatrice’s eyes in the mirror. “Not dramatic enough, miss. This is not one of your story books. There is not always a happy ending out there.”

Candace hesitated and dropped her eyes.

“What is it?” Beatrice asked.

Her maid chewed her bottom lip before responding.

“You have tried your plan, why don’t you give your mother’s plan a try?

I’m sure there are plenty of young men out there that want a wife that is more than a household figure.

Perhaps there is someone out there that is looking to travel with his bride? ”

Beatrice took in a breath and released it. They have had this conversation many times over the past few months.

“All I’m saying is to consider it.” Candace pleaded.

Candace gave Beatrice one more look over before she turned towards the door.

Beatrice’s eyes landed on her overcoat from the night before. “Can you tell my mother I’ll be right down? I need a moment to collect myself.”

Candace hesitated before dipping her head and making her way downstairs.

Beatrice picked up the coat and fished through the sleeves. Nothing but the satin lining. She checked the outer pockets and the inside one. Nothing.

Her heart began to beat and the world slowed down.

My list is gone.

“No. No. No. No. No. This cannot be happening.”