Though Richard had yet to explain how he’d come to the realization that Wayfair was the famous French spy, Le Sournois, Caroline had a guess. When she’d added up all the details since she and Richard had become engaged, she determined he worked for the Crown.
She couldn’t be more proud of him. She knew she couldn’t tell anyone, including her family, of his work, but it was enough that she knew. Rather, her knowing would have to be enough, despite the fact that she was bursting at the seams to tell someone of how brilliant and incredible her fiancé was.
“Good evening.”
Caroline turned at the male voice to find Daniel, Richard’s brother, approach. “How good to see you.”
“And you. I hope the evening finds you well.”
“It finds me very well.” She couldn’t stop the smile that spread over her face.
“Planning a wedding must agree with you.”
“Yes. I’m very happy.” Caroline was counting the hours until they married, anxious to begin their life together. She hoped Richard felt the same. “Your brother is a very special man.”
Daniel chuckled at her enthusiasm. “He is indeed. There he is now.”
“My ears were burning,” Richard said as he greeted them both. “I assume the two of you were the cause.” Before either of them had a chance to answer, Richard brought Caroline’s gloved hand to his lips, holding it there for a long moment while he gazed into her eyes.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
“And I you.”
The heat in his eyes made her breathless, as did the gentle pressure of his fingers on her hand. The sensation made her feel as if he never intended to let her go.
“Need I remind you that you’re standing before a large crowd whose attention seems to be riveted on the pair of you? Especially Lady Mintford. Her glare is positively glacial.” Daniel waited a moment but when neither of them responded, he clasped his hands before him, as though resigned to waiting for them to finish.
“Forgive me, Daniel, but it’s been several days since I’ve seen Caroline.”
“I hope matters are...resolved to your satisfaction,” Caroline said, watching closely for his reaction. She didn’t know if Daniel knew of Richard’s work, but she dearly wanted to know what had happened.
“Indeed. Tightly locked away in the Tower. Now I intend to focus my attention on my fiancée and our upcoming marriage. I purchased the license today.”
Tingles swirled through Caroline and heat filled her cheeks at the thought of all his intensity directed at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted Daniel stepping away. What a thoughtful man. She was going to enjoy having a brother like him.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Richard whispered.
“Yes, but you can tell me again.” Her heart spun in her chest when he drew her closer, her hand still in his, their bodies only a breath apart.
“I love you.” The depths of his eyes were clear from shadows for the first time since she’d met him, leaving the light of love to shine through.
“Excellent, because I love you as well. We’re going to have a very good life together.”
“Yes, we are. I promise with all my heart.”
“I’m sorry I can’t promise the same,” she said with a mock frown.
“Why?” He sounded rather astounded at her refusal.
“Because a very special rogue already has my heart.”
He drew a deep breath. “I will cherish it always.”
“As I will cherish yours. Forever and always.”
###
Read on for a sneak peek in the next Regency Rendezvous Novel
Ice and Embers
Melanie Karsak
When actress Elyse McKenna fell in love with Lord John Waldegrave, she was prepared to keep their liaison secret. What she wasn’t ready for was how her newfound love would rock her relationship with her dearest friend, Doctor Kai Murray.
With the 1814 London Frost Fair in full swing, Elyse and her troupe at the Ice House Theatre find themselves at the heart of the excitement on the frozen Thames. But when an exotic ship captain, whose vessel is trapped in the ice, turns her attention to Kai, everything Elyse thought she knew about her feelings for her old friend gets flipped upside down.
While the Ice House Theatre’s production of A Midwinter Night’s Dream thrills the London crowd, Elyse’s life begins to take on a distinctly Shakespearean turn.
Elyse must find a way to discover the truth about the captain, Kai, John, and her own feelings if she hopes to escape the Thames with her heart intact.
Ice and Embers is a retelling of the classic Snow Queen fairy tale set in Regency London.
Chapter One
I exhaled deeply. My breath, heated by the passion of the kiss, slipped from between my lips and turned into a hazy cloud in the freezing winter air.
“Elyse,” John whispered, taking the pale blonde hair at the back of my neck into a gentle handful. He pulled me toward him again. His other hand, located on my lower back, gently pressed my hips toward his. I fell into the crush of his body and felt his warmth and want. I didn’t pull away. This was everything I’d ever dreamed of. The idea that a man of his station could fall in love with a girl like me was impossible. But still, here I was.
“Elyse, five minutes,” Marve, the manager of our acting troupe, shouted. When he spotted us, however, a blush crept up on his cheeks, and he disappeared backstage once more.
“I believe you’re needed, Titania,” John said. He stepped back and looked me over then straightened the collar on my costume. “Your makeup will need to be touched up. I’m afraid I smeared it a bit.”
“I need to start carrying a hand mirror,” I said with a soft smile.
“Lovely faerie queen,” John whispered in my ear, pausing to kiss my earlobe. “Don’t let Oberon have the better of you.”
“Never. Are you staying to watch?”
He nodded. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I reached out to touch his face. The cold air had made the hollows of his cheeks red. “There are braziers near the front benches where your peers will be sitting. You’ll be warm there.”
He gently took my hand and kissed my wrist. He stroked his finger across the blue veins below my pale skin. Lifting his eyebrows in a mischievous arch, he asked, “Do you think there is anywhere on this frozen river that’s warm?”
“In my arms?” I replied, mirroring his playful expression.
He laughed. “That’s the best, and most correct, answer.”
I grinned playfully. “If you wanted to be warm, then coming to the Frost Fair was a wretched idea.”
“But if I hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have seen my faerie queen.”
I smiled and looked deeply into his honey-colored eyes. My heart beat so hard I felt like it was going to burst. If I wasn’t careful, my passion for John was going to make me swoon. Kai would say I was being ridiculous, that swooning was a fashion, not a physical malady.
At the front of the theatre, I heard the sounds of flutes and horns. The play was starting.
Marve appeared once more. Too stressed to remain courteous, he huffed at me. “Elyse…Lord Waldegrave, I’m sorry, but we really do need our faerie queen.”
“I need to go,” I whispered.
“My apologies,” John called to Marve then turned to me. “See you soon, Titania,” he said, kissing the back of my hand. He then turned and headed toward the front of the house, such as it was, situated on the frozen Thames.
I sighed heavily, gathered up the long skirts of my costume, and headed for the stairs.
Forgetting myself, my head lost in love, I nearly slipped on the ice.
“Fool,” I cursed myself, giggling. I steadied myself against the side of the makeshift theatre. When I reached the top of the steps, I paused and looked out at the ice. For the first time in many years, the Thames had frozen solid. The Frost Fair had popped up on the ice practically overnight. Thus far, our company from
the Struthers Theatre, which we’d renamed the Ice House Theatre in homage to our temporary venue, was the only one to take advantage of the limited opportunity. I looked out across the frozen Thames. Glimmering hues of amber, pomegranate red, and deep purple streaked the sky as the sun dipped below the horizon. The colors cast an opalescent hue on the frozen river.
I exhaled happily. I had fallen in love with a fine gentleman and him with me. Our amour was not without complications, but it wasn’t uncommon for a man of good station to fall in love with an actress. Other lords had taken singers or ladies of the stage as wives. Our relationship would need to be discreet until he got his family’s approval. I wouldn’t want to sully his reputation in any way. But I was a skilled ballerina and actress, had good manners and was attractive. That counted for something, didn’t it? Even if I didn’t have good breeding, that didn’t mean I couldn’t become Lady Waldegrave.
“Elyse,” Marve whispered, his voice a sharp hiss. Master Shakespeare called. I smiled, wondering what the Bard would think of our frozen rendition of his work which we’d playfully titled A Midwinter Night’s Dream.
Chapter Two
As I stood stage left, my eyes closed, I listened to the banter of Anderson, who played Puck, and Josiah, who played a faerie. I laced my fingers together and breathed in the frozen air. I made myself into Titania. As Titania, my husband, whom I’d once loved deeply, would stop at nothing to hurt me. From his many affairs to his ridiculous request that I give him the orphaned boy I watched over, he always sought to pain me. I loved my husband, and I hated him.
I felt tears—Titania’s tears—well up in my eyes.
“And here is my mistress,” Josiah called, cueing Oberon’s and Titania’s entrance on stage.
I opened my eyes and nodded to Hannah who was dressed as a faerie. She held the train of my dress. She wore a blue and white dress and silver wings to appear the part of a frost faerie. I took a deep breath and stepped on stage.
The Ice House Theatre had been hastily constructed. There was a small, wooden stage that stood just a few feet above the audience and supporting beams for a curtain. Rows of rough cut timber benches sat before the stage. Braziers burned brightly, illuminating the crowd and warming the attendees. Behind the benches was standing room. Tenting had been used to enclose the space save the entryway through which I had a view of the Frost Fair outside. I looked out at the festivities. My eyes skimmed the scene. On the frozen Thames, a small city of tents had been erected practically overnight. Intermixed with the makeshift stalls were ships trapped in the frozen river. I heard rowdy voices coming from the temporary taverns, smelled the scent of roasted pecans on the bitterly cold breeze, and caught a glimpse of the masts of ships frozen in their ports. Revelers ice-skated down Freezeland Lane just outside the theatre. The Frost Fair was in full swing.
The sound of applause pulled me back. The crowd stretched all the way to the entrance. Several members of the gentry sat on the benches at the front. Behind them stood the commoners.
“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania,” Robert, who played Oberon, called to me from across the stage.
I let Elyse disappear and summoned Titania once more. All at once, I was overwhelmed by Titania’s confused feelings of love and anger. I clenched my jaw and fought back Titania’s tears, my heart beating quickly as Titania wondered how her husband could so willingly hurt her.
“What, jealous Oberon?” I retorted, smiling sardonically at him. Titania’s bitter words were a mask for the pain her heart felt.
Oberon glared at me. “Rash woman. Aren’t I your lord?”
“Then I must be your lady. But are you my lord? That didn’t seem to concern you when you left Faerieland to take the guise of Corin to make love to Phillida,” I retorted angrily as I crossed the stage.
I eyed the benches. Where had John gone? I didn’t see him amongst the fine company gathered there. Perhaps he was too late to take a seat amongst his peers.
I turned once more to Oberon. “And now you’ve come from the farthest reaches of India to see your favorite lover, the bouncing Amazon Hippolyta, be forced to wed Theseus. Your buckskinned mistress, your warrior love. What, have you come to bless her womb one last time before Theseus fills your place?”
The crowd snickered at the subtle bawdy joke. I scanned the crowd once more. John wasn’t there. But at the back of the crowd, leaning against a tall pole, was Kai. My lips twitched into a smile at the sight of my forever-friend. His dark hair was tousled in the wind, an ever-present scowl on his face. He may have looked like he was sour, but I knew better. He was concentrating. And at that moment, he was concentrating on me.
When he noticed me looking at him, his gaze softened. His arms were folded across his chest, but he lifted his fingers in the slightest of acknowledgments so not to distract me from my work. It was the same signal he’d used since the first time I took the stage, letting me know he was there and watching. That little move made the knot in my stomach uncurl, and suddenly I felt more relaxed.
“Shame on you, Titania. You, who love Theseus so well that you’ve led him from woman to woman, from Perigenia to Aegles to Ariadne to Antiopa, breaking hearts in your wake. For what?” Oberon spat at me. “Are you jealous of Hippolyta?”
I looked away from Kai and let Titania fill my mind once more, her thoughts becoming mine.
Fury in my eyes, I turned on Oberon. “Don’t pretend you are jealous of the attention I paid to Theseus,” I began then was lost to Titania’s words.
Exchanging barbs with Oberon, I let my thoughts take second place to Titania. And before I knew it, my scene was done. In a huff, Titania turned and left the stage.
Behind me, the crowd broke out into raucous applause.
Smiling widely, Charlie and Lizzie, who played Hermia and Lysander, stood just off stage.
“Amazing, Elyse,” Lizzie whispered.
“Elyse who? I see only Titania,” Charlie said, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Was it all right?” I whispered to Lizzie.
“You jest! You were Titania,” she replied.
“Marvelous, Elyse,” Marve whispered, joining us. “We never get applause mid-scene. I teared up at the end when you spoke of the orphaned boy,” he said as he adjusted my gown.
Through a very slight crack in the wood of the makeshift backstage, I peered out at the crowd. I still didn’t see John.
“Now, when you lie down to sleep in Titania’s bower in your next scene, be sure your sleeping face is still visible to the audience. Be the picture of an angel. Like this,” Marve said, folding his hands together and pressing them against his cheek. He smiled serenely, but the angelic expression looked very odd on his bearded face, his bushy eyebrows arching sweetly.
I giggled. “Of course. Did you happen to see Lord Waldegrave in the audience?”
“I…I don’t know. Elyse, are you listening to me? An angel, do you hear me?”
“Yes, of course, a sleeping angel. I thought he was going to join the gentlemen at the front, but I don’t see him there. Did you notice him in the crowd?”
“Actresses,” Marve said with a huff. “It’s no wonder they used only male actors in Master Shakespeare’s day.” He rolled his eyes playfully then turned to help the others. “Angel, got it?”
I smiled. “Yes. Indeed. Halo and all.”
At that, Marve smiled then went off to coach Lizzie.
For the next two hours, I played the part of Titania. I tried to ignore my worries about John, but they kept popping up nonetheless. Where had he gone? Thankfully, Kai stayed fixed in his spot. His little nods of reassurance kept me focused. As the play progressed, Titania fought more with Oberon, fell in love with Bottom who was wearing a donkey’s head, and slept facing the crowd looking like an angel. Before I knew it, I reached my final scene.
Reconciled by the end of the play, Titania and Oberon wove around the lovers who lay sleeping on the stage: Theseus with Hippolyta, Helena with Demetrius, and Lysander with Hermia.
<
br /> “Hand in hand, with faerie grace, we will sing and bless this place,” I said, smiling down at the sleeping pairs. Then I twirled around the couples. My soft pink ballet slippers made me feel light on my feet. Calling upon my training as a ballerina, I pirouetted around the pairs, sprinkling a mixture of flowers and silver-colored flecks of paper onto the couples as I moved, blessing their union. The shiny paper glimmered like faerie dust in the shadowed stage light.
As I wove, I glanced at the crowd, feeling the love they had for the illusion I’d created. They didn’t see an actress, they saw Titania, the Faerie Queen, blessing the lovers. They stared, enraptured.
Amongst the crowd, I spotted a man I had not noticed earlier. He wore an elegant suit made of rich-looking blue cloth with silver buttons, trimmed with ermine. His long, blond, almost silver, hair fell over his shoulders. He stood with both hands on his walking stick in front of him. He wore a soft smile on his face. When I met his eyes, he bowed slightly toward me. I paused a moment, nearly forgetting myself. Then I turned back to Titania’s duties. Blowing a kiss, I cast the last enchantment on the lovers. When I was done, my faeries and I moved offstage to allow Puck the final scene.
Robert exited the stage just behind me. He pulled me into a hug. “What a Titania,” he whispered.
I felt the heat of a blush stinging my cheeks. It was one thing to be flattered by the audience, but a compliment from an established actor like Robert was truly an honor.
Backstage, we waited as Puck finished his closing lines: “If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear…” and on until his final call of “…give me your applause if we are friends. And Robin shall make amends.”
Romancing the Rogue (Regency Rendezvous Book 9) Page 20
