Noticing their appearance, she stood up nervously and faced them.
“My Lady, Lord Walsrock,” the lady’s maid announced.
“Thank you, Elsa,” Lady Rose said simply, her voice wafting gently in the wind.
The lady’s maid curtsied and left them alone, to go stand watch in the event that someone ventured down to the garden.
“My goodness!” Kenneth exclaimed as soon as she was gone, causing Lady Rose to blush slightly. “I could stare at you every day for the rest of my life and still not get used to how beautiful you are.”
“You flatter me, My Lord. You are a sight for sore eyes yourself,” she responded.
“Why, thank you.” He responded with a light chuckle.
He stepped close to her and heard her gasp. She probably had never stood this close to a gentleman before, while they were both alone. She had nothing to worry about, though, as he was in no way going to bring harm to her.
“I was worried when I got your letter. I couldn’t ignore the sense of urgency. Are you all right? Did the Earl discover our correspondence?” Kenneth asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Oh no, My Lord. My father has not discovered our secret.”
“Then what might the matter be?”
There was a brief pause but in the end she settled for more flirtatious conversation.
“Was My Lord not anxious to see me?” she said coyly.
“On the contrary, My Lady, I have waited for this moment since last I saw you.”
Whatever it is, I’m going to have to get her to feel comfortable enough to tell me.
“Care to join me on a lovely evening stroll?” he continued with a smile.
“A stroll to where?” she asked with a chuckle.
“A stroll around this beautiful garden, of course,” he responded, cocking his hand in an arch which was an invitation for her to place her hands through and join him.
She laughed lightly and hooked her hands through his.
“Well, of course, My Lord. I am in need of a little walking exercise myself,” she responded, on the brink of laughter.
Chapter Seven
Rose was plagued with a mixed feeling of excitement and dread.
She’d barely eaten anything at supper and was out almost immediately after it was over, under the pretext that she was headed for her bedroom. Elsa had followed behind her, already aware of what the plan was.
After going through the motions of heading to her chambers, they had made a detour and sneaked out of the house to the garden.
Between her and Elsa, they’d combed every inch of the Somerholm manor from their childhood to this present day. The knowledge gleaned hadn’t ever been put to good use till now.
When they’d arrived at the garden and didn’t see the Marquess, she figured that in her haste, they’d made it earlier than planned.
After waiting for a few minutes, it dawned on her that Lord Walsrock was probably finding it difficult to locate the hole in the hedge that she’d described.
She’d decided then to send Elsa after him, with a stern warning to avoid being seen.
In the time she’d waited alone for their return, anticipation and excitement had built up within her. A dread of being discovered was also building alongside.
What in God’s name are you doing, Rose? If anyone finds you out here with the Marquess, your reputation is finished.
Of course, the Marquess would most likely go on to have a reputation that would eventually draw more ladies to him if they were discovered tonight. She, on the other hand, wouldn’t be so lucky.
A slight wave of jealousy swept over her at the thought that other ladies might be drawn to the Marquess. It passed, though, as her excitement and dread continued to build.
I need to tell him about Lord Rockgonie. In all honesty, I really just want to see him again.
She began fiddling with her fingers in the chilly night air, trying to pass time and curb her anxiety.
Suddenly, she heard movements and looked at the point where the path merged into the clearing, just as Elsa and the Marquess emerged.
The sight of him calmed her beating heart and filled her with bliss. As he approached, she was on her feet in excitement. By the time they’d reached her, she could have literally burst into flames from all the excitement within her.
Be still my beating heart. Dear Lord!
Elsa proceeded to leave them alone and stand guard as they had discussed, and then he opened his mouth to speak.
Suddenly, her dread returned when he asked her about the urgency that was contained in her letter.
How do I tell him? Just open your mouth, Rose, and say the words.
In spite of how hard she was encouraging herself, she couldn’t still find the courage to tell him that she was betrothed and that her betrothed was on his way back to London as they spoke.
Eventually, he’d sought to put her at ease and now they were hand in hand and strolling in circles around the garden.
“I never told you my opinion on your paper,” she said after a brief moment of silence.
“You didn’t need to. I could already tell you share my sentiments,” he responded, causing her to blush lightly.
“Very perceptive, My Lord. But how could you tell?” she asked.
“Well, if I wasn’t sure before now, the bond between you and your lady’s maid, which is reminiscent of the one between me and my valet, is a clear indication.”
“Elsa and I are practically like sisters. We grew up together and till this moment are completely inseparable,” she chuckled.
“I could tell. I can identify such a bond when I see one.”
“Is that the foundation for your political ideals? Is that what encouraged you to pursue a bill that addresses the issues between the ton and the commoner?” She turned and looked at his face even as he continued to stare ahead.
“Since childhood, I’ve always been close to some staff in my family’s employ, including my valet. However, the exact trigger occurred two years ago, around the same time my father resigned from the House of Lords,” he responded.
She looked on as he went ahead to paint the picture of what had pushed him to take up the cause of the commoners.
Apparently after his father had resigned, he’d been reluctant to step in and fill his father’s shoes in the House. However, he’d been out with friends on a drinking spree at Brooks’s one night, when he and one of them had decided to head home.
They’d stepped out of the gentleman’s club, intoxicated, and instead of getting into their respective carriages, decided to have a little walk about town. Somehow they’d ended up in parts of London’s red light district, which looking back, had been a deliberate ploy by his friend who had a reputation of philandering with doxies.
He’d been about to suggest to his friend that they turn back and begin retracing their steps before they got robbed when his friend suddenly froze in shock.
“Marie?” His friend had called out in shock as one of the women in the pair ahead of them had turned abruptly. She’d approached with caution as his friend continued to stare in disbelief.
Eventually, he’d found out from their conversation that Marie had been a maid in his friend’s household. When they’d let her go, she’d been unable to secure a replacement job and as such had resorted to selling her body in order to survive. The painful part of the story being that Marie’s termination had been unjust.
Kenneth explained that the whole experience had left a bad taste in his mouth. When he’d gotten home, he had gone on to talk to his valet and realized that such experiences were commonplace in Britain’s high society. There were a number of commoners who’d lost their jobs and were forced to do anything to survive on the streets.
As he continued, Rose realized that he was correct about it being a common tale in Britain’s high society. She herself had a couple of true-life stories, and most certainly understood the Marquess’ pain.
She listened on as he said that wa
s the turning point for him, to stand up and help people like Marie who had been failed by society. It had also spurred him into finding others like Marie who were in dire straits as a result of society’s unfair and unbalanced wealth distribution.
His valet had put him in touch with a lot of common people who had formed the basis of research. Before he knew it, he began working on a bill that would address a lot of these issues.
He’d gone from being reluctant at taking his father’s place in the House of Lords, to being grateful that he’d been given a platform to tackle issues that had become very dear to his heart.
“And what does your father think about it all?” she asked, when he finally finished his rendition of events.
“We’ve had our differences, thanks to my ideals. But I think it’s safe to say that I’ve finally encountered a breakthrough where he is concerned.”
“A breakthrough?” she asked animatedly.
“Yes. He is helping to garner support for the bill amongst his peers who are still in the House. That’s what your father was talking about at the ball.”
“I remember that conversation. So my father is on board with your bill? I don’t know why I find that hard to believe,” she chuckled.
“Well, he hasn’t read the bill yet. He might just be aware of what the bill is trying to address in general, and not the actual details. In fact, I only just sent the final draft to my father this evening before heading out here.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind reading your bill, My Lord. I’ve been intrigued since I stumbled across your paper. I imagine the bill would be as interesting.”
“Speaking of my paper, how did you get to read it?”
“Found it in my father’s study. I couldn’t put it down nor leave the study till I was done going through every detail of it,” she confessed.
“Your father has a copy of my paper in his study? You can’t imagine how much he mocked me over that paper. I would never imagine that he kept a copy for himself.”
“Yes. He doesn’t like you very much,” she joked, causing both of them to begin laughing.
“Well, I have told you the foundation for my ideals, My Lady. What about yours? What caused you to look at the plight of the commoner with compassion?” he asked after their laughter had died down.
“Elsa,” she said, without skipping a beat.
“Your lady’s maid?” he asked in shock.
“Yes. Believe it or not, my friendship with her started the process for me. Growing up, Mother had been displeased that she and I were so close. They’d tried to separate us on numerous occasions. However, the more they tried, the more we stuck together.”
He laughed then, obviously having a firsthand knowledge of what she was talking about.
“And anyway, my family eventually gave up on trying to separate us. As a result, I practically grew up with her and dare I say it is impossible not to notice the plight of a commoner when you are best friends with one.”
“Tell me about it,” he chimed.
“Well, through her eyes, I was able to see firsthand their struggles. There is only so much I could do, but I was certainly not oblivious to them. Eventually, my notice turned to empathy and before I knew it, my political ideals had been altered completely in favor of the commoner.”
“Interesting. Amazing how our ideals were framed by our friendships with commoners,” he remarked, sounding impressed. “Almost makes me wonder what our ideals would have been, if we didn’t have an Elsa or a Leonard in our lives, like the rest of Britain’s high society.”
“Well, if we are being honest, I think our ideals would have remained the same. The rest of the peerage do have Elsas and Leonards all around them. The difference between us and them is that they chose to ignore while we didn’t. It’s more a testament to who we are at our core than to the fact that we have an Elsa and a Leonard.”
He sighed in understanding of what she’d just said.
“What an amazing insight. I couldn’t agree more,” he said, still impressed with her grasp of the situation.
“Exactly, My Lord. We are the difference,” she said.
“My goodness! A lady who understands the issues of Britain as I do. Who would have thought?” His laugh and compliment caused her heart to melt. Suddenly she remembered why she’d asked him to meet her tonight in the first place.
Tell him Rose. Now is the time.
And still she stayed silent. If she was being honest, she wasn’t as scared of his reaction as the reality that she might actually lose him if she ever made the confession of her betrothal known to him.
What are the odds?
Her thoughts paused instantly. There was a new puzzle she needed to answer.
Love? Am I in love with Lord Walsrock?
She turned to look at him and found out that he had been looking at her.
“You are beautiful,” he said simply.
“Thank you, My Lord,” she found herself stammering.
“I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable,” he apologized, misinterpreting her nervous stammer.
If anything, he didn’t make her uncomfortable. Instead, he stirred up a passion within her that she didn’t even know existed. Excited, discombobulated, nervous, he elicited all these reactions in her but none of them were uncomfortable.
“It didn’t make me uncomfortable,” she confessed, looking deep into his eyes.
For a moment, it seemed time itself had ceased to exist.
Is he going to kiss me?
She wondered as his lips parted slightly. To her amazement, she hoped he was going to kiss her.
Just as his head began moving down, Elsa materialized from the periphery of her vision.
“My Lady, someone is coming this way,” her lady’s maid announced nervously.
It took a fraction of a moment before what Elsa said registered in her mind.
“My goodness!” she exclaimed, as she unhooked her hand from that of the Marquess. “Who is it?” she queried, her dread returning and consuming her instantly.
“I do not know, My Lady,” Elsa had responded.
Turning to face the Marquess, she announced, “You have to leave now, My Lord.”
The fear that was etched on her face had definitely spurred him to action. He bent and kissed her hand.
“I love you, Lady Rose,” he said, letting go of her hand and causing her to catch her breath.
She turned as her ears picked up the sound of whoever Elsa had heard approaching. By the time she turned back, the Marquess of Walsrock had disappeared into the night.
“What are you doing out here?”
She turned again to see her brother standing in front of her, looking startled. By his side was a lady who was giggling hysterically and leaning in to whisper into her brother’s ear.
She opened her mouth but closed it again when she realized this wasn’t a lady, but a doxy.
Her brother approached her with the woman in tow and repeated his question.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“I could ask you the same question, Adam,” she fired back, spitting his name out in disgust.
He was close enough for her to see the expression change on his face and realize that she had taken the upper hand.
He hadn’t seen the Marquess, but she had seen him and his companion. She was still of stellar reputation as far as this situation was concerned.
“Come, Elsa. Our evening stroll has been interrupted. Let’s give the Viscount space to entertain his guest,” she said, as she began walking toward the manor.
For a witty fellow, her brother had no comeback as he had been stunned into silence.
Walking past him, she gave his companion a look over before turning to continue her journey.
Halfway there, her mind had returned to the Marquess. He really had faded into nothing at the snap of a finger and in the nick of time.
“I love you, too, My Lord,” she found herself whispering.
“Did you say
something, My Lady?” Elsa asked.
“Nothing, Elsa. Nothing at all,” she responded as a smile spread on her lips.
Chapter Eight
Kenneth leaned back in his seat, feeling the onset of fatigue. He hadn’t slept all night and knew he was in dire need of rest as soon as possible.
A Ravishing Lady For The Rebellious Marquess (Steamy Historical Regency Romance) Page 6
