CHAPTER 2
No sooner had Michael arrived at his parents’ estate than he escaped to the gardens.
The only thing more tedious than a house party was a house party in honor of your brother’s betrothal.
It would stand to reason that having secured a marriage for the heir, his parents should feel satisfied and back off from trying to persuade him to marry for the time being.
It was, in fact, the opposite. Nothing like a wedding on the horizon to get his mother to turn her matchmaking efforts on him. His father would lecture him about his duty and strongly suggest that he should find a bride as well.
At three and twenty, he had no intention of marrying for at least another decade, so he planned to avoid his parents' company for as long as possible. Ideally, for the entire week. Then he could go back to his regiment and find some reprieve from matrimonially inclined relatives.
Was it too much to hope they would be so busy with his brother’s marriage plans to forget about him? After all, he wasn’t the heir. They had succeeded in roping his brother into the parson’s trap.
He could hide in the maze until it was time to get ready for dinner. No one knew the labyrinthine paths better than him. It had been his favorite playground since he was a boy. He would find refuge there. He had almost reached his objective when his escape plans were threatened.
“My lord!” Running footsteps accompanied the call. He pretended not to hear, hastening the last few steps to dart into the maze. They wouldn’t find him here. He had turned one corner, secure in his victory, when the tenacious footman came dashing into the maze after him.
“My lord!” the footman called again, and with a sigh, he was forced to stop and turn in his direction. Damn it. If he had reached the maze a minute before, he could have avoided being found.
“Yes?” he responded impatiently, but then his face broke into a smile when he recognized the footman. “Thomas! How are you, old boy?”
“I’m well, milord. Thank you for inquiring.
His Grace sent me to inform you that he requires your presence in his study,” Thomas said between gasps for breath, still trying to maintain proper decorum between them, despite growing up together and having spent many a summer gallivanting around the estate.
Thomas was the son of the housekeeper and the estate manager and was his favorite playmate as a child since his brother, a full five years his senior, considered him too young to play with.
“If you call me milord one more time, I’m going to box your ears. Did my father indicate the motive for such a request?”
“He did not say,” Thomas said with a smile, refraining from inserting another milord into the conversation. “But he strongly suggested that he expects you promptly.”
“Does he?” Drawing closer to his friend, he asked. “Have you overheard anything I should know about?”
“I heard from Her Grace’s lady’s maid that he wants to talk to you about matrimony,” Thomas said conspiratorially.
“I knew it!” The meddlesome old codger. “Tell my father I will visit with him when I return from my walk. Or better yet, tell him you didn’t find me.”
“You are putting me in a difficult situation. I don’t want to lie to the duke.”
“I’m sure you will come up with a plausible explanation.
Tell him whatever you want. I have complete faith in your ability to appease my father.
I plan to avoid him as much as possible this week.
No matter what his plans are, I will not be pressured into marriage.
Much less with some insipid chit they have no doubt chosen for me. ”
With that, he turned and walked deeper into the maze before he could be intercepted again. Thomas sputtered, but short of physically restraining him and depositing him in his father’s study, there was no way he could compel Michael to go with him.
He would be able to find some peace and solitude in the maze. A number of guests had arrived, but none would be wandering through the gardens at this time. Most would probably be resting or getting ready for tonight’s dinner.
His hopes of seclusion, however, were promptly shattered by a vision of loveliness he glimpsed up ahead, intersecting the path he was on.
The image was so fleeting that, for a moment, he had the notion she was a fairy come to frolic.
He had grown up on tales of fairies populating these gardens.
As a child, he had hoped to find their lair.
Michael shook his head, amused by his fancifulness.
Of course, she wasn’t a fairy or any other ethereal creature. It was a girl. He only got the briefest impression of blonde hair, a blue dress, and a shapely calf covered in white stockings revealed by her hitched gown as she ran through the corridors of the labyrinth.
Well, his day was about to get a lot more enjoyable. With a satisfied smile, he took off after her.
He didn’t have to travel long to intercept his garden fairy. He was as familiar with this maze as he was with the palm of his hand and therefore knew she had taken a turn that would lead her to a dead end that also happened to contain a bench. A perfect spot for a garden dalliance.
“Good afternoon, lovely lady,” he said, stepping into her path a few yards away. She whirled with a gasp, her eyes wide, and Michael’s breath caught. On closer inspection, she was even more lovely.
The sunlight spilling over her turned her hair into a cascade of pale blonde, shimmering like spun silk, each strand catching the light as the breeze gently tousled it.
Her skin was flawless porcelain, and her wide, expressive eyes—blue, like the sky above—were framed by delicate lashes.
What saved her face from boring perfection was the little upturned bend at the end of her nose.
It gave her a playful air, contrasting with the sculpted lines of her cheekbones and that haughty little chin, which lifted up a moment before her luscious lips pressed into a disapproving line.
But she did not return his greeting. Was she scared of him? Or maybe she had planned a rendezvous and was annoyed that he had chanced upon her. Attempting to look non-threatening, he bowed. “Are you perhaps lost? Maybe I can offer my assistance.”
He saw the moment determination and something that looked like calculation sharpened her features.
“What makes you think I’m lost? Or that I would welcome your company?”
“You are alone in a garden maze. I couldn’t leave a lady in that situation without offering my assistance. Many a guest have been lost in here for hours. Some have needed rescuing.”
“Is that so? And are you an expert at the maze?”
He smiled, enjoying the banter. “I grew up here, and this maze was part of my playground. So yes, you could say I’m an expert.”
A smile softened her face as she replied. “It wouldn’t be proper for us to be here alone. We have not been properly introduced.”
“That is easily remedied,” He executed an elegant vow, “Lord M—”
“No, wait. Do not introduce yourself, as I have no intention of revealing my identity.”
“And why not?” he asked, more amused than deterred.
“Because I believe we are both hiding in this maze. We are expected somewhere else, and neither of us should be here. We are fugitives together, so when we meet properly in the house, we will pretend this encounter never happened.”
He laughed aloud at her audacity. But he had to concede she had a point. And was deucedly clever. “Ah, so you are a guest, and not merely a fairy who inhabits the gardens. As you wish, little Titania. Does that make me Oberon, then?”
She smiled. A smile full of wickedness and feminine allure. “That, my lord, remains to be seen.”