A Mayfair Christmas Romance
On Christmas Day, Lady Elizabeth Tierney is aghast when her father tells her he’s found her a bridegroom. She’ll meet her suitor, Viscount Fairchild, at tonight’s festivities, and Elizabeth had better charm him – or else!
A daughter’s defiance.
The spirited beauty has danced her way through four seasons and sees no reason why her life needs to change. At least until she falls in love with one of her admirers – and that shows no sign of happening. In a fit of temper, Elizabeth escapes to Hyde Park where she stumbles upon an intriguing gentleman who steals her heart.
Lady Elizabeth’s choice?
Which suitor will win her hand? Or has fate got another trick up its sleeve for Lady Elizabeth and her winter stranger?
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Hyde Park, London, Christmas Day, 1819
Elizabeth slowed her furious pace and started to pay attention to her surroundings. She’d emerged into a clearing with a marble statue of a faun. The sky was gray, but showed no sign of sending down any more snow.
Her walk had done more good than she’d expected, but she’d tempted fate long enough. It was time to return to Lorimer Square to prepare to convince her father that he was being unreasonable. She needed to be safely back before anyone discovered that she’d dared to walk about unchaperoned. Or else Papa would hit the roof, and any chance of persuading him out of his decision would go up in smoke.
She turned to find a man studying her from under the trees.
Her heart slammed to a stop, as alarm turned her blood colder than the winter air. All the warnings about never going out unaccompanied in the capital clamored in her ears. She cast a frantic glance across to where she’d seen the other people, but they were no longer there.
“Please don’t be frightened, miss.” The man spread his hands palm upwards in a conciliatory gesture. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He had a pleasant voice. Deep and musical and with a clipped upper-class accent like her own. He was dressed like a wealthy man, too. His low-crowned hat was all the fashion, and his greatcoat had more than enough capes to impress the dandyish set.
None of that meant she wasn’t in danger. She studied him for a tense second, wondering if she could outrun him on the snow. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and she had a grim feeling that he’d catch up with her before she got halfway across the clearing. Even standing still, he gave the impression of loose-limbed athleticism.
Elizabeth cursed her stupidity. And her temper fit. And her father for making her so angry in the first place. Despite knowing that it wouldn’t make a scrap of difference if the stranger decided to assault her, she backed away.
To her relief, he didn’t shift any closer. “May I escort you back to your family? Ladies shouldn’t be out alone in the middle of London, even on Christmas Day.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she studied him, noting that he looked sincere. While he wasn’t conventionally handsome, he had an interesting face. Prominent bone structure with hollows under his cheekbones. A long nose, a high forehead, dark winged eyebrows over deep-set eyes. Right now, he looked troubled, but something about the set of his mouth told her that he was more accustomed to smiling than frowning.
As if to prove that, he ventured a smile that set all sorts of interesting creases into his face. He kept his tone light. “I’m completely harmless, I swear.”
“So you say,” she bit out, then had cause to regret speaking, because his gaze sharpened on her. He’d notice her accent, just as she’d noticed his. He’d pick up that she was a woman of rank.
She braced for a barrage of questions, but he must have guessed that she was on the verge of scarpering. “My name is Tom.”
“I don’t need to know your name.”
“No, you don’t. But you might feel safer if I tell you.”
“The only thing that isn’t making me feel safe is you.” Perhaps not polite, but despite his assurances, she was rattled. No amount of smooth talking and lack of immediate attack made her forget how vulnerable she was. Nobody even knew where she was.
“I apologize for frightening you.” Regret turned his mouth down. The odd combination of features – chiseled jaw, beaky nose, prominent cheekbones – all made for an unusually expressive face. “But when I saw you all alone over here, I feared you were in trouble. I wondered if perhaps I could help.”
He was right about one thing, at least. Elizabeth was in trouble. Unfortunately not the sort of trouble that a passing stranger could solve.
She adopted a dismissive tone. “I appreciate your concern.” Which they both knew was a lie. “But I’m perfectly fine. You may go on your way, sir.”
“Tom.”
“Tom,” she said with a hint of a snap, although Christian names generally weren’t used outside one’s closest circles.
He didn’t shift. She’d had a feeling that he wouldn’t. That square jaw conveyed stubbornness, just as his mouth conveyed humor. “A gentleman likes to oblige a lady, but I’m afraid I can’t leave you at the mercy of the elements and any stray ruffian.”
“No, just at your mercy.”
Another smile. Despite her peril, she couldn’t help noticing that it was a nice smile. The sort of smile that invited a person to smile back. She didn’t.
“Yes, but I only harbor the most innocent intentions toward you.”
She still didn’t smile. “Words are cheap.”
His lips twitched. “Undoubtedly, and there’s nobody around to vouch for me. Where I come from, I could probably rustle up a respectable squirrel to confirm I’m a capital fellow, but I’m new to London and a stranger to the local wildlife.”
Despite everything, some of Elizabeth’s tension drained away. This time, it was an effort to fight a smile. He was charming. But that didn’t mean he was safe. She injected more determination than she felt into her voice. “I’m perfectly all right. There’s no need to concern yourself.”
He waved away her answer. “But you see, there really is. I know hardly anyone is around, but that’s the issue. Should anyone offer you insult, there’s no rescue at hand. If I arrange to stay ten paces behind you, can I at least see you back to where you live? On my solemn oath, I’m really no danger to you. You shouldn’t be out here with no protection. No man of conscience would allow it.”
“It’s really none of your business. You could pretend you never saw me.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
A long-suffering sigh escaped her. “Because you’re a man of conscience.”
Somewhere in the last few seconds, she’d accepted his good intentions. Perhaps because he made no attempt to threaten her physically.
He must have heard surrender in her tone, because those impressive shoulders relaxed. “Precisely. Chivalry forbids me to abandon you.”
“Then by all means, we must obey chivalry’s call,” she said drily.
He smiled at her again, with a touch of approval this time. “So you’ll let me see you home?”
Did she want to go home? For a few precious moments, she’d tasted freedom. She’d received a nasty fright when this man accosted her. But the suffocating feeling that had overwhelmed her when she read her father’s letter had faded once she was outdoors.
Elizabeth wasn’t ready to retreat to Lorimer Square and hide away inside until her family arrived later this afternoon. Slinking home and forsaking this brief liberty would only remind her of her restricted choices. She’d fret herself back into a complete state.
That queasy, trapped feeling stirred once more and made her stomach clench. What on earth could she do, if her father refused to compromise? “I…”
Tom’s fixed attention should make her uncomfortable, but somehow it didn’t. Perhaps because his expression conveyed no judgment, just friendly interest. It was a clever face. But now that her initial suspicion faded, she couldn’t help thinking that it was a kind face, too.
“I know I’m a stranger, but I’d love to help. You can trust me, you know.”
The strange truth was that she did trust him, which seemed mad when she didn’t know him from Adam. Heavens, she didn’t even know his last name. Probably better that she never did. For the sake of her reputation, they shouldn’t meet again after today.
Even more bizarre that the thought stirred a vague regret. She knew nothing about him, but she could already tell that he was among the nicest men she’d ever met.
“Will you please escort me back to Piccadilly? I can find my way from there, thank you.”
She didn’t want him to know who she was and where she lived. The story of Lady Elizabeth Tierney traipsing around Hyde Park and chatting to strangers without a chaperone would make for delicious gossip. While she’d undoubtedly been rash to leave home alone, she’d rather avoid a scandal if she could.
“It would be my pleasure.”
She took a step in his direction. Her half boots were designed for a winter’s day, but when she stood still so long on the snow, the cold seeped up through the stout soles. She was grateful that she wore Mrs. Dawkins’s thick cape, for the warmth it provided as much as the concealment.
“Would you like me to walk behind you?”
This time, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “That would be more likely to draw attention than if you walked beside me.”
He looked arrested. Those deep-set eyes sharpened on her features. It was the most male expression she’d seen on his face. As if within a flaring instant, the quality of his interest changed.
Elizabeth gave a shiver, not because of the bitter cold. Nor was she frightened, although perhaps she should be. Instead, something deeply feminine inside her responded to that sudden masculine reaction.
When he approached and extended his arm, she curled her gloved fingers around his elbow with a willingness that surprised her. Warmth radiated through her. She’d been feeling so hideously lonely. Accepting the company of a tall, protective stranger made her heart expand in a way that was almost as disturbing as her initial fear of him.