Both ladies quickly whipped around in their place to see a figure standing over them. For a moment Lady Louisa was panicked and sure she was about to faint. The sun stood behind the tall frame darkening his form to nothing but an outline.
“Is it true?” he repeated. “Were you the Lady in Green?” he hissed out in barely an audible whisper.
Lady Louisa and Miss Mary stood before the man. Lady Louisa gave an audible sigh of relief to see Colonel Jasper standing before them.
“It is but…” Lady Louisa started.
“I knew it! I knew all along, from the moment I first met you I knew that you would be the perfect match for Rowland. Why have you not told him? What do you have to hide? He practically knows it himself. He hasn’t stopped badgering me, insisting that Lady Elisabeth is wearing the green dress.”
“It’s a complicated matter, Hugh,” Miss Mary interceded on behalf of her cousin.
“You knew too?” he asked his fiancé in surprise.
“But I swore her to secrecy,” Lady Louisa added quickly.
“But why? Why keep it a secret?”
“First off, look at me. I mean only to save the Duke the embarrassment of his mistake,” Lady Louisa said quickly.
“You have traded modesty for self-shaming, Lady Louisa. I know Rowland well. Any man would be so lucky for you to accept him. His affection for you has grown these past months. I would dare say the only thing holding him back is this elusive Lady. You are her! Why not tell him so?”
“I can’t; I just can’t. Not until after your engagement is announced,” Lady Louisa said, full of sorrow.
The remainder of the day was less enjoyable for Lady Louisa as a dark cloud of deception held heavy over her. She couldn’t decide what would make her dislike herself more, if she did tell the Duke and permanently offend her aunt, ruining any future relationship, or if she kept her secret, though she clearly saw it pained him.
“You seem quite sullen,” a man’s voice startled Lady Louisa from her thoughts.
She looked around with a start and realized that most had moved on to collect berries elsewhere; she had stayed seated underneath the shadow of a tree, feeling its darkness deep inside her.
“I didn’t mean to startle you again. I forgot I must tread heavier in your presence,” the Duke said, coming to sit next to her and placing a berry in her half-filled basket.
“I don’t mean to seem so. I am having a wonderful time today,” Lady Louisa did her best to seem bright.
“I believe with that statement I have come full circle in understanding you,” the Duke said.
“What ever do you mean?”
“Well, you were so cross with my attempt at hiding my true self in the past only because it is an impossibility for you to do so. I could read your face as well as any book,” he added with a chuckle.
Lady Louisa couldn’t help but give a little laugh too. She was an easy one to read. It was amazing she had kept her secret thus far.
“I just suppose I feel rather sad for Mary and the Colonel. It is so cruel the way my aunt is treating them,” she said vehemently, also thinking of the ways her aunt had destroyed her own possibility of happiness.
“It pains me as well to see things unfold as they do. It is also most unnerving to see you so upset,” he said looking down at her with affection.
Lady Louisa let her gaze drift up to him.
“Well, I suspect now that Jasper and Miss Mary will receive their due happiness, despite your aunt. Would that not be something to brighten your disposition over?”
“‘Tragedy delights by affording a shadow of the pleasure.’ I can’t see how she will hold true to her word,” Lady Louisa quoted from Shelley before she even realized what she was doing.
Suddenly her hands clamped over her mouth while the Duke’s dark eyebrows rose simultaneously.
“Let me guess,” he said after a moment, “Percy Shelley.” Lady Louisa still had her hand cupped over her mouth, but she nodded yes.
“I believe he is a poet you hold very dear to your heart,” the Duke continued. Lady Louisa could only nod again.
“It was you then,” he said as he searched his own thoughts. “Yet you kept the truth from me.”
Lady Louisa removed her hand and placed it on the Duke's arm.
“It was only for your own sake. I didn’t want you to be disappointed. Not to mention how much it would enrage my aunt. I feared it would ruin Mary’s prospects permanently. I did promise Mary and the Colonel I would tell you after they were wed.”
“They knew too?” Rowland said feeling personally offended by his friends withholding such information from him.
“Well, Colonel Jasper only found out today. You must see I couldn’t tell you for Mary’s sake? I told you how volatile my aunt and mother’s relationship is. It would only make things worse between the two families if I made such a thing known.”
“Why? I suppose your aunt would again be furious that
I chose you over that self-important Miss Elisabeth.”
“I am not putting such words in your mouth, Your Grace,” Lady Louisa said hurriedly. “I would not presume that you would still hold affections for the woman at the ball now that you know the real person behind her mask.”
“I promise you,” he said tipping his head down just slightly and lowering his voice. “My honor to my word kept me searching, but my heart has longed for you to be the one.”
Lady Louisa looked up at him with tears brimming her eyes. He had spoken the words she had never dreamed to hear him say.
“But such things could never be determined by one night,” Lady Louisa shook the tears out of her eyes. “It was just the infatuation of the moment. We surely are not good for one another. I could never bear to stay behind while you return to the Indies.”
“And I would not wish you to,” Rowland countered. “You have stirred change in me to be the man my uncle wanted me to become, and I promise you, you started that process long before you hid behind that golden mask. I care little of location, as long as you would let me be by your side.”
“I have always wondered what the Indies might be like,” she said with a soft smile.
He relaxed a little. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he gingerly picked up her hand and kissed it ever so softly.
“I am certain you would love it,” he said with his lips against her flesh.
“Will you accept me then?” Rowland asked looking up at her from behind his thick lashes.
Lady Louisa felt her heart beating in her chest. She wanted to scream yes and wrap her arms around him, but she also had the nagging awareness of Mary and the Colonel.
“What of Mary? I cannot take my happiness at the expense of hers.”
“Is that all that keeps you from being my wife?” he asked with a growing smile.
She looked at his growing smile questioningly. He was much better at hiding his thoughts than she was.
“I would secure happiness for all of us this very moment if you would allow me to,” he said, letting go of her hand and brushing his fingertips against her cheek.
She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. The sensation his gentle caress gave her was exhilarating and addicting all at the same time. She opened her eyes and, looking lovingly back as she leaned into his touch, she nodded her assent.