of her face to last me a lifetime.” She straightened. “But I have seen little of this village except the ford, and the doctor’s house and that wretched church, and Harriet Tinkerson’s awful shop. If I am truly trapped here, I think I will go exploring this morning.” She poured tea and took up a slice of bacon.
“I will leave you to your breakfast, then,” he said, glancing at the untouched cutlery on the tray.
She laughed. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman eat bacon without using a fork?”
“I beg your—”
“You really are an incorrigible prig. Look.” She grabbed up the steak and bit off a hunk with her even, white teeth. “Delicious,” she said around the mouthful. “I think I will slurp my tea now, too, merely for the diversion of seeing you shocked. It’s downright refreshing, really. I feel like I’m eighteen again.”
“If you set the plate on the ground,” he said as he turned toward the doorway, “you’ll be able to eat the eggs like that cat is eating the fish.”
Her crack of laughter was muffled by the food in her mouth.
“I don’t care what you think of me, Tacitus Everard. I don’t care if you are considerate and protective and honest.” She slurped the tea. “I don’t care about anything at all, in fact. If the world refuses to live by its own rules, I don’t really see why I should live by rules either. I have been living according to someone else’s horrid rules for six years. Rather, twenty-four years. If fate is offering me this opportunity, I aim to seize it.”
He peered at her. “Are you feeling quite the thing, Lady Holland?”
“Don’t call me that. Call me Calista like you did last night, or nothing at all.”
“I didn’t—”
“Or, wait! Perhaps you should call me Your Highness. Yes, I like that better.” She lengthened her face by lifting her brows, and thrust back her shoulders. “Your Highness,” she mimicked his voice perfectly, “are you feeling quite the thing?”
Tacitus fought to control the twitch of his lips.
“Clearly, I have my answer,” he said, trying not to look at her breasts that were decadently presented by her erect posture.
“Today I will demand that everybody call me Your Highness. Go now and tell them.” She made a shooing motion. “Tell everyone downstairs that I am a princess traveling incognito, but that you have discovered my secret and they should all treat me with thorough deference. That Tinkerson woman will positively swoon. How delightful. I think it may be illegal to call myself royalty. But nobody will remember tomorrow, so it doesn’t signify. Go now, my lord. Make it so.”
“I will do nothing of the sort.”
Her eyes rolled. “Oh,
do
try not to be so stiff, will you? Play along.”
“I really don’t think my stiffness is the issue here.” Though the radiance of her eyes and slightly rabid gaiety on her face was making one part of him rather stiffer than he wished at present. She was far too pretty. “You have changed in six years. And yet perhaps you haven’t.”
“You have
no
idea. Now, off with you! Do my bidding, plebe.”
“You do understand that I am a Peer. A relative of
actual
royalty, albeit distant.”
“Of course.” Her lips curved into thorough wickedness. “You are
Dare
.”
He bit down on his molars.
Her eyes went positively round with mirth. And then she commenced laughing so hard that tears ran onto her cheeks. She clutched at her middle and waved him out the door.
“Go, go! I cannot stand this.” She gasped, her entire face overcome with hilarity. “Go now!”
He went. Hysterical laughter was a sign of madness, of course. Perhaps she had gone mad.
But she hadn’t seemed mad when she was holding her son close the night before, murmuring tender assurances into his hair, the sinews in her neck taut as she seemed to restrain her emotions. At that moment she had seemed like a fiercely loving mother, the same way she had been a fiercely loving sibling to Lady
“I will leave you to your breakfast, then,” he said, glancing at the untouched cutlery on the tray.
She laughed. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman eat bacon without using a fork?”
“I beg your—”
“You really are an incorrigible prig. Look.” She grabbed up the steak and bit off a hunk with her even, white teeth. “Delicious,” she said around the mouthful. “I think I will slurp my tea now, too, merely for the diversion of seeing you shocked. It’s downright refreshing, really. I feel like I’m eighteen again.”
“If you set the plate on the ground,” he said as he turned toward the doorway, “you’ll be able to eat the eggs like that cat is eating the fish.”
Her crack of laughter was muffled by the food in her mouth.
“I don’t care what you think of me, Tacitus Everard. I don’t care if you are considerate and protective and honest.” She slurped the tea. “I don’t care about anything at all, in fact. If the world refuses to live by its own rules, I don’t really see why I should live by rules either. I have been living according to someone else’s horrid rules for six years. Rather, twenty-four years. If fate is offering me this opportunity, I aim to seize it.”
He peered at her. “Are you feeling quite the thing, Lady Holland?”
“Don’t call me that. Call me Calista like you did last night, or nothing at all.”
“I didn’t—”
“Or, wait! Perhaps you should call me Your Highness. Yes, I like that better.” She lengthened her face by lifting her brows, and thrust back her shoulders. “Your Highness,” she mimicked his voice perfectly, “are you feeling quite the thing?”
Tacitus fought to control the twitch of his lips.
“Clearly, I have my answer,” he said, trying not to look at her breasts that were decadently presented by her erect posture.
“Today I will demand that everybody call me Your Highness. Go now and tell them.” She made a shooing motion. “Tell everyone downstairs that I am a princess traveling incognito, but that you have discovered my secret and they should all treat me with thorough deference. That Tinkerson woman will positively swoon. How delightful. I think it may be illegal to call myself royalty. But nobody will remember tomorrow, so it doesn’t signify. Go now, my lord. Make it so.”
“I will do nothing of the sort.”
Her eyes rolled. “Oh,
do
try not to be so stiff, will you? Play along.”
“I really don’t think my stiffness is the issue here.” Though the radiance of her eyes and slightly rabid gaiety on her face was making one part of him rather stiffer than he wished at present. She was far too pretty. “You have changed in six years. And yet perhaps you haven’t.”
“You have
no
idea. Now, off with you! Do my bidding, plebe.”
“You do understand that I am a Peer. A relative of
actual
royalty, albeit distant.”
“Of course.” Her lips curved into thorough wickedness. “You are
Dare
.”
He bit down on his molars.
Her eyes went positively round with mirth. And then she commenced laughing so hard that tears ran onto her cheeks. She clutched at her middle and waved him out the door.
“Go, go! I cannot stand this.” She gasped, her entire face overcome with hilarity. “Go now!”
He went. Hysterical laughter was a sign of madness, of course. Perhaps she had gone mad.
But she hadn’t seemed mad when she was holding her son close the night before, murmuring tender assurances into his hair, the sinews in her neck taut as she seemed to restrain her emotions. At that moment she had seemed like a fiercely loving mother, the same way she had been a fiercely loving sibling to Lady
Similar Books
