The Masquerade Read Online Free PDF

daring to glance at him. “Few gentlemen would bother to leap into the mud, risking their own life, to rescue a strange woman on the street.”
    “You do not hold men, then, in a very high regard? But I cannot say that I blame you, not after this day.”
    She was thrilled to be conversing with him now. “I have never been so well treated, sir, by your gender before.” Lizzie hesitated and then decided to be truthful. “Frankly, most men fail to even notice my presence. I doubt anyone would have rescued me if you had not been here.”
    He regarded her far too closely. “Then I am deeply sorry that you have been so ill treated in the past. It seems inexplicable to me, indeed.”
    He could not sincerely mean that he would never fail to remark her presence! He was merely being chivalrous. “You are as gallant as you are kind and heroic— and handsome,” she heard herself cry eagerly. And then she realized what she had said and she was dismayed.
    He chuckled.
    Lizzie felt her cheeks burning and she looked at the ground.
    They continued toward the nunnery’s front door, a brief lapse of silence falling. Lizzie wanted to kick herself for acting like a besotted child.
    He broke the silence, as gallant as ever. “And you are indeed a courageous woman. Most ladies would be reduced to tears and hysterics by such an adventure,” he said, kindly pretending he hadn’t heard her overly abundant flattery.
    “Crying hardly seemed the suitable response.” Lizzie swallowed. She would not mind crying now, she thought. But they had paused before the front door and she felt him staring down at her. She slowly raised her eyes.
    “We have arrived,” he said quietly, his gaze holding hers.
    “Yes,” Lizzie agreed, suddenly desperate to prolong the encounter. She wet her lips and said breathlessly, “Thank you for such a gallant rescue, my lord. You have saved my life. Somehow, one day, I truly wish to repay you.”
    His smile faded. “No repayment is necessary. It was my duty—and my pleasure,” he said far too softly.
    The fire, contained but not extinguished, flared hungrily. He stood facing her but mere inches away. The stucco-and-wood buildings lining both sides of the street faded. Lizzie shut her eyes; his hands grasped her arms as he pulled her close, taking her into his arms. She waited, all breathing suspended, as he leaned down to claim her lips in a kiss.
    Above her head, the chapel bell began to chime the afternoon hour. Lizzie was jerked back to reality by its vibrant sound. She realized that she stood on the sidewalk with Tyrell, quite properly, and that once again he was regarding her very closely, as if he knew her secret thoughts.
    She prayed that he knew nothing. “I must go! Thank you!” she cried, whirling and flinging open the huge courtyard door.
    “Mistress! One moment,” he began.
    But Lizzie was already fleeing into the safety of the cloister, almost but not quite regretting the encounter.

2
The Masquerade
    A nna was already dressed for the ball when Lizzie walked into the bedroom they shared. Lizzie was in a state of extreme anxiety. She had not recovered from her encounter with Tyrell de Warenne the day before, and could barely believe what had happened. After replaying the afternoon a hundred times in her mind, at least, she was convinced that she had behaved like a besotted fool and a witless child and that he knew just how infatuated she was. She wasn’t certain she dared go to the ball now. However, she could never let Mama down.
    Lizzie had come home yesterday pleading a headache and had retired to her room without telling a soul about the encounter. She paused, holding on to the door, her intention to ask Anna for advice and reassurance. But Anna was so shockingly lovely that she forgot her own worries momentarily.
    Anna stood in front of the mirror, critically eyeing herself in a low-cut red velvet gown in the Elizabethan style, a white ruff and a garnet pendant around her throat. She had