Easton’s heart was pounding with trepidation as he began searching for Miss Parker. Where could she have gone? Had she deliberately gone off with someone? He didn’t think she would be so careless, but that begged the question, what happened to her?”
Mia was so excitedto see Madame Saqui. Coming to the gardens tonight was a dream come true. The only thing that put a slight damper on the evening was that she’d not had a chance to talk with Lord Easton yet. He’d dined in the first supper box while she was in the second. Now that they were leaving the boxes, she decided that if he didn’t talk with her first, she would be bold and approach him. She needed to know if he held any special regard for her.
She cringed when she thought about how she previously loudly trumpeted the idea that she didn’t wish to marry anytime soon, but now things felt different. The longer she was in London, the more she craved Lord Easton’s company. Was this what love felt like? She had no idea, but what she did know was that her feelings toward the viscount had definitely changed.
As she walked beside Fletcher to the area where the tightrope was set up, it seemed like everyone else in the gardens had had the same idea. There was quite a bit of jostling as people vied to get the spots up front for the best view.
While she walked along, a couple of young boys darted past her, bumping her and knocking her off-balance. She’d been reaching into her reticule for her handkerchief when she stumbled. “Oh no,” she whispered as she watched the handkerchief float to the ground. She had to retrieve it before it was trampled on. It was very special to her because it was the one her sister Grace had given her last Christmas. She couldn’t lose it, and when she bent to retrieve it, more people bumped into her, and she ended up sitting in the dirt. No one in her group had seen her fall.
“Well, I never…” she started to say.
A hand reached down. “May I help you, miss?”
Mia grabbed the handkerchief before taking her rescuer’s hand. “Thank you. The crowd is quite boisterous tonight, don’t you agree?” she asked, looking up into a pair of startling blue eyes.
“It is indeed,” the well-dressed gentleman said.
“Thank you for helping me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must find my family. They’ll wonder what happened to me.”
“Of course. Let me escort you,” he said.
“They’re heading to the tightrope area,” Mia said as the gentleman offered his arm. “I’ll never find them in this crush.”
“Come. I know a shortcut to that area. It will save us from fighting through the crowd.”
Mia hesitated. She didn’t want to go with the stranger, but as she looked over all the people now converging on the area, she was afraid that she’d never find her party again. In a split-second decision, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, and they headed away from the crowd.
As they walked farther from the crush, Mia couldn’t help but notice all the lanterns that lit up the paths. “The colors are so beautiful, don’t you agree?”
“Indeed, but if I may be so bold, they’re not as beautiful as you.”
Mia felt unease snake up her spine, and she looked around, noticing how far they’d gone from the crowd. “I think I can find my way from here. Thank you for your assistance,” she said, pulling her hand free.
Quick as a viper, he grabbed her elbow, holding it in a vice grip. “I don’t think so. Let’s have a little fun, shall we?”
“Sir, you are no gentleman. Unhand me at once,” she ordered, trying to pull free, panic clawing up her throat.
“Silly girl. You think you’re in charge here? I don’t think so. You can leave when I say you can,” he said, yanking her against him.
Mia could hardly breathe. She was enraged at his treatment and terrified at the same time . She struggled in his arms, but he only held her tighter. When he bent his head toward her, a story that Lord Berkeley had told her surfaced in her mind. Men had a fragile spot that could lay them out flat.
Please let that be true.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and rammed her knee up between his legs.
The man’s grip on her immediately faltered, and he fell to the ground, moaning in agony.
Mia wasted no time delaying to see what would happen next—she ran. She wasn’t sure if she was running in the correct direction that would lead her back to the tightrope area, but she had to put as much distance between herself and her attacker as she could.
She dared a look behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed, and that’s when she ran into a rock-hard chest. Arms immediately embraced her to keep her from falling to the ground. Had she just escaped one bad situation only to land in another? It was too much, and she began pummeling the man. “Let me go!” she screamed.
“Miss Parker, you’re safe. It’s Easton.”
It took Mia a moment to realize who’d spoken. “Easton?”
“Yes. I’m here.”
The trauma of the last few minutes was too much for her, and she burst into tears. “I got away. He was going to—” she tried to say in between sobs.