“I’ve missed you every day,” she said.
“Margarite!” a man’s voice called. Both women turned to see a large man in juggler’s dress looking all around him.
“Who’s that?”
“It’s Jamis. He’s in charge of the troupe now since his dad died.”
“Jamis?” She remembered him as an older boy with a penchant for knives.
Margarite nodded. “He’s the reason I wanted to talk to you.”
“Jamis? Why?”
“Yer mother got a letter. Twice now.”
“My mother?”
“And I told Jamis that the letter rightly belongs to you, but he just rips ’em up. Says yer mom is dead and you are too, seeing as how you forgot us.”
“I never forgot—”
“It doesn’t matter. He gets mean and rips ’em up.”
“Margarite!” Jamis’ voice cut through their hurried conversation.
“I gotta go back,” Margarite said. Then she winked. “Come watch me act. It’s a good one!”
“Of course, I will.”
Margarite rushed away, first by running, then by doing flips as she made it to the rope strung between two trees. Lilah followed, merging into the audience as she watched her friend leap upon the rope and perform an amazing dance to music played by a man on his violin. She might have known the man years ago. She certainly remembered Jamis, who was working the crowd for coins. But mostly she watched, and she wondered at how different her life was now from theirs.
She didn’t think long about the letters. Jamis had destroyed them, and she’d long since given up thinking about what she couldn’t change. She simply enjoyed the show while her mind wandered through memories of her childhood with Margarite.
She lingered too long. Her family was likely looking for her, and it was inappropriate for her to be standing alone even at atonparty. Especially at atonparty where unwed girls were normally watched by their mothers. But she was feeling at loose ends tonight, a woman caught between the actress life she’d been born into and the semi-respectable one with her father’s family. So she stood alone and watched. And when the show was over, she remained there thinking like a bewildered idiot.
She should have been more careful. She certainly knew better, but she was lost in her thoughts and had forgotten how easily drunk men could corner a woman. Especially a lone woman in a pleasure garden.
“Lookee here, I found a pretty bird.”
“Not a bird. A fairy!”
“Dance with me, pretty fairy!”
Three men, all dandies by the look of them. Not dangerous, at least not yet, but certainly in a mood to play with her.
“Excuse me, I must get back to my mother,” she said loudly. Her gaze darted to where Margarite and her protectors had been. But they’d already moved on to a new spot on the lawn as Jamis threw knives at Margarite where she stood against a tree. No help there and none from the crowd that was looking at the entertainment.
“Don’t fly away,” one of the dandies coaxed. “Dance with me.”
She smiled warmly at him. “Of course, I will. The set is forming over there.” She tried to duck past him, but his friend caught her wing and then her arm to hold her fast. “Let me go. Please!”
“We want a dance!” he said, then he swung her around while one of the others started humming a waltz.
She stumbled as he pulled her around. She twisted in his arms, but his hands were hard where they held her in place. And even as she squirmed, she could see no help beyond the three men. Panic started to beat hard and fast in her throat. What an idiot she’d been! She tried to twist free again and nearly succeeded, but the next man grabbed her.
“Let me go! I’m Lady Byrn’s daughter.” If ever she needed a title to protect her, it was now. But it didn’t work.
“Did you hear? She’s a Lady Bird!”