Haldon Hall without being spotted by a guest. Even better, she’d managed to avoid her closest friends and family, who were more apt to see she was troubled by something other than the sorry state of her gown, hair, and the nearly unrecognizable pair of half boots in her hand.
“I am not troubled,” she muttered to herself. “I’m annoyed.”
And, in truth, she was bothered by the mess she’d made of her gown. The damage could be repaired, but it would require a great deal of effort on the part of her lady’s maid, Lizzy. Kate would just as soon see to the chore herself, as she’d been the one who created the mess, but she knew full well Lizzy wouldn’t hear of it.
Feeling guilty, she decided the least she could do was change on her own, instead of interrupting whatever Lizzy was doing at present to help her undress. It took several long minutes of contorting into a series of uncomfortable positions, but eventually she succeeded in struggling out of her gown. After noting with considerable relief that her chemise was still clean and dry, she carefully folded the wet and dirty material and searched for a spot in the room where she could set it down for a moment without damaging anything else while she removed her damp stockings.
The deep windowsill seemed her safest option, though it required she move a small pile of novels stacked there. She set the dress down with one hand, and with the other, picked up the book she was currently reading. It was a fairy tale in essence, the adventures of a beautiful maiden and her valiant prince. It was tremendously far-fetched, undeniably melodramatic, and not the least bit educational. She thought it quite delightful.
Already, the prince had plucked his true love from the back of a runaway horse, rescued her from a band of highwaymen, and fought a duel to defend her honor. And the book wasn’t yet halfway over.
Kate fiddled with the binding. Is that what she wanted, she wondered, a prince to ride to her rescue? That didn’t seem quite right. She longed for adventure and romance, without question, but she didn’t feel an overpowering desire to be rescued. She snorted a little at the idea of any of her well-intentioned suitors ever having the chance to play knight-errant. As the only daughter and youngest member of the Cole family, she was, to put it lightly, exceptionally well looked after. Particularly by her brother, Whit.
There were worse things than being well looked after, she reminded herself, and turned the book over in her hand. Perhaps it was the sentiment of what was to be found between the pages that she wished for—the certainty that her suitor loved her with such ardor that he would be willing to ride to her rescue.
And if that suitor happened to look anything like the handsome, fair-haired prince from her book, well—
“Was there a mishap, Lady Kate?”
Kate looked up at the sound of Lizzy’s voice at the connecting door to their rooms. “Beg your pardon?”
Lizzy gestured at her. “You’re standing in your undergarments.”
“I…” She glanced down at herself, then lifted her head to give Lizzy a sheepish smile. “I’m terribly sorry. I fell in the pond.”
“Off the dock?”
“Not this time.” She sighed heavily. “I was on the shore.”
Lizzy wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. “Muddier on the shore.”
“I know,” Kate replied, laughing a little at Lizzy’s comical expression. “I am sorry. I’ll brush out the gown if—”
“You’ll not.” Lizzy crossed the room to Kate’s armoire. “I only mentioned the mud because it’d be an unpleasant bit of nastiness to fall in.”
“It was, rather.”
While Kate removed her stockings, Lizzy rummaged about for a clean dress. She was a young woman of average height and build, with dark blonde hair, soft brown eyes, and a round face. A nose that was just a little too long, a mouth that was just a hair too wide, and a chin that was notably pointed kept Lizzy from being a true beauty. But her extraordinary use of those somewhat ordinary features had made her a favorite among staff and family alike at Haldon Hall. Kate had never met a woman with such a remarkable assortment of facial expressions.
“I can’t fathom why you wouldn’t let your mother talk you out of this green gown,” Lizzy commented from somewhere inside the armoire. “The color makes you look as if you escaped from the undertaker.”
Kate rolled her eyes. Lizzy also had