In nineteenth century London, it's not considered proper for a young lady to send flowers to a healthy, eligible young bachelor. But when Adrian Morey receives a bouquet with a challenge, he can't help but be intrigued. His curiosity only grows as t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When Adrian saw the white tulips and recognized them as a sign of the Lady's forgiveness, he was immensely suspicious. After all, she had been stubborn before, so why did she give in so easily now? Perhaps she thought continuing the correspondence in a light manner would distract him from his search of her identity? Well, if it was that, she was wrong. In fact, this change in the tone of her messages only intrigued Adrian further. He would propose a meeting, he determined. If the Lady did indeed wish for the correspondence to remain on lighter topics than her insistence upon her own anonymity, then she would be hard pressed to find a response to his request that suited her inclination. If not, well, there was always the next bouquet.
So when Jack arrived the next morning, they rode the carriage to the florist's and Adrian sent the boy off with a handful of pimpernels.
'When and where can I meet you?'
For a moment, as he rode home in the carriage, Adrian allowed himself to imagine her agreeing to his request. What location would she choose for such a rendezvous? A small, yet luxurious house on a street whose name was never mentioned in polite company? Adrian chuckled to himself at the thought. If the Lady was loathe to even give him her name, he doubted she would be willing to have a tryst. An afternoon at a park then? No, that was not it either. There, they would be exposed to others, contradicting the secrecy of their correspondence thus far.
It would be a garden, he decided, at some ball or other. While the rest of the ton danced and toasted to their hearts content, he would slip out quietly and stroll down a moonlit gravel path. She would be standing in the shadow of a tree, cloaked and hooded in velvet. As he approached, she would step out of the shadows, but the hood would still hide her face. He'd take her hand and brush a kiss across her knuckles, learning the texture of her skin. Then he'd lift his hands to her hood and slowly pull it back so that her face shone in the moonlight and…
The coach jerked to a stop and Adrian realized with surprise that he was already back at the townhouse. He shook himself. What a fool he was, daydreaming like some green boy. What would come would come. And in any case, he was quite sure that the Lady would not acquiescence to his proposed meeting.
Sighing at that thought, he opened the door and got down from the carriage.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
