Free Lady Ann's Excellent Adventure (A Regency Short Story) by Candice Hern Page A

exposed limb, then gave a resigned sigh. "There is nothing for it, is there?  I had thought I could jump, but this branch is much higher than I'd thought. And now my skirt is stuck and I am unable to move. I suppose I must beg your assistance if I am not to be found before – that is, if I am not to remain perched up here forever."
    The earl was taken aback by her plain-spoken manner. Not at all the demeanor of a niece of the king, nor of a young lady meant to be his future bride. He could not deny, though, that there was something rather charming about her. Who was she?  He smiled up at her. "I am persuaded someone would eventually come along to help, if you would prefer to wait. The view of the park from up there must be enchanting."
    "I do not wish to view the park from up here. I wish to see it from the ground, if you please. There is something I am most particularly anxious to see there."
    "Indeed? Then I wonder why you did not simply walk through the front door of the house, or through the stableyard." He narrowed his eyes in mock apprehension. "In fact, now that I think on it, I wonder if I should not call the watch. How do I know you are not a thief escaping with the Gloucester House silver tucked in your pockets?  Why else would you be attempting to climb over the garden fence like a common housebreaker?"
    Her face paled slightly. "You know this house? And the family?" 
    A note of fear colored her voice. Had his arrow accidentally hit its mark?  Was she a thief? Or was she in fact a family member – or perhaps a high-ranking servant – worried that she might be found out and reported?
    "Everyone in London knows Gloucester House," he said, "home to Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester. Do you not even know from whom you have pinched the family silver?"
    "I assure you, I am no thief."  She uttered an exasperated little snort, as though such an idea was preposterous. "If you must know, I am escaping."
    "From what?"
    She lifted her chin at a defiant angle. "That is my affair."
    "Hmm. I think if I am to be an accomplice I will need to know what I am getting myself into." He signaled for Parker to see to the horses, leapt down from the seat, and then leaned nonchalantly against the curricle as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world to be having a conversation with a pretty girl stuck up a tree. He'd discarded the notion that she was a housemaid sneaking out for an assignation. Her clothes were very fine – a white muslin gown with a blue velvet spencer jacket and matching hat – but maids were often given last year's fashions by their mistresses, so the quality of her dress was no accurate clue to her identity. But her exposed stocking was clocked in fine gold embroidery, much too exquisite for any maid.
    She must be a member of the family. But not Lady Ann. Not a girl raised in the highest royal circles. She did, though, have the same honey blond hair and blue eyes he remembered from the last time he'd seen Ann as a child, but any family member could have that same coloring. He could not, however, imagine why a young woman of high rank had climbed a tree in order to get over the garden fence. Gloucester would never countenance such behavior in his household.
    So who was she, this adorable sprite? Surely, not Lady Ann.
    "I do believe, Miss Damsel-in-Distress, that if I am to be your rescuer, I must know from what I am rescuing you. What are you escaping from?"
    "Oh!"  She frowned and gave a frustrated tug on her skirt. "From my life, if you must know."
    His spine stiffened. If this was indeed his future wife, and heaven help her if she was, he would have to take her well in hand. "You are running away?"
    "Only for today."
    "I beg your pardon?"
    "Today is my last day of freedom. After tomorrow, I will never have a chance to escape again."
    Considering what he knew was to happen tomorrow, this did not bode well.
    "Escape to what?"
    "To adventure. To fun. To spontaneity."
    He probed further. "And what