Midnight Masquerade (5 page)

He knew the ladies had a point, he too had been commiserating about that very fact all night.
He knew when to trust his instincts and something was telling him to trust his heart.
Standing
up, he
sighed and
nodded to his friend and Helena, “Thank you, I shall see both of you tonight at the ball.”

Taking great care on how she dressed for the ball, she had never felt more beautiful in her life. Dressed in a one-shouldered royal purple gown that covered her freckles on her right shoulder, she left her hair down. She rarely ever wore her hair down at evening events,
but
her head was pounding with a vicious headache.

With a precious small diadem sitting on her head, she sighed as her first partner came to claim her. Adamant that she was going to ignore Alastair tonight, her heart had been hurting all day.
As the day passed, the angrier she grew. How could one of the brightest minds of their time be so dense?
Yet, in the same token she knew she should have pulled Alastair out of her brother’s library and told him the truth this morning. She had been given chances, and passed on
the
opportunity to come clean with him, now it seemed she was too late.
Damn it, she should have asked him for a moment alone this morning and just told him, but again, she didn’t have the courage.

“Good eve Lady Amelia, are you ready for our dance?”

Turning around, she saw the handsome Earl of Divenroth standing with his hand extended and a brilliant smile on his face. She had officially
become
fri
ends with the handsome earl two
seasons ago, his humor was spot on and he made her feel comfortable
. This year however, she could feel him starting to press his
suit
. Unable to deny his charisma, she had
harmlessly flirted with Henry throughout the season, now she felt like he was courting her.

She could
n’t deny it, he was handsome,
titled and actually
,
a perfect match for her. He had large family and had understood the inner workings of a family like hers; he had been a great shoulder to lean on in the months after her parents had perished.

Smiling, she slipped her hand into his and stepped forward, “I am.” Slipping away from the protective side of
her older brothers
and their wives, she entered the crush and put her hand
o
n
Henry’s
arm
as
he le
d her to the
crowded floor.

Leaning down to her ear as he pulled her close, he whispered, “You look sensational tonight Amelia.”

Long past calling each other by titles, she couldn’t help but smile at his compliment,
“Thank you Henry, you look very well put together as usual. Look at you shaming all the oth
er men tonight, ladies are
melting at your feet as you walk by.”

Running his hand a tad lower on her hip, he pull her closer, “I can’t seem to get the
right
lady to melt at my feet.”

“Henry…” She said quietly, hi
s words were not lost upon her as they danced.
He had become increasingly more determined in his courtship, truly had she never had that stolen night with Alastair she would have let herself get caught by Henry. He was handsome, and had a wicked humor she loved, he had a great love for horses and family. He was quite the catch, a lot of her peers were jealous of the attention he gave her.

“I’d like to take you on a ride tomorrow afternoon, we can have Gideon and Helena escort us if you wish, or my mother would gladly come.” He offered, quietly in her ear.

“I would like that, what time
shall I expect you?”
Seeing no reason to say no, a ride in the park would be nice, even if he’d choose the most congested time of the day. She knew what he was
doing;
he wanted all of London to see him openly courting her.
She would bet her favorite stallion that he would pick a prime time for all of the fashionable tonnish folks to be out and about to see them.

Dancing with him, he held her closer than he ought, but truly she didn’t mind. If felt good to be adored, to be wanted. Henry ha
d always made her feel special, and bloody hell s
he wanted someone to want her, unfortunately for Henry, it wasn’t him.

“High noon
little dove
.” He offered
quietly, his voice deep and alluring.

“That will be perfect, I shall pray for the day to be a lovely one, I am quite sick of all this blasted rain.” She replied, looking up into at his handsome face, catching him watching her with an endearing look.
He would make a wonderful husband, sadly, he was just not the man for her.

“I couldn’t agree more Amelia.”

Thankfully the music rose to a crescendo, making it hard to keep a conversation going. With the musicians expertly playing the waltz and the buzz of
an
over five hundred people present, she could barely hear her own thoughts.

Due to the overwhelming numbers on the dance floor, she couldn’t help but be thankful as the song slowly came to an end. Taking Henry’s arm once again, he escorted
her back to one
her circle
.

Hearing a deep laughter, one she recognized immediately, she looked over her shoulder to see Alastair escorting Porsche off the floor as well. They looked like the perfect couple. Both blonde and blue eyed, they’d have the most beautiful children in all of Christendom.
The two were laughing about something, looking jovial and exceedingly perfect together.
It made her want to stab out one of Porsche’s eyes. Seeing her touch Alastair made her skin crawl, she had never experienced such volatile jealousy in all her years.
Porsche was a liar and a fraud, she couldn’t oust the young hoyden just yet. She’d find a way, she had to.

Handing her off to Gideon, Henry bowed
and kissed her hand, “Until later fair Amelia, I bid you goodbye as I’m forced to dance with other women who pale in your comparison.”

Shaking her head with a smile, “Off with you, you joker, I shall see you later.” Swatting him away she watched him enter the melee of the room once again, losing sight of him in mere seconds.

Alone with just Gideon, she let
out a sigh
and took a glass of champagne t
he waiter offered as he passed trying to keep her eyes from
following Alastair.
God she needed a drink, truthfully she should have drank before she even came here tonight.

Sipping her cool
liquid
, she felt Gideon nudge her shoulder, gaining her
complete
attention. Looking up at her eldest brother, she smile
d
as she saw him looking at her with a loving look on his face.

“What do thy want oh wise leader?” She teased.

“I’d like to know your
real
thoughts about Alastair and Porsche.” He offered quietly, grabbing her anot
her crystal flute of champagne while the guests of the ball enjoyed the night all around them.

Knowing she was safe
,
she told her brother exactly what she thought, “I do not think the lovely, slippery Lady Porsche is in fact the widow he seeks. She’s lying to him
, this I know with all my heart
.”

“Have you told him this?”

“Absolutely not!” She replied, scanning her
eyes for Alastair in the crowd
making sure he was not
close enough to overhear their
conversation. Seeing him dancing with Helena on the crowded floor, she felt immediate relief.

Feeling Gideon take her hand, he placed the second glass of champagne in her hand and looked smiled, “Lia, are you going to stand there and pretend that you do not care for Alastair? I’ve watched you follow him with your eyes since I’ve been back from war, I’m assuming you always
have. Why wouldn’t you tell him? A
t worst, he is one of your close friends, surely you wouldn’t want your friends to fall into
marriage traps with a lying whore
would you?”

“Gideon!”

“I’m serious Lia, none of us agree that Porsche is the woman for Alastair, we’ve all voiced our opinions to him,
and even
he knows something isn’t right. Surely you can help point him in the right direction, even if you won’t come right out and say it. Do it for me
sissy
, please? I don’t want to see my friend miserable for the rest of his life.”

How could she deny him?

“I’ll try Gideon,
for you
, I’ll try.”
She had no idea how her words would sway a man like Alastair if her brothers’ words had not. Amelia had always taken Alastair for a man who put merit into his frie
nds’ opinions, how she could make any difference, she didn’t know
.

Hugging her, he kissed the side of her temple, “Thank you Lia. Now here he comes, maybe you should dance with him. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you avoiding him since he’s been looking for that mysterious woman.
Careful else your jealousy will leak through that perfect mask yo
u put on every night, those who
truly know you can see through it.
”

Standing straighter, she turned around to see the
Golden Duke
walking straight for her, Helena
, her sister-in-law
on his arm as
they walked directly over to them.
Locking eyes with the handsome man, she looked up into his blue eyes and smiled as he let go of Helena and held out his hand for her.

“Lia, you look stunning tonight.
I hope you saved a dance for me tonight.
”

Slowly slipping her hand into his, she felt him
squeeze
her fingers as he pulled them to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“As it turns out I did, I’m free right now if you are?”

Feeling him slip his hand around her waist, he turned her away from Gideon and Helena and led her to the floor. He never took his hand off her hip as he guided her to the floor,
a
very intimate
move
for him to do, something he had never done before.
Feeling the heat in his hand
,
her heart skipped, when he touched her she felt alive. After the night of passionate love
,
he was all she could think about. Having the real living breathing man beside her, touching her made every vivid detail come rushing back.

After seeing him with Porsche, she was silently pleased at his possessive hold on her.
Her jealousy had been spiked, and it was a feeling she had never experienced before she met Alastair.

Unsure what path she should take broaching the subject with him, he whisked her out onto the floor with all the elegant grace you’d expect from a duke.
Steeling herself for his piercing eyes, she looked up into his sapphire eyes and
preceded
with caution, “Porsche lo
oks lovely tonight, should I expect to hear of your
engagement soon?”

Stiffening, he looked down at her agitated, “I am not in that big of a rush to get married Lia, especially if I am not certain that
she
is the woman for me.”
His reaction had peaked her curiosity tenfold.

“I was unaware there were other contenders. Since that night, you’ve had a
blindfold on to any other woman. You’ve looked over a sea of woman searching for weeks for this mysterious woman with brunette hair, and you find Porsche VanEtter, the blondest woman in all England?” She countered. There was a lot she knew of the man, and she knew him well enough to know she could poke around without him tearing her to shreds.

“Careful Lia, you sound jealous.”
His fingers dug into
her hip as he pulled her closer. D
rawn to him as if
his touch
kept her alive
,
she was enthralled with him. His smell, his dazzling eyes and soul-melting smile turned her to mush every damn time. Amelia
knew bantering with the intelligent man wasn’t the best course of action, but her jealous
y
was rearing its ugly head and she couldn’t stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

“
I am many things Alastair, jealous is not one of them. If she is your choice, then all means, good luck. Its not like anything
I
say will change your stubborn mind if you’ve decided she’s the one you’ll marry.”

Under his breath she heard him say. “You’d be surprised,” followed by a much stronger scolding,
“Lord Divenroth held you entirely too close that last dance, his hand was
far too low on your a
ss
.
I don’t like the way he looks at you, and you seemed to enjoy every moment of it.
Is he t
he man who made you cry this morning?” His voice low but thick with jealousy.

It was a very abnormal trait for him to display, so used to hi
m having his emotions completely under control, this was uncharted territory for her.
Instead of answering her questions
,
the blasted man had instead changed the direction of the conversation a
bout her and her dance partners and thoroughly confused her with the
You
’d be surprised
comment.