CHAPTER 1
Perhaps it would be best if I didn’t attend the ball at all.
Amelia silenced her glum thoughts as best she could, but they kept resurfacing with a vengeance with every passing second. She bit her bottom lip so hard that she was afraid she would draw blood, yet the pain served to distract her from the waves of trepidation assaulting her at the present moment. She didn’t know where to bury herself – under the covers of her bed or leave the house altogether.
“Oh, goodness, will you stop breathing so loudly?” The sharp tone snapped Amelia from her dour thoughts. She jolted at the force of it, twisting slightly on the tiny stool she sat on to look at her aunt.
The older woman’s glare could have sliced right through steel. Barbara Egerton, the Viscountess of Hendale, curled her upper lip in utter disgust and Amelia felt her heart twist at the sight. The viscountess could have been a beautiful lady despite her age, but Amelia surmised that years of scornful looks and a horridpersonality had twisted her features. Somehow, though she’d only just turned forty, Barbara looked like she already had one foot in the grave.
Still, she sat upright with a healthy posture, though that also had much to do with the plush mahogany chair she was sitting in.
“Pardon?” Amelia murmured, loud enough for her aunt to hear.
“I can hear your breathing,” Barbara complained, her tone dripping with malice. “I thought I told you to simply sit in that corner and pretend as if you don’t exist. I should not even know that you’re there.”
For a moment, Amelia could only gape back in astonishment. Even though the bedchamber they occupied was shared between Amelia and her cousin, it was still considered rather sizable. Barbara was sitting near the only vanity table in the room, next to her daughter, while Amelia had been forced to claim the furthest corner away from them. And, as her aunt had requested, she’d gone about getting ready in complete silence. She couldn’t fathom how she could have done anything less.
“Oh, leave her be, Mother.” Lady Nadine’s voice was innocent and sweet—a perfect mask for the bitterness that lay within her. “She has no one but herself to talk to. I’m sure it must get lonely.”
Barbara huffed, very unlike the fashionable lady she so strived to be, but she heeded her daughter’s words nevertheless, turning back to face the mirror. Nadine glanced over her shoulder atAmelia, giving her a pitiful look and a shake of the head, before she faced ahead again.
With the viscountess and her daughter distracted, their lady’s maids returned to styling their hair.
Amelia turned back to her corner and blinked back the tears stinging her eyes. This sort of treatment had been going on for three years, so she ought to have been used to it by now. But she hated facing this level of humiliation in front of the servants.
The maids often paid her little mind. Amelia didn’t know if it was an order from their mistress or if they simply decided she was not worth their time, just like her aunt and cousin. Either way, she was forced to prepare for the ball by herself. Slipping into her delicate underpinnings, adjusting the layers of her petticoat, and finally, pulling on her jade green dress—which was already out of fashion. Amelia didn’t even consider the thought of adorning herself with rouge or jewels.
“Mother, do you believe he will ask me to dance tonight?” Nadine’s voice came floating back to her as she struggled with the lacing of her dress. If she wasn’t ready by the time they were, they would certainly leave without her.
“Of course, dear!” Barbara gushed. Her voice grew shrill when she was excited and Amelia winced, fumbling with the final lace and unraveling the rest. “In fact, I will make sure to get you an introduction. All you need is a dance, my dear, and the duke will certainly be besotted with you.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure,” Nadine sounded uncertain. “He is hailed as the most eligible bachelor in the ton for a reason. Every lady there will be throwing herself at him. What will make him look twice at me?” she pouted.
Barbara gasped as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Amelia wasn’t so surprised. Nadine had mastered the art of getting others to compliment her under the guise of humility. “You forget yourself, my dear,” Barbara said, her voice impassioned. “You are the most beautiful lady in all of London! He would be a fool not to pay you any mind.”
“Do you truly think so?”
“Of course! Ask anyone else and they will tell you the same.”
Amelia didn’t have to look to know that Nadine was smiling from ear to ear. She couldn’t agree with her aunt though. Nadine was by no means hard to look at, but calling her the most beautiful lady in all of London was an outright lie. She had brown hair that lay flat and dead at her shoulders, always breaking off before it could grow out—which was why she never wore her hair down. Her face was bordering on plain, but when she sneered like her mother, Amelia thought her to be the most frightening being she’d ever seen.
But Nadine had the confidence of a queen, which Amelia envied and many-a-gentleman were charmed by.
“The Duchess of Stanhope,” Nadine purred. “It is the end of the Season, Mother. Perhaps I should discard my suitors whentheduke asks me to court him. I will be the envy of all the ladies in London.”
“Even more than usual,” Barbara added, only contributing to Nadine’s hubris. “To think your father managed to secure us invites to His Grace’s ball this year. It’s always been the pinnacle event of the season. Such a splendid way to conclude it!”
Nadine nodded. "I've even heard that only a chosen handful from high society receive invites. And very few are invitedtwice.” Suddenly, Nadine gasped. “Do you thinkhewill be there?”
Barbara frowned in bemusement.
Nadine leaned closer to her mother to whisper, though she didn’t do a very good job of it. “The Masked Rogue.”
The name sent a jolt through Amelia. Memories flashed in her mind and much of her annoyance melted into anger.
“The Masked Rogue?” Barbara jerked back. “Nonsense! Not that hogwash again. This is the Duke of Stanhope’s Grand Ball! Do you truly believe he would risk tarnishing his esteemed name by inviting such a notorious figure? Nadine, you would do best to stay away from such characters,” she chided lightly.
Nadine winced at Barbara’s sharp tone and quickly tried to placate her. “You’re right, Mother. I am simply quite curious to see just who the man behind the mask is.”
