The twenty-piece orchestra played a soft tune to keep the warm ambiance, preserving the air that followed the last few dances. The room was glittering from the golden light fanning from the crystal drop chandeliers, and the scones at the hidden nooks and crannies, and reflected off the strategically placed mirrors all around them.
“How long have you been in Town?” Edward asked.
“Not long enough as I needed to be,” she replied vaguely.
“I take it you haven’t read the scandal papers from the last few years then?” he pressed.
“I prefer not to fill my head with biases of people I do not know in case I do meet them, and I am already soured with hate,” Alice murmured while looking keenly around them.
It was redundant though; she had already felt the disapproving looks peppering the back of her neck and banally wondered how long it would take for Edward to catch on.
“I don’t know if that is the comfort I want it to be, alas,” he shrugged.
“It makes no difference. A few years ago, well, seven to be exact, the papers were all agog with a certain lord. They said he was wicked and unprincipled as the devil, a raging wolf inlord’s clothing. His reputation was so beastly that he could ruin a young lady with but a rakish glance.”
Ignoring the glares directed her way, Alice asked, “Would the fellow we are talking about currently be clad in navy blue trousers, a matching jacket, and a silver waistcoat?”
Looking down pointedly at his clothes, Edward replied, “Hypothetically, yes.”
There were no suppositions about this, but Alice was willing to play his game.
“And what did this devil’s child do?” she asked politely, trying to look as innocent as an angel.
He scoffed. “It would be easier to ask what he didnotdo,” Edward said gravely. “To those around him, he gave off a look ofjoie de vervewherever he went, a man of pleasure enjoying the bounties his bloodline gave him. A roaming rake ruled by the flightiest fantasy and fleeting desires.
“There was no act, licentious, debaucherous or scandalous that escaped him, and soon the monikerthe Wolf of Valhavenappeared on the scandal sheets.”
In the past years, society had taken him to be an utter rake and wastrel, and if Edward was honest with himself,someof that was true, but most of the time his mind was not engagedin carnal pleasures. Affairs of the state were of the foremost importance.
Most people assumed that the title of Duke meant untamed luxury and pleasure at one’s beck and call, but it was a station to be a servant of the people and pick up the baton where the Prince Regent dropped it. It was not a license to take the taxes and spend it on silks and satins, exotic animals, and country houses.
Running a country took a great deal of time, so when he could, he allowed himself pleasure, a great deal of it and he didn’t restrict it—but that did not diminish the past he had lived. If he traveled down the dark hallways of memory, he would be lost to it.
“Your Grace?” Alice said quietly.
Snapping to attention, he asked, “Hm?”
“You trailed off,” she gently coaxed. “Was there more you wanted to add about your past?”
“Not without scarring your sensibilities,” Edward replied. He eyed the dance floor, contemplating asking the lady to dance. Truly, dancing was one of the few things that allowed him to think of something besides his work, and he worked most of the day. “Would you dance with me?”
Her lips parted softly at the unexpected request. “Are you sure? Everyone is looking at us,” she said quietly.
“Let them look,” he said, extending his hand.
She cast a nervous glance to her sister, before nodding, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Thank you, yes.”
Edward led her onto the floor as the strains of the waltz restarted and while the tremble in her hand gave away her nervousness, he made sure to keep her at an appropriate distance from him—she had his brother’s attention, after all—even though he did not want to.
The petite wallflower looking up at him with trepidation discombobulated him, to say the least.
“Do you like to dance, Miss Alice Winslow?”
She nodded. “I do, yes, when I’m asked.”
The dance began, and they glided their way about the room with him leading and her expertly following. The ball was a crush, but even with the mass of guests, Edward could no longer miss the curious stares that were being thrown in their direction.
“How many times have you danced?”
