She lifted her chin. If she could onlypretendto be confident, perhaps that would make it true.
“Tonight’s theme was inappropriate poems,” she retorted. “Subjects that were not respectable. I believe that my poem fits into that category.”
“Fair enough. I’ll give you that one,” he responded, breaking into a wolfish grin that made her shiver. It was not abadshiver, somehow, which Madeline could not quite understand. “Perhaps your audience might have preferred something a little different, but you may consider me impressed.”
There was a faint silence between them. Generally speaking, at this point in a conversation, Madeline would try to get away. It was easily done in a ballroom. Gentlemen were quickly distracted, frequently bored, and could be neatly evaded if necessary.
This fellow did not seem distractedorbored, and there did not seem to be any avenues of escape open to her at this moment. Inthe absence of any other immediate solutions, Madeline simply opened her mouth and said the first thing that came to mind.
“I wasn’ttryingto impress you.”
The duke’s eyebrows shot up. “What was that?”
Madeline, you fool!
“Nothing,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze at last. She could still feel his eyes on her like a weight.
Abruptly, long, warm fingers curled around her chin, jerking her head up until she was forced to look the Duke of Tolford directly in his strange red-amber eyes.
Nowthatwas something that never happened at Almack’s. Madeline stared at him, eyes wide, her skin seeming to flinch and jitter under his touch.
“You had better say it to my face, my dear,” he drawled. “Come on. Don’t be shy.”
She considered trying to jerk her chin out of his grip, but he was rather strong, and she was worried about knocking her head on the back of the door and looking foolish.
Well. More foolish than she already looked.
Clenching her jaw, Madeline met his eyes once more.
“I said,” she repeated staunchly, “I do not care to impress you, or any other gentlemen, for that matter. Did you notlistento my poem?”
He held her gaze for a long moment, looking rather amused. “I most certainly did listen to it. And even though you don’t care in the least for my approval, Iwasimpressed. So, I think you and I should return to the party so you can meet some of the others. Miss Juliana Bolt is here. The opera singer, you know? You can enthrall us with more of your poems. You see, you offered us something new and interesting tonight, my dear, and so I simply cannot let you leave.”
Madeline let out a long breath.
Could I scream? It seems a little cowardly. He’s only touched my chin, after all.
She certainly could not wriggle away from him or outpace him. The duke lifted his eyebrows, waiting for her to speak.
“Very well,” Madeline murmured at last.
“Excellent. Now, hand over that mask. I would like to meet you properly.”
He removed his hand from the door at last and took a step back, extending one large hand. Madeline realized with a dullresignation that she really was going to have to remove her mask. She lifted her hands shakily to the ribbons that tied it closed at the back. The knot was stubborn and would not immediately come undone. The duke watched her the whole time, his eyes sharp. He did not even seem to blink.
The mask came loose. Madeline lost her grip on the ribbons, but the duke neatly caught them in his outstretched hand. As she lifted her eyes to his, she saw recognition flare in his eyes.
And here I was hoping that he would not remember me,Madeline thought miserably.
“Lady Madeline Huxley,” he breathed, and it occurred to her that this was the only time she had seen him surprised at all. “As I live and breathe.”
If ever there was a time for escape, it was now. Madeline spun around, yanking open the door. She barely had one slippered foot over the threshold when a large hand yanked her backward effortlessly. She gave a yelp of surprise. The door slammed shut again.
“Let me go! Let mego!” Madeline hissed, wrenching her arm free and spinning around to glare up at him. “I cannot be here. It’s not respectable. You mustn’t… you mustn’t tell anyone. I’ll be ruined!”
The duke eyed her with faint amusement and crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“Lord Beaufort must be quite a liberal, letting his daughter attend a party such as this.”
