“Your name, miss?”
“Miss Mary White,” she said.
The butler turned to announce over the din of the crowd, “Miss Mary White!”
A great number of the guests turned to watch her as she entered. She held her head high and kept her air of witlessness and sensuality about her as she strolled further into the room.
The crowd began to murmur, but she determinedly ignored it. She would naturally cause a stir. She rarely did anything in the public eye as Miss White, and it was expected that the members of thehaute tonwould be curious, put-off, or furious at her attendance.
She gratefully accepted a glass of champagne from a footman and took a hearty sip.
“Mary!” a familiar voice boomed.
She turned to see Lord Reddington and Mr. Jackson striding toward her.
She smiled, forcing her eyes to crinkle in the corners. They stopped before her and sketched neat bows. She dipped in a curtsey. “Why James, Mr. Jackson! How lovely to see you here this evening.”
“I was about to say the same thing,” Mr. Jackson said, straightening the lace cuff of his shirt beneath his coat sleeve. “Might I say how lovely you look this evening, Miss White? Quite in the stare of fashion!”
Mary slid her palms down the front of her shimmering green silk gown, the reticule tied to her right wrist weighing it down. “Thank you, Mr. Jackson. It is very kind of you to say.”
Reddington gripped her left hand and placed a kiss to its back. “The beauty of the morning sun’s gentle touch over a flowery meadow in spring pales in comparison to your radiating splendour, Mary.”
Mary’s lips split in a genuine smile, but she had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at Reddington’s ham-fisted compliment. “A handsome sentiment, James.”
His chest puffed with pride. “Tell me you will grant me a waltz this evening, Mary.”
She shook her head regretfully. “I am afraid I am not dancing this evening.” She lifted her wrist into the air between them. “No dance card.”
“Ah, a shame indeed, for as graceful a woman as yourself. It would be like—”
“Good evening, Miss White,” the Marquess of Hale moved to stand among their small group, Lord Kerr close behind, his eyes glinting with menace.
Ah, the vile group was nearly all in attendance.
Mary curtsied. “Good evening, Lord Hale, Lord Kerr. I do hope you all had a pleasant journey from Eastbourne.”
“Indeed,” Lord Kerr took a gulp of dark liquid from his glass, his shrewd gaze locked on her features. “It was a shame you did not stay longer. As I understand it, you left in a hurry.”
Mary waved a hand through the air. “Oh, la! You know how lovers are. One moment they are eager for a littleroughplay, and the next they become timid. Poor man,” she pouted jestingly, “cowered nearly the entire journey to London! I had to give him his congé when we reached town, naturally. I cannot abide a man who does not know how to have a good time. It is such a shame, too, for I truly thought I might have had a good thing in being his mistress.” She winked at the small group of men around her. Despite her convincing lie, Lords Hale and Kerr still gazed at her with suspicion.
Mary’s stomach knotted, but she continued anyway. “I fear I must have broken his little heart, for I understand he has booked passage on a ship to the Americas.”
“What is this? Having a delicious conversation without—” Lord Boxton squeezed his shoulders between Mr. Jackson and Lord Hale. His eyebrows shot skyward, his eyes growing wide and possessive. “Mary!”
“Good evening, Tony.”
His gaze travelled brazenly over her body and his neck grew red from beneath his shirt collar. “I have a mind to spirit you away from here and—”
“Ah!” Lord Reddington interrupted, displeasure written plainly on his features. “Such an amusing anecdote.”
The others gazed at him in confusion.
“Tell me, Lord Kerr,” Mary broke the awkward silence, “is Lady Kerr in attendance this evening?”
He shook his head and took another sip of his drink. “I am afraid that Lady Kerr had much more pressing matters to attend to this evening.”
“I see. Do please send along my well wishes to her.”
