Her eyes warmed at his words, and she suddenly looked full of hope. It lit her face from within and made his stomach swoop.
A light breeze picked up and tugged a loose curl from her hair, so that it fell down against her cheek. Without thinking, he reached up and brushed it behind her ear.
She smiled at him, and the whole moment seemed to slow down, crystallizing in a way he was sure he’d never be able to forget.
The moon came out from behind a cloud and fell upon her face, and she almost seemed to glow. His gaze was drawn to her lips, and once more he noticed their particular shade of pink.
She suddenly seemed very close to him, and he realized how little movement it would take to close the space between them. He longed to do just that, to lean down and press his lips to hers, to feel for himself how soft and warm they would be …
He suddenly caught hold of himself. What was he thinking? He had just been promising her that he would see their plan through. Kissing her was not part of that plan – it would only complicate things and jeopardize her future even more. He could not be so selfish.
He let go of her hand and stepped back, looking away.
“I fear I am monopolizing your company. If you are well, we should return to the ball. We should dance at least one dance, don’t you think?” he asked, then hastily added, “for the sake of appearances.”
He didn’t dare look at her, but when she replied, her voice sounded steady.
“Yes, of course. Let us go in.”
He must be the only one so affected. Of course, she did not feel the same – she had been forced into this engagement, so why should she ever think of him as anything but a problem to solve?
They made their way inside, and to avoid anyone asking where they had been, he swept her right into the next dance. Isolde was graceful and skilled as a dancer, and they proved well-matched as partners.
Still, Thaddeus could not stop his thoughts from swirling as though they, too, were performing a waltz.
Marriage had never been his goal, but rather an eventuality he intended to put off as long as possible. He was happy living as he was, a bachelor with the freedom to spend his time as he wished.
And yet now suddenly the idea of someone sharing his life with him, of binding himself to someone, did not feel like such a faraway possibility or such a heavy burden.
He looked down at Isolde in his arms, cheeks rosy from the dancing, and resisted putting into words what might have brought that change about. Instead, he sought to distract his own mind, and his wandering eyes landed on a familiar face.
“My brother and your cousin look as though they’re having a splendid time,” he said, nodding toward the couple. They wereacross the ballroom, dancing together with brilliant smiles on their faces.
“Yes, they do,” Isolde said, following his gaze. “Who would have guessed at that?”
“Henry makes friends wherever he goes,” Thaddeus replied. “He makes it look easy.” He couldn’t help the twinge of bitterness in his gut. He wondered what it was like not to have the burden of being firstborn, always meant to take on the mantle of marquess.
Isolde turned back to look at him, her eyes lingering on his face as though trying to puzzle something out. He felt himself warming under her gaze and looked away.
If she had a question, though, she did not voice it, and they finished the dance in silence.
The night suddenly seemed to be wearing on Thaddeus, and he felt he might be getting a headache. So when a young gentleman shyly approached and asked if he might have Isolde’s next dance, he nodded in approval and gave her an encouraging smile as she took the boy’s hand.
Perhaps it was not just him who had been admiring Isolde’s dancing because after that, she had a queue of dance partners waiting.
He wondered if she might meet her future husband tonight, but the thought made him queasy, so he found himself a corner to lean into and tried to stop thinking altogether.
“Harrow!” Cassian’s voice broke through the crowd, and he looked up to see his friend coming to greet him, a blonde woman on his arm. Cassian said something to the woman as they approached him, and she glanced at Thaddeus before smiling and looking away.
“I was searching for you earlier, but you’d disappeared. Get up to any fun?” Cassian asked when they were close enough. Perhaps Thaddeus’s glower warned him off making any jokes like he had in their last conversation, because he quickly moved on, gesturing to the woman with him.
“This is my cousin, Lady Vivienne Bradshaw. She is out in society for the first time since the tragic death of her husband.”
“Pleasure to meet you, My Lady,” Thaddeus said, inclining his head toward her. He remembered Cassian mentioning her in the past.
As she returned his nod, he caught something in her face – something he’d seen many times before, a certain sort of hunger.
He remembered his mother and sister had mentioned her over dinner not long ago now, and how they’d both heard she was on the lookout for a second husband. Apparently, her first had not only left her with no heir but also with very little money.
