Loved being spun through the space in his strong arms, their bodies close together, theirthighsbrushing, the scent of his clothes and hair pomade close and fresh?—
Maia realized the jester was waiting for a response, and also, at the same time, that her face was quite a bit warmer beneath her mask. And she was feeling quite a bit more relaxed and happier than previously…
“I should love to waltz, sir jester,” she said boldly. And offered him her arm.
They’d taken two steps toward the floor when a large figure garbed in black and ruby appeared, blocking their path.
“How kind of you to fetch my partner for me,” he said, speaking directly to the jester. “I was just about to collect her for our dance.”
Maia was so surprised she couldn’t speak, and apparently the jester was similarly afflicted, for he merely stared at the man for a moment. She blinked hard, for it almost seemed as if the man’seyes had glowed red for an instant…but then the impression was gone. Then, without another word, the jester bowed, turned, and walked away—almost as if he’d been hypnotized.
“Your majesty,” said the new arrival, offering her an arm. “Shall we?”
She looked up at him, trying to see behind the mask and to read his eyes, to determine whether she recognized him. There was an aura of familiarity about the man, and for the flash of a moment when she took his arm and felt a little jolt of awareness, she wondered if it might be Alexander. It would be just like him to surprise her thus.
But she quickly revised that thought, tucking it away as wishful thinking. She’d forgotten for a moment her added height; this man was too tall to be her fiancé. His eyes were shadowed by the holes in his mask, which was unrelieved black and left only the very bottom of his face exposed. He wore a dark cloak, and beneath it a waistcoat of blood red and black, with a brilliant red neckcloth that all but obscured his white shirt. A thumbnail-size ruby in the shape of a diamond studded the center of his neckcloth. She realized he was the tall figure who’d attracted her attention when she was dancing.
“Who are you?” she asked, looping up the extra length of the panels of her skirt into her hand.
He steadied her as they reached the floor, and instead of turning her to face him, he shifted to come around to the front of her. “The Knave of Diamonds,” he said, lifting her right hand in his gloved one and settling his other one lightly on her waist.
Although the country dances often required a touch at the hip or waist, and arms linking with arms, the position of the waltz was so different, so intimate, because it wasn’t a passing position. And as she rested her gloved fingers on his shoulder, felt his fingers close around hers, and the burning weight of his hand at her waist, Maia felt warm, and a little dizzy.
He hesitated a moment before stepping into the dance, and she allowed him to direct her as they moved forward. The first few steps were stilted, as if he had to discover or learn the rhythm, and even then, they didn’t spin and whirl with the same smooth movements as some of the other dancers. For some reason, she liked the fact he wasn’t so very practiced at the waltz.
Nevertheless, Maia felt as if she floated on a cloud, held steady by the firm grip on her hand and waist. Even with the tall shoes and the unfamiliar three-beat step, she hardly stumbled at all.
She glanced up at him to find her partner looking out over her shoulder, as if scanning the room. This gave her the chance to examine what little of his countenance was exposed by the mask; namely, the shape of his chin and the formation of his mouth. Even his ears and hair were covered by a black tricorn, and the collar of his cloak came up to shadow his neck and the edge of his jaw.
“Hatshepsut, I presume,” he said, glancing down at her as they began their second turn about the floor, still relatively slowly and carefully. “An exceedingly original choice of costume, despite the fact that she dressed as a man on many occasions.” His voice was low, hardly more than discernible to her over the sounds of conversation and music.
“Baring my lower appendages would not have been appropriate, even in the spirit of accurate costuming. But you are correct,” she said, keeping her own tones pitched low in hopes of disguising her identity. Although her partner definitely wasn’t Alexander, she was certain he was someone she knew. “I am Hatshepsut. Everyone else thinks that I’m Cleopatra.”
“Where is the asp if you are meant to be Cleopatra?”
His comment surprised a little laugh from her, and she saw his lips move, relaxing into fullness from their hard, serious line from a moment ago.
“But of course, no one truly knows what Hatshepsut looks like,” she admitted. “Or if she was anything more than a queen regent.”
“Indeed. But we expect to learn more if the stele from Rosetta is ever translated.”
“One can only hope! Until we can read hieroglyphs, there will be holes and blank spots in our knowledge.”
“I find it remarkable you are even aware of Hatshepsut’s existence, let alone such details about her questionable reign,” he said after negotiating a particularly tight turn that made her a bit dizzy. “As well as the importance of the Rosetta Stone.”
Emboldened by her continued anonymity…and perhaps by the champagne punch…Maia launched into a candid speech she would never have imposed on a gentleman under different circumstances. They preferred to talk on their own topics, not that of their partners.
“I’ve indulged my fascination with Egyptian history for many years now. It started when I read my brother’s copy ofBiblioteca Historicain order to help him with his Greek. Ask me about the Babylonians or the Indians, and I know little about them. But if one reads Herodotus or Diodorus, for example, there is much to be learned about the Egyptians. And now that more antiquities are being shipped back from Egypt, I can actually see them in the museum. That makes it all the more real.”
“You assisted your brother with his Greek?” Was there a note of humor in the knave’s voice?
“I didn’t like it any better than he did, but I was determined…” Maia’s voice trailed off as she realized how she’d been babbling. She bit her lower lip and swallowed.
One of the things that had put off some of her early suitors had been her tendency to lecture and over-explain. Not that the knave was a suitor, of course, but she well knew gentlemen did not like women who talked. Alexander was an exception, andhe had indulged her interest in Egyptology by taking her to the British Museum on two different occasions.
Of course, he didn’t have the foggiest idea who Hatshepsut or even Rameses III were, but that didn’t bother Maia.
“Very interesting.” The knave seemed to stop whatever else was about to come out of his mouth and clamped his lips together.
