“Of course.” My gaze flickered over his shoulder. Alexander was approaching. I fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist, feigning deep interest in it.
“Good evening, Anne. Good evening, Miles.” Alexander’s voice was polite, which shocked me considering the discord between the two brothers.
Miles did not appear pleased to have him join us, but Alexander didn’t seem to care.
Alexander regarded me with a smile. “I came to claim one of your dances, if I may.”
My heart fluttered deep inside my chest. “My second dance is available.”
He nodded, his dark eyes roaming my face. “I look forward to it.”
Miles’s expression remained stoic as he observed our conversation. Every word from Alexander’s mouth, every expression on his face, confirmed what he had said to me that afternoon.It isn’t a ruse to me. It never was.He took my hand, pressing his lips to my knuckles.
A wave of heat climbed my neck as Alexander walked away, and I prayed it didn’t show on my face. Miles’s gaze was hard as he watched his brother retreat into the crowd. “That was bold of him,” Miles muttered.
“Why?” The word burst out before I thought better of it.
“He knows that you and I have been unofficially engaged for months. He already lied to try to keep us apart, and now he is flirting with you with the sole purpose of upsetting me.” He shook his head with a sad smile. “It’s almost as if he’s trying to…convince you to withdraw from the arrangements we made before I arrived—as if he thinks you wouldn’t be true to your word. He doesn’t understand as I do what a loyal and true woman you are.” His warm blue eyes had comforted me on many occasions, but now they induced a fresh wave of anxiousness. “It will serve us best to ignore him. We mustn’t allow anythingoranyone to come between us again.”
I nodded, but my stomach was in knots.
After giving her guests a few more minutes to mingle, Lady Tottenham signaled the musicians to begin the first dance. Miles led me to the center of the room, joining the line of dancers. I looked in his eyes as the steps began. His smile was as warm as it had always been, but it didn’t have any effect on me. I felt hollow. Disappointment sank through my chest as we danced. I had dreamed of a moment like this for years, yet I felt nothing but apprehension as Miles stood across from me. His hand on my waist, our fingers intertwined, his intense gaze…it all fit the dream I had invented, but my reaction was not what I had expected. I felt like I was dancing with a ghost. Dread enveloped me as I realized that the time we had spent apart might have been the death of my connection to him. He was a stranger with a familiar face. That was all.
As we moved through the steps of the dance, I tried to calm the turmoil in my heart, but it raged on. The shield between us was caused by a hint of resentment. I had always assumed I would run into Miles’s arms and marry him the moment he found me again, but perhaps I hadn’t given myself enough credit. I was not as malleable as he thought.
Perhaps I wasn’t quite as forgiving asIthought.
He hadn’t even tried to save me from marrying the baron, and I had been excusing his actions as heartbreak ever since. Then he had left me waiting for another two years. He had returned with remorse, but not with an apology. His assumption that we could resume our courtship and become engaged as if nothing had happened—as ifIhad not grown or changed—had been silently irking me since he arrived that afternoon. I had been too afraid to admit it to myself.
When the dance ended, Miles led me to the wall with the glass case full of birds. It was the wall farthest from where Alexander stood. He was in the middle of a conversation with a pretty young woman and a couple who must have been her parents. I resisted a pang of jealousy. My skin was hot, and I couldn’t manage to cool it down.
The room was overly crowded and the dance had drained my energy. I had always done well at large parties and social gatherings, but today was different. My stays felt too tight, my hair was heavy, and my gloves made my arms itch. I took a shaky breath.
“Are you all right?” Miles cast me a look of concern, pulling my gaze away from Alexander.
“Yes,” I lied.
His brow furrowed deeper. “I’ll fetch you a glass of water.”
I thanked him with a look as he weaved through the crowd toward the door.
The moment he was gone, a woman similar in age to Lady Tottenham swooped in to begin a conversation with me. I was as polite as possible, offering smiles and thoughtful responses, and inquiring after her life and situation. I wondered if she could see the painstaking effort behind it. Nothing I did or said felt natural, not after the realization that my connection to Miles might have been damaged. Could it be mended? Who was I without my hope for him? How had I allowed myself to become so dependent on a dream? I felt like an imposter in my own skin, the room slowly shrinking in around me.
Miles returned to my side with a glass, and I drank it quickly enough to draw a look of surprise from his face. As soon as the woman I had been conversing with walked away, I turned to face him. “I have a question for you, and I beg you to answer honestly.”
Miles’s brows lifted. “I have always been honest with you, Anne.”
“I know—I just…” I paused. Did I actually know? I scowled at the floor before lifting my chin. “When you called upon me here this afternoon, were you already aware of my inheritance?”
He shook his head immediately. “No. I already told you that. I was as surprised as anyone when you told me the news.”
I searched his face, scrutinizing every detail.
His eyes flashed with hurt. “Do you doubt me?”
“No, I—” My chest tightened with guilt.
“Has my brother been planting ideas in your head? I trust you are mature enough to know your own mind.” Miles took my empty glass from my hand, cradling my elbow gently. “What more can I do to prove my devotion to you?”
