“What?”
“Eyes up and smile. I haven’t been able to track him.”
“Why—”
“Theo, you changed while you were away, but so have I. I’m not a child anymore. I’ve been keeping tabs on him since your flogging.”
He gripped her hand tighter, but kept his face composed as he whispered, “Why are you trailing him?”
“Something is happening under my nose that I can’t quite figure out. Alan has been keeping an eye out as well. He’s been listening to the duke’s meetings.”
“He’s been what?” He could hardly hear what was coming from her lips, but at least it explained how she knew the secret goings-on of the manor.
“Theo, you need to think critically. We’re in the middle of what couldvery well be the beginnings of an internal war.”
He glided Adelaide across the floor, neither of them faltering in their steps to the song they knew by heart. Genevieve had insisted on regular dance lessons. Adelaide dipped back, her hand grazing the floor.
“If you keep doing that, people will start watching,” Theo snapped.
“Let them. It’ll keep their eyes off Amaris.”
Adelaide’s eyes shifted, and he followed her gaze as she stared at Luke dancing with Amaris.
“Who’s dark and mysterious?” Adelaide asked.
Theo’s eyes flared and his teeth clenched at the sight of him. “I thought you didn’t want to get married?”
“Who said anything about marriage? Besides, I can admire.”
How could she care about eyeing a man now? Bennet was nowhere to be found, likely putting a knot in their plans, and they had only a few short hours.
“I don’t wish to hear about men you find attractive or your intimate relations. As your older brother, I’m already obligated to kill any man who looks your way.”
“You’re so dramatic,” she groaned. “But who is he? He seems awfully chipper with Amaris.”
He spun Adelaide around to get a better look at them. Amaris was following him, not perfectly, but she wasn’t tripping over her feet either. Luke grasped her waist and spun her out. He laughed as she stumbled back into his arms. Theo’s jaw tightened.
“Are you jealous?” Adelaide prodded.
“No,” he snapped. “She can dance with whomever she likes, and that is Luke Gavell.”
“As in Prince Luke of Mensnet?”
“One and the same,” Theo answered.
“That would explain the guards I saw in the gardens.”
Theo glanced around the edges of the room and spotted the prince’sguards in their black tunics and their faces shrouded in hoods.
“We’re about to switch. Grab for Amaris.”
Theo counted the beats until the switch at the end of the song. He spun Adelaide, who twirled straight for Luke, and Theo waited as Amaris spun freely through the ballroom. If he hadn’t been desperate to cling to Amaris, he would’ve pulled Adelaide back and as far from Luke as possible. He, instead, took hold of Amaris’s hand, and she slammed into his chest. Her breath escaped her.
The song ended on its whistling tune, and a slow drum began the next melody, a soft lullaby his mother often sang to him and Luther. Amaris leaned into him. The warmth of her penetrated through his clothes and coated his palms in perspiration.
He grasped her tightly around the waist, pulling her over the dance floor. She emanated serenity. He couldn’t help but smile, at least one of them was calm. It was as if a trance had fallen over her as she closed her eyes and felt the room around her. A soft smile curved on her lips.
Was this what it was like to truly feel? A bliss transcending over a person? For days, he wondered what it’d be like to embrace her. Now, with her cheek pressed to his chest, her fingers interlaced with his, and her other hand resting on his shoulder, he didn’t want to let go. He allowed himself a moment to breathe.Why did it have to end?In a matter of hours, she would be departing for Duncaster. He pulled her closer and allowed himself to feel. To drink in every last moment with her.
