Still, Ellie looked worried, but Dorian gently steered her away down the corridor. “Waltzes.”
“Yes,two,” she tried for a smile.
She bit her tongue until they were down the grand stairs and back into the ballroom. “Did you two work things out?”
“He still hates me, but he still needs me,” Dorian replied as he swung her onto the floor for their second waltz. “I am his worst enemy, so he must keep me closer than his friends.”
“Does he have friends?” Ellie asked as they twirled.
“Friends is a selective term when it comes to Carrington,” he said, “Assetsis a better word. We are assets to him, and if he loses these assets, he has nothing.”
Ellie made to answer when she glanced over his shoulder, and her brows rose. “Is that not one ofyourfriends you had invited to our wedding?”
“Ah.Salem,” Dorian said. “He prides himself on being fashionably late to every gathering.”
“Do you care to introduce me?” she asked. “Properly, this time?”
“Of course,” he replied. “But after that, I think we should leave. I am already fatigued by Carrington’s false kindness. Besides—” They turned, his astute eyes looking over her shoulder to what, orwho, she imagined was standing there.Carrington. “—We got what we came here for.”
Evelina bit her lip again. In her innermost being, she heard him saythese walls have ears and eyes. Nothing is sacred here.“Yes, we did. The peace between you and Carrington, as we wanted.”
“That is tenuous at best,” Dorian said as the music began to fade. “Now, shall we meet Wellington?”
As they left the dance floor, he led her to the man chatting to two other lords. Wellington was a beacon on the floor, his white jacket and bronze cravat inappropriate for proper dinner wear, but he did not seem to care.
“Wellington—”
The lord bowed and took her hand, kissed the back of it, and spun her in a circle. “Ooh!” Ellie gasped and then giggled.
“I am ever so pleased to meet you,” Nathan grinned wickedly. “What a sublime beauty you are. If Beaumont had not seen you first, I would have claimed you as mine. My oh my, are you sure you are notTitana, the faerie queen, cavorting with mortals for the eve?”
Leaning into her side and resting her hand right over her heart, Ellie smiled and drummed her fingers over her chest. “Your friend is a charmer.”
“Yes, he is—” Dorian’s hand dropped to her back. “—Which is why I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”
Reaching into his pocket, Nathan took out two envelopes. “I was very tardy in sourcing these, but better late than never, I suppose. You are free to use them whenever you like. Alate honeymoon, your first anniversary. The captain ofThe Magdaleneis on standby for whenever you do go.”
“That’s kind of you,” Ellie replied.
“It’s not a trouble,” Wellington said. “Also, I do anticipate you two will be at my Grand Regatta.”
“Boating?” Ellie was quizzical.
“It’ll be a rowing race for watermen and a sailing match for gentlemen’s pleasure, sailing boats,” Dorian answered her. “It’s on the Thames, the last day of this coming month, and will finish with a grand gala at Vauxhall.”
“The pleasure gardens,” she replied. “How scandalous of you, my lord.”
“Scandal is my middle name,” Wellington grinned. “Or it would have been if my parents did not have such high hopes of me following in Julius Caesar’s footsteps and named meGaius.”
“And yet, you turned into a scoundrel,” Dorian half-joked. “How funny things work out, eh?”
Snagging a flute of champagne from a passing waiter, Nathan added, “I have a boat the size of the Prince Regent’s summer home, I have a cellar full of wine, a steward that has everything in control so I can live a carefree life of sin and debauchery—” he gave them a wicked grin, “—what else can a man ask for?”
The hairs on the back of Ellie’s head stood up, and she forced back an icy shiver. Carrington was staring at them again.
“When you do consider yourself the second Beau Brommel, nothing else comes to mind,” Dorian snorted. “We were on our way out, Wellington. Enjoy the rest of the evening, and please, do not put yourself in a position to be jumping out of a twenty-foot window again.”
Ellie blinked, “Pardon?”
