Chapter 1
“Elara, are you sure about this?”
Elara Mason’s blue eyes lifted, meeting her cousin Caroline’s worried gaze. Caroline swallowed hard, her throat bobbing.
“I just... I do not think this is the best idea,” Caroline went on, her eyes darting nervously behind her black-and-bronze masquerade mask.
Elara reached out and clasped her dear cousin’s hands, squeezing them for comfort.
“Do not give in to fear now, cousin,” Elara urged. “We have been masquerading around this town for over a year, attempting to gain information on my brother’s death, and have yet to get caught or get into trouble. Why would tonight be any different for us?”
Behind her mask, Caroline gave Elara a forlorn look, then eyed her up and down.
“Well, to begin with, you and I are actually dressed as women this time,” Caroline whispered, despite being inside their carriage.
“That is a change, is it not?”
Though Elara knew Caroline was speaking of a most serious matter, Elara could not help but giggle. Yes, it was true they dressed as young gentlemen to gain entry to private clubs and places of ill-repute in hopes of finding out what had happened to Elara’s brother, Evander, but it was also true that Elara felt a rather intense thrill at being able to pull such an immense trick over theton, and had been able to do so for over a year.
“Do not laugh!” Caroline pleaded. “This is most serious, Elara. We could be recognized in our costumes this evening, and you know good and well how poorly that would end for both of us! We have no wigs or faux facial hair to hide behind tonight. If something happens to our masks, we will be ruined!”
“Caroline,” Elara softly soothed her cousin. “Please calm down. We will be all right.”
“You do not know that, Elara!” Caroline insisted, looking more exasperated than before. “What if there is nothing to find, and we have risked everything for nothing? What if someone sees through our masks? We would be ruined, both of us. My stepmother would have the perfect excuse to punish me, and your brother would be absolutely furious with you. Adrian would lock you away for the rest of your life!”
“I am sure we will manage to—”
“Oh, Lord! If my stepmother finds out what we have been up to, I… I do not know what will happen. Even if Adrian tried to protect me, I do not even think he would be able to stop herfrom... from...”
Elara’s laughter ceased at once as she took in Caroline’s panicked look. Yes, she was very aware of the trouble she would be in with her brother, Adrian, who was now the new Duke of Redgrave since Evander was gone. He had been permitting her to sneak out at night, but only because his men kept a close guard on her. However, if he knew how often she was able to fool them, or worse,howshe and her cousin were fooling them, he would no doubt send her to a convent for the rest of her life.
She could plead with Bridget—Adrian’s new wife, whom not only Adrian adored, but Elara did as well. Still, even Bridget might not be able to dissuade Adrian from a fierce punishment.
And Mama would certainly have an apoplexy if she knew...
Then, of course, she knew her cousin was right. Elara subtly shook her head at the thought. She did not want to think about what would happen to them if they were caught. Caroline’s family had not been the same since her father died, and though her cousin never wanted to talk about it, Elara was sure a great strain was widening between her, her stepmother, and her stepsister.
Elara shook her head, harder this time, to dispel the negative thoughts. Now was not the time to give in to fear. Not when, after months of nothing, a new lead in her brother’s death had finally surfaced. A lead that, by happy circumstance, was hosting the very exclusive masquerade ball they were currently headed to.
If there is the slimmest chance that Evander is still alive... I have to do all I can to find out.
The invitation to the event had been lifted rather skillfully from another gentleman’s jacket by Elara herself after that gentleman had been showing it off at White’s last week, only moments after bashing the very host’s name: Constantine Harcourt. Not only was he the Duke of Ashworth, but he was now Elara’s newest suspect in Evander’s plight.
“Look at me, cousin,” Elara insisted. “Are we not brave?”
Caroline looked hesitant to answer her at first, then, with a sigh, muttered, “Yes, we are brave.”
“Are we not intelligent?” Elara asked.
Caroline tsked her tongue. “Of course we are.”
“And have we not been able to use that bravery and intelligence to fool not only our families but the entiretonfor well over a year?”
An impish smile tugged at Caroline’s lips as her drooping shoulders straightened.
“Yes, we have,” Caroline agreed soundly.
“You look fabulous. I look fabulous. We will not be recognized tonight. Nor will anyonewantto recognize us. That is the point of masquerade balls, especially the Duke of Ashworth’s. I hear they are the most elaborate of all, and that at many times, after the stroke of one, the ball turns into something far more… intimate.”
