Lord Ebenezer began the first part of the waltz and she followed automatically. As they moved around the dance floor, she caught Maria and Anna waving and grinning at her like madwomen. They were clearly excited and did not try to hide it. Ladies glanced at them jealously, but Theodora did not give a damn as her mind drifted.
Why is nothing happening? Why is my body so infuriatingly selective?
“You dance beautifully,” Lord Ebenezer said.
“Thank you, so do you.”
“And you look beautiful as well.” He looked at her with a familiar heated look, but she did not return it.
She offered him a shy smile instead.
“And,” he added, “I have heard you are quite intelligent. I would love to hear more about your interests.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Truly?”
“Yes, of course.”
Finally,she thought.A man who appreciates a women’s intellect.
She felt a small spark of hope until?—
“Women’s hobbies always intrigue me,” he said brightly as if there was nothing wrong with his statement.
Her smile froze. “Hobbies?”
“Yes, of course. Is that not what reading and studying is to you lot?” He frowned slightly, as though she asked a ridiculous question.
Theodora stared at him. Her body stiffened and her mind told her to flee from this man who considered her life’s work as a hobby.
Ahobby.
She laughed sharply, and disbelievingly. “I’ve spent most of my years studying science, dedicating myself to research, toobservation, and to understanding the world only for a man to tell me he loves my little hobby.”
“I did not call it little,” he protested.
“Well,” she said coolly, “you might as well have.”
She stopped dancing, right in the middle of the floor.
Lord Ebenezer looked around nervously. “Miss Dowell?”
“Good night to you, Lord Ebenezer. I wish you luck on your future travels.”
She turned on her heel.
Behind her, he called, “I did not mean to offend you!”
She spun back, ready to deliver a scathing remark when?—
“Alexander?” she said his name under her breath like a prayer.
Across the ballroom, half-hidden behind a column, stood the Scarlet Duke and he was watching her.
CHAPTER 20
Alexander had returned to London with a single purpose: to find Theodora and let her know that her experiment was driving him crazy. She truly was a sorceress who put a spell on him.
