He proudly led Willa to the dance floor. Other couples were just taking their places for the opening set. They nodded their welcome to Matt and Willa, and he was able to introduce her to the few people he knew.
As he had expected, many gentlemen were envious of him.
However, Matt wasclaimingher. And it did feel good to not have to hide his connection with Willa, to not skulk around the way he had with Letty, lest her husband find out about them. It was freeing. Honorable. The way a relationship should be.
He focused on Willa and on dancing and enjoying the role of being in demand by all the glittering people around him. He and his new wife moved from one social group to another as introductions and reacquaintances were made. The tension between them since their conversation earlier in the day eased.
Several times, Willa helped him by quietly mentioning the names of people around them that he had forgotten. This enabled him to please many that he remembered who they were. He appreciated her help.
They had just finished a Scottish reel, part of his intention to earn fifteen points, when Willa held up her hand. “I heard it was one point for a cup of punch.”
“Is that all? I prefer the higher point activities.”
She nudged him with her shoulder for his failure to take her hint. “Very well, two points for a cup of punch.”
He placed his hand at the small of her back and looked around for a servant with a tray of drinks. He wasn’t finding one. “I’m not ready to leave your side. I need to make up for all those evenings you attended these events alone.”
“I don’t feel lonely this evening. I feel like the Duchess of Camberly. And she is a very fortunate woman.”
If a white light had come down from heaven and shone on him, Matt could not have received a better blessing.
A voice inside him asked how easy it would be to whisperI love youto this beautiful woman. A week ago, even that morning, he’d doubted love existed. But now? What if love wasn’t a grand, passionate, overwhelming emotion but a quiet serenity and a sense of peace? Such as what existed between Soren and Cassandra? Or Alice and Roland?
Could love be something as simple as helping his wife with her lacings?
Lady Bettina had struck up a conversation with Willa. She was quickly joined by two other young women. It was obvious they were attempting to curry Willa’s favor.
Unable to find a servant with a drink tray, Matt excused himself. “I will fetch a cup of punch,” he promised. Willa nodded and he was off.
The punch table was very busy. He was halfway to his destination, skirting the dance floor, when one of the Minotaur-dressed footmen bumped into him.
“Sorry, Your Grace,” the servant said, even as he slipped a small folded noted into Matt’s gloved hand. The Minotaur didn’t hesitate but kept on his way.
Curious, Matt moved toward the wall, away from prying eyes, and opened the letter—
I wish a meeting. I’ll be waiting. The side hall, third door on the left.
Hardesty
The bastard was here?
Matt stared in shock at that signature written in an upright scrawl, and forgot about punch cups. Hardesty was contacting him—just as everything in Matt’s life was working to his benefit.
Just as Matt had come into money.
Did Hardesty think to blackmail him? For a second, Matt was tempted to ignore the summons.
He knew he could not.
Using his height to his advantage, he could see Willa was still busy with Lady Bettina. There was time for a brief, and brutal, encounter with Hardesty. Then he would pick up her cup of punch and return to her.
Matt pocketed the note and went in search of the side hall.
He stopped a servant, one not wearing a Minotaur head. “Where is the side hall?”
The servant explained that two halls ran parallel to the ballroom. One was the main hallway where the guests had entered the house. The other was quieter. The card rooms had been set up there. His Grace could not miss it. What the family called the side hall was off that hallway.
Matt had no trouble finding the card room. It was well marked and very busy.
