“True, but you’ll look very fine and dangerous if you dress all in black,” Athena said with a gleam in her eyes. “With a sweeping black cape and a black mask, then tie a long scarf around your head. That should disguise you well.”
“You’ll certainly attract females.” Athena looked thoughtful. “If anyone asks whether I know the identity of the mysterious man in black, I’ll say you’re a disowned younger son on the verge of being sent to debtor’s prison. That should keep you safe.”
“You could add a sheathed sword to beat off encroaching maidens,” Julia suggested.
“No sword, sheathed or otherwise,” he said. “Swords make it very difficult to dance. But otherwise, the costume doesn’t sound too uncomfortable. Very well. ’Tis a corsair I shall be!”
When his sisters applauded, he rose and bowed dramatically. Finding Athena and Julia was the best thing that had happened to him in years.
It would be unseemly to think that his father’s death was the best thing.
Chapter 4
Anthony gave a quiet sigh of pleasure as they approached the ballroom and heard the dance music reach out to embrace the guests. He was glad Julia and Athena had persuaded him to come. He looked forward to dancing, good food and drink, and blessed anonymity.
Rather than arriving conspicuously alone, he’d come with Athena and her husband, Will. They were dressed as dashing Spanish guerillas. Will was extremely easygoing, but seeing him in the costume of a mountain warrior, Anthony wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley. Athena looked gloriously dangerous in a split-skirted female version of the costume, and as Anthony had learned from her, she’d earned her right to dress that way. He assumed the holstered pistols at their hips were not loaded.
Their host, Captain Vance, was welcoming guests at the entrance to the ballroom. He wore a sea captain’s gold-braided navy coat and white breeches, and apart from a narrow mask, he made no attempt to disguise himself.
He greeted them with a warm smile. “Will, Athena, I’m glad you could come!”
“So much for the anonymity of a masquerade,” Will said with mock regret.
“You and Athena are both too magnificently tall to be easily disguised,” Vance pointed out.
“I asked the modiste if she could come up with a costume that would make me look six inches shorter, but she merely shrugged with despair,” Athena said mournfully. “It’s hard to disguise a beanpole.”
“But a magnificent beanpole,” Will assured her as he patted her hand where it curled around his arm. “Is Lady Aurora lurking about somewhere?”
“Indeed she is. She wants to surprise everyone later.” Vance turned to Anthony. “Welcome, man in black. I hope you’ll enjoy yourself this evening.”
Vance could probably make a good guess at Anthony’s identity since he’d come with Athena and Will, but Anthony made a sweeping bow, his black cape swirling around him. “I am a man of loneliness and mystery,” he intoned in a deep accented voice. “Though I hope to alleviate the former for a few short hours this evening.”
Vance laughed. “Alleviate away, Sir Corsair. Though the mystery won’t outlast the unmasking.”
He turned to the next guests, who by chance were Julia and her husband, Major Alex Randall. They were dressed in rich medieval Italian garments. Recognizing her siblings, Julia explained, “Romeo and Juliet.”
Since Anthony knew Randall as a serious, reserved army veteran, he said, “You’re a lovely demure Juliet, but Romeo is a surprisingly romantic choice for a battle-hardened warrior.”
A smile appeared below Randall’s mask as he put his arm around his wife, “The costume suits because Romeo fell in love with Juliet at first glance, just as I fell in love with Julia.”
Julia ducked her head with a shy smile as Anthony said, “I’m very glad that you rewrote the play with a happy ending!”
As the five of them moved into the ballroom, he realized that both his sisters had married soldiers who had turned out to be admirable husbands. Maybe that meant he ought to listen to their matchmaking advice, but little brothers weren’t supposed to be obedient.
Smiling to himself, he surveyed the ballroom, which was comfortably full, but had enough room for dancing. There was sufficient light from the chandeliers to admire the costumes of other guests, but not so much light as to ruin the romantic mood. The wide space was festively decorated with sweeping lengths of sumptuously colored fabric and bundles of evergreens and berries, and like all good ballrooms, there were several alcoves where couples could retreat for a bit of privacy.
Musicians played from the gallery that ran diagonally above a far corner of the ballroom. Interestingly, curtains draped from the bottom of the gallery to the floor, perhaps concealing a surprise for later.
As he began circling the room, he realized that there was an intriguing, exotic scent in the air. Incense? But not one he was familiar with. He followed the scent and discovered a brazier in a corner tended by a masked servant who dropped a couple of pellets on the coals, intensifying the scent. A very clever idea by the Vances.
Having familiarized himself with his surroundings, Anthony looked around for a partner as the musicians struck the first notes of a popular longways dance called Apley House. Ah, that robust woman dressed as Queen Elizabeth was tapping her foot to the music, her posture that of someone yearning to dance.
He approached her and bowed, sweeping his cape before her. “Alas, I am not Sir Walter Raleigh, but would Your Royal Highness condescend to dance with a lowly corsair like me?”
Smiling mischievously, she offered her hand. “That would be a great, wicked delight, Sir Corsair!”
From her voice, he guessed that she was of mature years, but she danced well and they both enjoyed the set.
