Breathing in deeply, Nicole tried to relax. Her cousin’s panic was all for show, apparently and certainly unfounded. “If he wants to get to know me, I’m sure he will come to find me soon enough since he has already claimed a dance.”
Emily’s gaze wandered over Nicole’s shoulder, and the younger woman’s blue eyes suddenly widened. “From your lips to God’s ears. There he is...and coming this way.”
Nicole tried to calm her excitement. But the last man who gave her any attention was Mr. Hugh Greenly. Over three months ago, he had courted her for two weeks, but the courtship didn’t last long. He backed off, telling Nicole that she was too independent for his tastes.
Now that the opium case was within days—or weeks—of being closed, she would really like to enjoy a man’s attention. After all, she wasn’t getting any younger. If she waited too much longer for the perfect man, she might become an old maid.
So, if only for tonight, she would live in a fairytale for as long as she could, playing the part of Cinderella and trying her best to make the handsome stranger become her very own Prince Charming.
Chapter Two
Ashton Lee couldn’t stop watching the very lovely woman he had helped earlier on the steps. He wasn’t certain exactly what was different about her, but she looked even lovelier now than before she hurried outside not long ago. Perhaps it was her pink cheeks or the satisfied smile she wore when she had returned to the ballroom. Seeing her this way stirred his interest up another notch.
To think, he almost didn’t attend the Reynolds’ masked ball tonight. If Ashton had stayed home, he would have missed feeling so surprised—and amused—by the lovely Cinderella. Thankfully, he had allowed his friends Glynn Nickerson and Steven Larson to convince him to come. Ashton needed to remember to thank them later.
It was still too soon to know if the mysterious woman was Lord Reynolds’ mistress or if she had been sneaking around in the man’s study without lighting for some other purpose. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions and think her a thief. Yet why else would she be in such a hurry to leave his side by the staircase?
He had dealt with enough deceitful women in the past five years to know when one had a secret. Cinderella most definitely was hiding something. For some odd reason, he would enjoy discovering what that secret was. Perhaps his eagerness to prove that women lied to him stemmed from when his fiancée ran away with a man and eloped two days before their wedding. Nevertheless, he relished the hunt to find this new woman’s mysteries.
She had captured his curiosity, and the only way to figure her out was to walk over and talk to her. Naturally, she wouldn’t confess to being the lord’s mistress, and for certain, she wouldn’t admit to being a thief, but getting to know her would be worth the trouble to see what this woman was hiding.
Once she had re-entered the ballroom, another woman hurried to the beauty’s side. This other woman appeared much younger, mainly because of her girlish pink gown and the way her blonde hair was styled as if she had barely left the schoolroom.
Cinderella’s gown wasn’t the rags the fairytale character wore, and neither was it the gown created by a fairy godmother. Instead, the mysterious woman was adorned in elegant pale blue with a lavender skirt, trimmed with a white chiffon scarf that lined the bodice and the fallen sleeves off her shoulders that came to tie at her slender back in streamers. Elbow-length white gloves gave a final touch to her ensemble.
Pearl-drop earrings hung at her lobes, and a simple string of pearls circled her slender neck. For certain, she wasn’t Cinderella unless the fairytale character had suddenly become sensual.
He definitely needed to get to know this woman tonight.
As he neared the woman and her young friend, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The younger woman’s eyes widened, and she acted as if she tried not to look his way, although she didn’t do a very good job of ignoring him. Cinderella had her back to him, and her shoulders suddenly stiffened. Indeed these two women knew he was coming.
He slowed his pace just to prolong their wait. Before reaching them, he turned and headed in a different direction, walking around a group of people standing nearby. He didn’t want to appear too anxious to see the mysterious woman. Slowly, he maneuvered his way through the crowd so that he could see Cinderella’s face—at least what the mask didn’t hide.
Finally, he could see her, and his heartbeat quickened. Although he couldn’t detect the color of her eyes yet, he could tell they were aimed at him. Her mask was unlike any he had seen before. Along the seams of the eyes-slots were chips of diamonds, giving the essence of having glittering eyes while wearing the mask. He wanted to believe her eyes really did sparkle like gems. Another remarkable feature of the disguise was the perfect stitching of small swirls along the edges of the mask, with larger stitching for the leaf-like vortexes mixed in everywhere else.
When he finally reached her, he smiled and bowed. “Greetings again, Cinderella.”
She dipped into a curtsey. “I see you are still charming me, my prince.”
“I’m happy that you noticed.” He shrugged. “I would ask for an introduction, but I’m sure you won’t satisfy my curiosity about your identity this early in the evening.”
“You are quite right, sir. Not until after midnight, anyway.”
He nodded. “Just as long as you promise not to turn into a pumpkin at that time since you are under a spell.”
She paused before tilting back her head and laughing. The musical tone of her voice surprised him. Most proper women he knew didn’t laugh so boisterous. Yet he liked how it sounded coming from her.
“Oh, Prince Charming, I’m afraid you haven’t read the fairytale story very well. Cinderella doesn’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight. She returns to her servant status.”
The young woman beside Cinderella giggled with a hand over her mouth.
He wrinkled his brow. “Then what turns into a pumpkin at midnight?”
“The coach Cinderella was riding in.”
“Well,” he shrugged, “I suppose I wasn’t one to read fairytale stories, anyway.” He grinned before turning to the other woman. “And what is your costume, might I ask?”
“I’m nothing of consequence, sir.” Her pink cheeks matched the color of her gown as she plucked at the sides. Ruffles upon ruffles flounced around her, making her look too...fluffy. This was definitely a dress made for a younger woman.
