She surprised him, though. “I’d love to.”
Velario led her back into the ballroom and couldn’t help scanning the room for Lady Reyn. He didn’t see her.
He and Alenna waited silently for the next dance to begin. Halfway through the dance, Alenna sighed. “I wasn’t supposed to accept your invitation, was I?”
Velario startled and actually looked at the woman in his arms. “What?”
“The dance. You offered to be polite, but you hoped I would say no.”
“If I wasn’t willing to dance, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“Willing is not the same thing as wanting, Lord Velario.” She shook her head. “No, don’t bother lying. I don’t need you to tell me how I am a perfectly amiable woman, and any man should want to dance with me.”
Velario winced. That had been precisely what he intended to say. “Should I apologize? I suppose I have taken the pleasure out of this dance for you.”
“The dance is fine, but if you want to atone, you can explain to me why a man would ask a woman to dance if he didn’t actually want to. I know it has nothing to do with appeasing your mother, as so many gentlemen claim, for Her Majesty is not even attending tonight’s ball.”
“‘As so many gentlemen claim?’ How often do you find yourself in this situation, Miss Alenna?”
“Well, as I didn’t let you say, I am a perfectly amiable woman. Men don’t fear my anger, and so I am safe to approach when they need to dance, but do not want to exert effort or cannot claim the partner they long for. Which is it in your case?”
“Neither. As you pointed out, I didn’t wish to dance at all.”
“So then, why ask?”
“Because I was in a foul mood, and I didn’t want it to be noticeable.”
Over Alenna’s head, Velario finally caught sight of Lady Reyn. She stood with a few others, smiling and laughing. The steps of the dance turned them, and Velario shifted so he could continue watching Reyn. Alenna followed his gaze.
“I wonder why my brother isn’t dancing,” she remarked after a moment.
Velario craned his neck around, searching for Giorden, only to realize he was one of the men standing near Lady Reyn.
Alenna sighed. “Men can be so strange, Lord Velario. You ask me to dance when you’d rather not, and my brother avoids asking the lady he wishes to dance with. Things would be so much simpler if we were honest with ourselves.”
The final measure of the song filled the room, and they slowed to a stop.
Velario bowed to Alenna. “Thank you for your forbearance. I sincerely wish that your next dance partner seeks you out because they know you are more than just amiable, Miss Alenna.”
Alenna looked at him sidelong. “I doubt Lady Reyn would decline your invitation to dance, Lord Velario. And you can certainly get yourself in front of all her other admirers in order to issue the invitation.”
“What are you talking about?” Velario couldn’t help but glance over to where Reyn stood once more, several men and a few women crowded around her. As he watched, she accepted Giorden’s arm and let him lead her out to the dance floor. “I don’t want to dance with Lady Reyn.”
Alenna raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t,” Velario insisted.
“Of course. Well, enjoy the rest of your evening, my lord.” Alenna left him standing alone on the dance floor.
Velario retreated to the edge of the room. He couldn’t take his eyes off Reyn. At least she was no longer cozying up to Enzi. Giorden was a decent enough gentleman, which only went to show that Lady Reyn could corrupt anyone, not that she had any good taste in companions. She favored quantity over quality.
Having extracted herselffrom Enzi’s company after a single dance, Reyn wandered the edges of the ballroom, searching for someone she’d actually enjoy spending time with. She had come out tonight intent on having fun, and yet she had spent most of her time among people she did not much care for.
She spotted Lord Arvin nearby and searched for a way to duck out of view before he noticed her. Across the room stood a group of people Selona had introduced her to before the bank claimed all her time.
Two steps toward them, and she noticed a young woman sitting in the chairs near the wall. She had no companions, not even the dubious company of a few dowagers in the nearby seats. The gentlewoman was probably Reyn’s age, but her expression made her look younger. She sat there in what Reyn recognized as abject misery, thinly veiled by feigned boredom. As Reyn watched, the other woman flinched minutely.
Arvin and his friends were laughing now. They stood only a few feet beyond the chairs.
