“It’s the truth.”
“Say that in French,” I said dreamily.
“C’est la vérité, ma belle.”
That velvety accented voice calling mehis beautyat the end made me feel like swooning. “You think I’m beautiful?”
His eyes softened. “Oui. Plus que les étoiles dans le ciel.”
More than the stars in the sky.
Gracious, who knew that my buttoned-up tutor had such a charming, fanciful side? Brimming with elation, I flung my arms around his neck, reaching up on my tiptoes as we swayed together to the strains of the fiddles in the other room, which had shifted to something softer and sweeter. I pressed my cheek to his chest, lulled by the sound of his steady heartbeat.
“What if we could run away? Go live in a tiny village somewhere. You could teach and write a book on mathematical theories,and I would invent magnificent telescopes, discover a thousand stars and comets—” I broke off. “Since it will be just the two of us, I suppose I could keep things tidy and cook.”
Lips twitching, Tarik shot his brows high. “You can cook?”
“Well, no. But I can learn,” I said brightly. It couldn’t be so hard, could it? Half of doing anything was having the confidence to start, though in my befuddled state, I wasn’tquitesure what that would entail. “Wait, can you?”
“I know a few French dishes.”
I scrunched my nose, deep in thought. “Perhaps if we don’t want to starve, you might have to be the cook at first and then you can teach me. There! It’s settled.”
“You’ve thought this through,” he said smiling.
“One can accomplish quite a lot with thorough planning.”
He chuckled, his blue eyes warm and open as we swayed back and forth. There were a few couples near us, dancing as scandalously close as we were, though there were no vigilant patronesses to frown or warn us about remaining twelve inches apart. I felt happy and unfettered in a way that I had never been, not even at Trinity.
“I suppose that’s fair,” he said. “So, do you truly want to be a star-and-comet hunter? Is that your dream—to discover celestial bodies?”
“One of them. Did you know Caroline Herschel discoveredeightcomets?” I sighed and pulled away from him to spin myself slowly while staring up at the peeling patchwork ceiling as if I could see to the infinite night sky beyond it. “A tiny woman with huge dreams who persevered through illness and adversity anddidn’t let anything stop her. I want to be remembered for something great like that. Can you imagine a comet named afterme?”
“I believe you will achieve whatever you put your mind to,” Tarik said, studying me from where he stood near the alcove, one lean shoulder propped up against the wall. He sounded sincere.Genuine.I loved that about him—he didn’t diminish my dreams or belittle my ideas like most of the other older gentlemen in theton.My good cheer soured at the thought of my future.
“Alas, if my father marries me off to some old goat of a peer, he will determine the freedoms I have.”
“He intends to marry you off?”
I nodded. “At the end of the season to someone of his choosing, unless I can find someone suitable enough for him before then.”
“What does suitable entail?” he asked.
Something in his voice made me pause and glance at him, but instead of being open, his face was back to being annoyingly unreadable. I almost told him to get rid of his Trinity face but stopped myself at the last second, reminding myself that I wasRosalin,not Ansel. Thanks to that dreadful ale, my thoughts were so muddled that I’d almost given myself away again!
I shrugged. “Suitable to me, or suitable to the duke?”
“Both, I suppose.”
“WhatIwant is someone who is smart yet handsome, decisive but thoughtful, adventurous but also safe, a brilliant, inventive mind steeped in compassion…a boy who would help a girl escape the pressures of her life, if only for an evening.” My reply emerged in a garbled rush, and I swallowed past the lumpin my throat. “You, if I’m being honest.” The words were a wistful whisper I wasn’t even sure he could hear, but from the intense way Tarik was staring at me, I was certain he had.
He’d lost his coat at some point, and his sleeves were rolled up again, exposing those strong forearms. His cravat was gone as well, putting his bare neck on display. It gleamed with perspiration from our dance, his muscles flexing. He’d be barred from a London ballroom for such unforgivable impropriety, but I couldn’t bring myself to ponder the asinine rules of high society. Here, other gentlemen in this tavern seemed to relish being in a state of undress. The women, too, were displaying a shocking amount of cleavage and skin.
But I only had eyes for him, and he only had eyes for me…
“And the duke?” he said softly.
Bridging the gap between us, I moved closer to him. I caught my lip between my teeth, my eyes burning. Because even though everything about him was perfect forme,he’d never be enough for the Duke of Delmont. “Titled. Influential. A match to strengthen our position in theton.”
