No one made overt overtures at this ball, but silk fans were whipped around in a frenzy of hidden messages, eyes flitted to the alcoves and notes were passed from hand to hand.
An undercurrent rippled the room, an insincerity that stole her own enjoyment.
Without love, was this her future?
Dark, dangerous, but desolate.
The very words her husband had growled now defined the masquerade for Aideen.
Jack, of course, was in his element, their entrance having caused quite a stir. Currently he was waltzing with Cordelia, and they made a striking couple, causing many an envious female eye to follow from behind an elegant mask.
To give the devil his due, he had chaperoned her friend most judicially thus far, and Aideen herself was more than capable of detracting unwanted advances. The claws gave a nasty scratch, but her uncle had also gifted her a small bejewelled knife which she’d affixed to her garter.
A tatty pirate approached for a dance but she shook her head. Sadly, the only man she wanted didn’t feel likewise.
Perhaps she should retire to the duke’s principal country estate. Meghan had described the place as wonderful, a sprawling castle in the Derbyshire countryside. She’d feel at home amongst the green hills and wild flowers, not this bleak landscape of pretence and deceit.
A grinning Jack swiftly appeared, breathless and with arms wide.
“Aideen, lovey,” he said, leaning improperly near – was he foxed? “Smile and caress my lapel.”
She gawked at him dumbfounded. Surely, he didn’t think–
Drawing yet closer, he whispered in her ear, “Rule number one.”
Without thought, she reached up to smooth the velvet, a pit of sorrow filling her belly.
Her husband must be here. The only explanation for Jack’s attentions. Was that why the duke hadn’t wished her to attend? Was his priggish reputation no more than a guise? Did he seek the hidden pleasures of this ball? Was his wife too dull and innocent?
Surreptitiously, Aideen scanned the throng of masked guests for a figure in black but saw no sign. “I’m sure he won’t recognise me.”
“And I’m sure he will,” replied Jack. “Now laugh, Your Grace.”
She followed the command, always having been able to feign cheer in the face of her da’s bitterness, and serenely, she brushed a hand over Jack’s waistcoat, purring her delight at the beautiful red silk.
“Steady on though,” he muttered, “I’ve seen what your husband has in that cane of his and I might have a use for my tallywags later in life.”
That produced a more honest laugh. “Did you know he was here? Why didn’t you tell me? I never would have come if I’d known.” She smiled through the question and gazed adoringly.
“I might have helped choose his apparel.” Jack winked before sheepishly glancing over one shoulder. “He’s gone, but I’m convinced he recognised you as his demeanour was stiffer than usual. He didn’t appear happy.”
No. The Duke of Rakecombe wouldn’t like his orders disobeyed, but then he himself had suggested Jack attend her, so there was no need to be such a dog in a manger.
“Where’s Cordelia?”
“Don’t worry, she’s at the–” Jack peered across the heaving room. “Bugger and blast, our lamb has frolicked off. I’ll be back in two shakes.”
Bidding him find their lost sheep – he needed a crook not a pitchfork – Aideen instead meandered to the gardens.
Rakecombe didn’t strive to tamp down the fury and envy. He let it rage.
Images battered his skull. A foppish hand on his wife’s voluptuous black-clad arse. Her cherry lips smiling at some toga-cladded imbecile. Licking the champagne from her lips as a Greek god leered at her breasts.
Aideen may consider her disguise sufficient, but he’d recognise that lush backside anywhere, and her clover pendant had been a final confirmation.
Clenching his fists, he stared into the depths of night and forced his breathing to slow. It was his own fault, of course. He knew that. To say no to Aideen was to decree the exact opposite. Winterbourne he would send home in a box, and what the blazes was innocent of the Season, Miss Cordelia Greenwood, doing here?
Damn, how he detested these parties – full of brash young bucks and greedy ladybirds, but this was where Phineas had suggested, and he agreed it was certainly clandestine.
