Page 4

Her face fell. “You just want to expedite my departure.”

“Was I that obvious?” he asked drily.

“Fine. If you insist on hovering about while I explore the masquerade, so be it.”

Adam raised a hand. “I did not say that. I said I shall help you get what you want. But we shall do so my way. I will be choosing where we go, when, and how.”

Miss Fowley scrunched up her nose as she looked around. As if she had a choice! It was either that or Adam was dragging her out of the place kicking and screaming. There was no way he was leaving her alone.

“Very well,” she conceded. “All I want to do is just see this place. Get a feel of the masquerade. Soak up all the enjoyment around me.” She twirled around slowly as she spoke, her eyes shining, her arms outstretched as though she was in some magical temple, not the palace of the depraved. “I’ve read so much about this place. It is simply glorious.”

Adam let out a snort, and she immediately snapped her face back to him, looking annoyed. “Glorious? A place full of thieves, harlots, and reprobates is glorious?”

She raised a haughty brow. “You’re here too. Aren’t you?”

Adam swallowed a nasty retort. She was right. He was here. He didn’t think it was glorious, though. “Fine. I shall take you on a promenade around the room, and then we leave.”

“That’s all?” She looked quite offended. And as such, she looked quite adorable too, with her lips parted and her brows knitted in a bow. “A promenade?”

Adam swallowed a chuckle. He was enjoying the banter with this stubborn bluestocking, he realized. But he was not about to show that. Otherwise, the cunning chit would take advantage and make Adam stay here all night escorting her about. “Yes,” he said firmly. “One turn about the main hall.”

“And one dance,” the stubborn woman added hastily.

Adam expelled a deep breath. His eyes followed his friends, who were now moving toward the card room, whisky in their hands, and some had women on their arms. So much for a free night out. “Fine. One dance. One turn about the room. And then you leave.”

“Fine.” The chit had the gall to smile wide, her eyes glowing with glee.

“And you need to wear your mask at all times,” Adam added.

Her expression immediately darkened. “But I can’t see anything without my spectacles.”

Adam held up her mask before her nose with a smirk. “What is your final answer?”

She grumbled something indecipherable under her breath and snatched the mask away from his fingers.

Adam let out a breath.

Finally.

One dance, and he’d be rid of the obstinate woman.

* * *

Beatrice placed her hand in the crook of Mr. Lewis’s arm as he led her around the main hall. Her insides tickled with anticipation, and she forced her steps to be poised and elegant, although she wanted to skip like a little girl.

She was at the Hades’ Hell masquerade! The most notorious masquerade ball London had ever known. Just as she had always dreamed. And she was walking on the arm of a handsome—if somewhat surly—gentleman.

They walked around the hall in silence, but the buzz of conversation, laughter, and music made Beatrice tingle with happiness. This was what she had wanted to experience for so long.

True, she couldn’t see much of anything. She had noticed the painted walls of the hall depicting the most atrocious acts when she had her spectacles on. She had imagined she would find erotic undertones in the decor. Instead, it was filled with gruesome scenes from Dante’s Inferno.

Now she could barely tell a flower pot from a person. But the flickering candles, the colorful costumes, and the feeling of excitement in the air were enough to make her enjoy herself.

There was an undeniable atmosphere of chic and beauty, and yes, depravity, but that was what this masquerade was known for!

Contrary to the festive environment, Mr. Lewis was as dark as a cloud on a rainy day. But since Beatrice couldn’t see anything else, she concentrated her gaze on the man beside her.

He was dressed simply but elegantly in all black, offset by a crisp white shirt and stark cravat. A domino half-mask in the same jet-black hue concealed the upper half of his face, adding an air of mystery.