“Because you shouldn’t be dancing in a garden; you should be dancing in a ballroom.”
Nothing he could have said would have pleased her more. “Are you certain they won’t mind that you’ve brought a guest?”
“Sweetheart, they’ll be so flummoxed that I arrived at all that they would not object if I walked into the ballroom naked.”
She laughed lightly. “I daresay they would object to that.”
He tilted his head. “Perhaps I overstate things. You look beautiful, you know.”
She pressed her fingers to the pearls he’d given her. “So do you.”
He laughed, just a quick burst of sound that reverberated around them.
“I mean it,” she said, slightly offended that he didn’t seem to believe her. “You are quite possibly the handsomest man I’ve ever seen. I thought that the first night I met you. I kept stealing glances at you when I was talking with the other gentlemen.” She interlaced her fingers tightly, hoping the pain might stop her from opening her mouth. “I don’t know why I confessed that. Nervous, I suppose.”
“You have no reason to be nervous, I assure you, but I should warn you that our host is not such a handsome fellow. He was gravely wounded during the war. His face is rather scarred. It can be disconcerting when you first see the extent of the damage.”
“He’s a soldier then, not a lord.” She felt a sense of relief. She would not be mingling about with the upper crust. But what of the little boy? Was he only visiting.
“He’s a duke.”
Her stomach knotted. “Perhaps we should reconsider.”
“I never took you to be cowardly.”
“I’m not afraid, but I don’t wish to create scandal. You said this was their first ball. I don’t want to ruin it for them.”
“You won’t.”
The carriage rocked to a halt. The door opened. Rafe fairly leapt out before extending his hand to her. Taking a deep steadying breath, she placed hers in his. His fingers closed around hers, strong and purposeful. She alighted, taking in the sight of so many footmen scurrying about to assist the guests as they arrived. She thought everyone would be here by now, that they would be the last, but she supposed people came and went all night. The residence was as large as Rafe’s, perhaps larger.
As he escorted her up the steps, she said, “They have a son. I hear him playing in the garden sometimes.”
“He’s but two. He’ll be abed.”
“You seem to know them very well.”
“Not so well.”
They stepped through the doorway, and he handed his hat to a servant while she took in everything. It was gorgeous. Family portraits adorned the walls. Something about them was familiar. It was the eyes she realized. All the gentlemen had such pale blue eyes.
But before she could give it much more thought, Rafe was escorting her down a hallway where a few couples waited in line. They looked at him but said nothing, and she wondered if they knew who he was.
“Do you suppose Geoffrey will be here?” she whispered.
“I doubt it. He was lost in the cards when I left the club.”
She was glad of that. He’d no doubt make a fuss, although she suspected Rafe would put a stop to it quickly enough. She did wish now that she had purchased some pearl combs for her hair, but she couldn’t bring herself to spend his money, to place herself more in his debt.
Then they were through the doorway, and her breath fairly escaped her body. It was all that she had imagined. Stairs led down into the enormous parlor. Candles flickered in the chandeliers. A mirrored wall reflected the guests milling around the edges of the dance area. The fragrance of the abundance of flowers scattered about permeated the air with a heady aroma. The ceiling was so high up that the room contained a balcony where the orchestra played. On the opposite side from where she and Rafe stood, the doors were open onto the terrace.
Leaning over, Rafe said something to the liveried servant standing there. Then he placed his hand over hers where it still rested on his arm.
“Miss Evelyn Chambers,” the man announced in a booming voice that nearly stopped her heart. “Lord Rafe Easton.”
She had assumed he would come here as a lord, but still it was disconcerting to hear him announced as such. It was so easy to forget that he inhabited this world, while she had only skipped at the edge of it. At the foot of the stairs, a couple jerked up their heads and Eve saw the scarred visage of the duke. Even Rafe’s warning had not prepared her for the massive threads of thick skin that resembled molten wax easing out from around the black eye patch and down to the man’s jaw. In contrast, the woman beside him was perfection, with bright green eyes and flaming red hair. She smiled warmly as Evelyn and Rafe descended.
As they got nearer, Evelyn realized the man’s remaining eye was the same shade as Rafe’s, ice over a clear blue lake. She fought to keep her mouth closed, to not look stunned. She didn’t want him to think it was his face that so startled her, rather than the realization that she was on the verge of meeting Rafe’s other brother. She was sure of it. If she blocked out the scars, he looked very much like the man she’d met in the park. She was half tempted to smack her fist against Rafe’s arm. Why hadn’t he confided in her?
