“I thought you said ‘some’ of them,” she whispered.
“Afewof them,” he corrected, his eyes teasing.
Changes that no one in the teeming ballroom was likely to have noticed except for Unity and the Duke of Lambley.
“Kiss her!” yelled another voice.
The crowd whooped its approval.
Julian tucked the journal back inside its nook for safety and cocked an arrogant eyebrow at Unity. “Lady X, who most definitely belongs in this ballroom, may I please have this kiss?”
“I suppose I could test your skills empirically,” she returned cheekily.
The revelers roared with laughter. “Test him! Test him!”
Before Julian could move, Unity rose on her toes and kissed him.
She had understood his message. He was giving her the recognition she’d always craved. Not just admitting privately how much he appreciated her, but showing that appreciation to the entire ballroom.
He was sharing not just the credit, but control. Possibly for the first time since inheriting the dukedom. Sharing histhrone, as though she ruled at his side, as his equal. Her head swam.
Julian wasn’t ashamed to have her in his world. He was proud. He was showing her off in front of his peers and hundreds of witnesses. For the first time inUnity’slife, she wasn’t acting behind the scenes.
She was on stage. In the footlights, not hidden behind the curtain. Acknowledged. Valued.
This was her opportunity to make a name for herself in a way that she’d never been offered before. For all these people to know who she was—and to associate her with wonderful masquerades. To look at her golden-brown face and see someone successful, someone who mattered. Someone who was going to achieve her dreams.
“W-would you untie my mask?” she managed to stammer as she stared up at him.
He gave her another kiss. When he pulled away, the ebony mask with the white feathers dangled from his hand.
“Shall I introduce you to my friends?”
She took a deep breath and turned to face the crowd. “I’m ready.”
He laced his fingers with hers again. “Lords and Ladies X, the one and only Miss Unity Thorne!”
Fresh bottles of champagne popped in unison from every corner. The crowd’s ebullient cheer shook the chandeliers, clinking the crystals together in a dazzling array of light.
Her heart raced wildly and her mouth could not stop smiling.
“What now?” he asked softly. “The night is yours.”
She fluttered her lashes, this time knowing he could see them. “Shall we take our private party upstairs?”
“I have a better idea.” His voice rasped and his gaze was hot. “Come with me.”
Chapter 19
They could barely stay out of each other’s arms as the duke led Unity up the grand stairs and along the balcony promenade to a nondescript wooden panel.
At Julian’s knock, the panel slid open to reveal a hidden doorway leading to the main quarters of his house. Kissing, laughing, they stumbled along the corridor and into an enormous bedchamber dominated by a grand four-poster bed with luxurious deep blue draperies held back against the posts by velvet ropes.
Julian lifted his mouth from hers in order to close and secure the door. When he turned back to Unity, his eyes still sparked with passion, but he did not pull her back into his arms.
“We should talk first.”
She stared at him in disbelief, her heart pounding and her mouth still tasting of his kiss. “You brought me up here totalk?”
