Dash looked directly at them.
“To my sister, Lady Beatrice Beckman, who’s agreed to marry Lord Hawkins.”
The murmur became a delighted roar.
Dash waited until the laughter crested, then lifted his glass again.
“I confess,” he said, his gaze moving first to Beatrice and then to Gideon, “when this was first put before me, I had some doubts as to the notion.”
Beatrice’s smile softened.
“But I have had time to consider it. And I find I could not have chosen better for my sister if I had searched all of England.” His expression tightened briefly, the sentiment clearly costing him something. “Hawk is one of the finest men I know. He is loyal, honorable, and stubborn enough to keep pace with her—which may be the greatest recommendation in his favor.”
A warm murmur moved through the room.
Dash raised his glass. “So I surrender both a sister and a best friend. But I do so knowing they have found exactly what they deserve in one another.”
Gideon did not trust himself to speak.
Glasses rose again.
“To Lady Beatrice and Lord Hawkins!”
Gideon looked down at her, and for a moment, the noise, the masks, the candlelight, all of it receded.
There was only Beatrice.
His fierce, brilliant, impossible Beatrice.
Around them, the toasts gave way to laughter, music, and the soft swell of conversation as the guests returned to their dancing.
“When will you marry me?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “We have only just secured Dash’s blessing.”
“Then we should not waste it.”
“Gideon.”
He smiled. “Soon?”
“Soon,” she said softly.
His pulse warmed.
“Though I hardly think Dash will appreciate you carrying me off tonight,” she added.
“No,” Gideon said, drawing her into the first steps of a dance as the musicians began again. “I’ll agree that your brother’s been tested enough.”
“How considerate of you.”
“I am a considerate man.”
“You are an impatient man.”
“Also that.”
He spun her gently, careful of his injury, though not nearly careful enough judging by the look she gave him. Her skirts flared silver beneath the candlelight, and when returned to his embrace, he held her a little closer than was strictly proper.
