“Not now,” Luc told her. “We must speak to a number of people.”
“We have already spoken to a number of people as they arrived,” she replied.
“Nina, no one dances at their engagement party.”
Having learned most of the things she knew from books, she did not recall this detail. In her romances, in her imagination, there had been dancing.
Nina stared at Luc, but he smiled and dragged her to talk to another couple, then another. Luc knew exactly what he wanted to say to each person and monopolized every conversation, steering it in the direction of his choice. She was left standing silently at his side.
She had a panicked feeling, as if splinters were digging into the palms of her hands. She wanted to draw herself into a corner and take a deep breath, but there was a terrible amount of activity, dozens of people smiling at her. She gripped Luc’s arm.
She felt he was the only element keeping her afloat, and why, why was there such tightness in her chest?
“Could we sit down for a moment? Perhaps go outside for a breath of fresh air?” she asked. “I do not feel too well.”
“Darling, do you see that man over there?” Luc said. “That is Flavio Odem, and I am hoping he will help finance a crucial business venture of mine. We have to talk to him.”
“Five minutes, Luc.”
“Nina, we must take advantage of this opportunity. It is difficult to obtain a meeting with a number of people in this room.”
“Luc, please.”
He was looking in the direction of Odem and only threw her a quick, irritated glance.
“He is heading toward the smoking room. Nina… fine, you go outside for a minute. I can’t take you into the smoking room with the men, anyway.”
“Luc.”
“Be a good girl,” he said, and now he granted her a sweet smile.
He left with that. Nina somehow managed to slide out of the house. She took a deep breath.
The full moon smiled above her, and Nina tipped her head up to look at it.
How much better and quieter it was outside, the voices of the party muffled, the lights of the chandeliers not blinding her. She’d wanted this, had she not? She’d come to Loisail for this, and the city had been cruel, but now it had granted her the childhood dream she’d built from scraps of books. And soon they’d be away from the metropolis; Luc had promised her a long honeymoon, and they would settle in another city. This suited her well.
Something buzzed against her cheek, and Nina turned her head and saw a nocturnal beetle flutter and land on her hand.
It was a blue lightning bug, with luminous spots, a creature meant for warmer climates and summer days. How odd it should fly around Loisail! Then again, it had been a warm spring.
I must tell Hector of this find,she thought, and had to mentally correct herself because it was Luc. She ought to tellLucabout the beetle. She turned her head, ready to slip back into the party, and then did not move.
Because Luc would not care. He was in the smoking room, speaking to his friends.
The beetle flashed blue in a blinking, cycling pattern, then suddenly took off, fluttering away.
She followed it, drawn by its light, with slow steps, then faster, then so fast, she was running, almost tripping over her dress. Three blocks from the house, she lost sight of the insect.
Nina stood there, stunned, uncertain, not knowing what she was doing or why.
It came to her then, a single thought so overwhelming, it erasedeverything: the discomfort of the evening and the rational voice in her head pleading for her to turn back ceased. The thought was simply that she wanted Hector.
She ran toward the nearest avenue where she might catch a carriage, almost stumbling into the path of a horse. The driver yelled a curse and reined in his mount, the carriage stopping right in front of her.
“Are you mad, girl?!” he exclaimed.
Yes,she thought. Yes and no, for she had not been this clearheaded in days.
