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He scratched his clean-shaven face, giving it some thought. It had been a few weeks since he had last been to a social, so perhaps it wasn’t that horrible of an idea. No one would know who he was, so he wasn’t at risk of being hounded around the ballroom—again.
“It’s tonight?”
“Aye…so is that a yes?”
“Ah, blast it. I do feel adventurous today.”
Chapter 3
Annual Winter Season Ball, London, December 1814
Eloise clasped her bright yellow feathery dress tighter, gazing around the ballroom. She felt overdressed. A peacock to the flock, and not in the good sense, if ever there was one.
Her nerves never seemed to ease either, no matter how much time passed by and how many balls she had attended. Every single time, it was the same. As though her heart would explode, if not from the excitement, then from the fear she would make a fool of herself once more.
“Now, please, be mindful. Eloise, I hope to see your dance card filled this time and, Kate, you should stay close to me. We don’t want young Lords thinking they can get too comfortable around the most precious Lady of the season,” Aunt Alexandra said.
Aunt Alexandra was very adamant about how a Lady should act during a ball.
Rule number one: never look a man in the eyes.
Rule number two: never, ever, make a fool of yourself. This rule included slipping, awkward and unpleasant conversations, and dancing with clumsy Lords.
Rule number three: never approach a Lord first.
Eloise had burned them to memory and followed them closely, asthe alternative was being lectured back at home for hours on end. Kate always seemed to get the worst, but that was nothing out of the ordinary considering the pedestal Aunt Alexandra placed her on.
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, mama,” Felicity, Kate, and Eloise mumbled in unison.
“Marvelous. Then let the night begin, my girls.”
Eloise audibly gulped the moment the three of them walked away, leaving her alone in the large ballroom, as usual. The event was much grander than anticipated; it was the annual Winter Season ball, after all, one that people had been looking forward toallyear—including Eloise herself.
She had never seen so many people gathered together in one place. And someone had the grand idea of making it a masquerade ball this year around, making it near impossible to recognize a familiar face among the sea of strangers. All she could make out were the elaborate masks and gowns, some of them extravagant and colorful, while others simple and mudded. Often, they were very telling of a person’s station in life. Eloise herself had chosen a modest mask, pale pink, with not much in the way of decoration.
A familiar color of royal blue caught her eye as she noticed Felicity up ahead, already chatting with a courtly gentleman and flaunting her dress. Eloise couldn’t help but feel her stomach turn and her frustration rise, all inevitably culminating into a lonely feeling of hopelessness. It looked as beautiful as she had hoped it would. After all, she had done a mighty fine job of putting it all together, and she would do the same for next year’s ball if she had to.
Walking over to a nearby refreshments table, Eloise poured herself a glass of sweet ratafia wine to help take her mind off it all. But worry only swept her further as she thought back to James. She had promised him she would wear blue, his favorite color, and now it felt as though she was already shattering what affinity the two of them had built over the weeks.
In her pitiful state, she gazed from the crystal chandelier down to the chalk-painted dance floor, where couples danced together in unique costumes, and she pinedat the sight. If there were one social quality Eloise knew she had over the gentry, it was her dancing, her ability to float in smooth and swan-like motions. It was the way she wooed James in the first place, and a faint smile found its way back to her lips at the thought.
Now, where is James? He must surely be here by now.
Rather than standing on ceremony, Eloise decided to snoop around in search of him—a task she found enticing. After wandering around the ballroom for a short while, and having little success, she carried herself through an arched door at the back of the ballroom, and into a dimly-lit corridor that was surprisingly empty and silent. In contrast to the garlanded ballroom, it appeared largely unfurnished, aside from a lengthy red rug stretching across the hallway. The end of the hallway split into two directions, which Eloise could only assume led to the upper quarters or the gardens. James wouldn’t be here, but her curiosity got the better of her anyway, and she made her way across the passage, the muffling of her feet the only sound present.
As she closed in on the end of the hall, a crack of light flickered from one of the side rooms, indicating movement. Soon, a soft giggle reached her ears as a door slightly ahead of her carefully shut. Unwilling to interrupt a couple from their secretive meetings or embarrass anyone, she continued on tiptoes, grinning beneath her hand. Continuing on, she turned to take a left, feeling a slight breeze cross her skin from that direction.
But another giggle, this time louder, rooted her feet to the rug. It sounded like James.
She raised an eyebrow this time, backtracking toward the door. Placing her hands softly on the handle, she paused once more for a brief moment. An overwhelming sense of dread spiraled in her stomach as she inhaled a calming breath.
It isn’t him. No, it can’t be him. Or maybe he’s probably just…just…
Before thought, her figure accidentally leaned against the handle, swinging the door open and exposing a couple in the room.
She covered her mouth with her hands, suppressing the gasps from escaping. ItwasJames—he wasn’t wearing his mask. His lips trailed a masked woman’s neck, and Eloise felt her body crumble. She hadn’t made her presence known, her voice still breathless, as she slowly proceeded backward until her foot hit the wall on the other side.
