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“Then sit down. I do not need an escort in this house. It is ours, for now anyway. I shall be perfectly safe.”
“I do not think Simon would approve of your wandering off alone,” Ruth said.
“Well, he is clearly off somewhere enjoying himself,” Alice replied. “So, what he does not know will not hurt him. I will bring you a glass of punch on my way back. I shall only need a minute or two, just to get my head together. There is a lovely drawing room on the opposite side of the house, overlooking the garden. A seat there for a minute is just what I need.”
“Very well then. But do not be too long. There will be a queue of men waiting to dance with you, I am sure. By the way, did anyone catch your eye? You certainly seemed determined to try out as many as you could.”
Alice blushed. “No. They are all very handsome and charming. And all quite accomplished dancers. But no single individual stood out so much to me.”
That was the simple truth. She could not have named one individual over another. Except perhaps Duncan. But that was only because he had been the first. The only man who truly stood out in her mind was the one she had seen when making her entrance. The dark-haired man who had clothed himself in shadow. There had been no sign of him during the dancing, Alice had looked as often as she dared, without making the men she danced with feel as if she wished to be somewhere else.
To no avail though. There had been no sign of him.
“I will be back before the dancing resumes, Ruth,” Alice said and was waved away.
She made her way quickly around the outside of the ballroom, pausing to exchange only the briefest of pleasantries with those who caught her eye. A smile here, a nod there, the occasional polite word was enough to allow her to continue on her way. There was a sense of urgency, to escape the room before the music recommenced. Now that she had resolved to get away from the gathered company, it seemed to become more of an urgent necessity.
Finally, she was crossing the nearly empty hall in which the occasion had begun, before the music had drawn the guests through into the adjoining ballroom. Alice opened a pair of double doors into the library, closing them behind her. Immediately, the aroma of old paper and varnished wood reached her. A fire crackled in the hearth, casting the room in a flickering half-light. The curtains were drawn and no lamps had been lit.
Alice stood for a moment, her back to the doors, and took a deep breath. The drawing room she had told Ruth she was aiming for could be accessed through the library but now that she was here, the peace of the empty room was enough.
So, this is my debut to society! I am exhausted and it has barely even begun. And I am expected to choose from that array of anonymous young…dullards?
Alice found herself chuckling. Their earnestness was endearing but she could not imagine herself marrying any of them. There was something so ordinary about them.
But what would I consider acceptable? Someone who is not ordinary? Someone extraordinary perhaps? Quite the demand to make on the world, Alice.
She heard footsteps in the hall outside and thought someone might have decided to follow her. Moving quietly across the room’s thickly carpeted floor, Alice hid behind a bookcase, standing with her back to it. She heard the library door open and saw a rectangle of light reach into the room from outside. The bookcase she sheltered behind was one of many that radiated inward from the walls, each framing a tall window set in a stone casement.
A shadow blocked out the light for a moment, then the door was closed. Alice held her breath, waiting to hear if whoever it had been had remained inside the room or had left. When she heard nothing further, she peeked around the bookcase.
“Are you hiding from someone?” came a deep, male voice from behind her.
Alice gave a loud squeak of surprise, cutting herself off by clamping a hand over her mouth. She whirled to see a tall figure standing at the opposite end of the bookcase. Moonlight spilled from around the edge of a curtain that had not been fully drawn and outlined a sharp-featured profile with long, shoulder-length hair. Alice instantly remembered the man she had locked gazes with from the top of the stairs.
“You,” she whispered.
“I?” he replied with a laugh in his voice. “Quite the greeting, I must say.”
“If I am out of sorts, perhaps it is the result of being faced with a mysterious stranger in the dark?” Alice suggested with a hint of archness in her tone.
There was a faint rustling of cloth as the man reached into a pocket. Then the sound of flint being struck and a spark of light. It became a soft, orange glow as the flame ignited the wick of a lamp. Alice found herself looking at the face of the man who had so captivated her earlier. He was handsome in a lean, hungry way. His cheeks were high and slanted, his brows angular above dark eyes. There was something sensuous about his full lips that lent him a sense of the exotic. The height of him combined with broad shoulders gave an impression of masculinity and strength.
Alice felt the urge to go closer to him and pull away at the same time. An irresistible attraction combined, paradoxically, with a fear of the power he seemed to exude.
“I am Lady Alice Hathway,” Alice said. “May I know your name?”
“Harold Clauder,” he replied.
Then he swept a bow to her and smiled. It transformed his features. The harshness left him and his eyes seemed to go from smoldering heat to a gentle warmth. His supple mouth suddenly seemed made for smiling and Alice found herself returning the expression.
“It is a pleasure to meet you…should I be using a title?” Alice said.
“My name is title enough,” Harold said after a moment’s hesitation.
Alice wondered if he was hiding the fact that he had no title. Or perhaps concealing a very elevated title indeed. She could see him as a prince easier than as a pauper.
“May I ask why I find you in the library, alone in the dark?” Alice asked.
