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The dancing began shortly after dinner, and incredibly, my cousin and I were never short on partners. As the clock drew closer to midnight, I was whisked off onto the dance floor, and twirled around in time with the band playing modern songs. Elvira danced with a tall blond gentleman who looked vaguely familiar. I lost sight of her several times, but we eventually found each other by the refreshment table, laden with bowls of lemonade and chilled white wine.
“That last one was a bore,” Elvira said, limping toward me through the tight knit of ladies hovering by the dance floor. “He stepped on my toes. Twice.”
“My last dance partner only spoke Dutch,” I offered in commiseration. “He thought you were my twin.”
Elvira laughed in between sips of lemonade. “We’ve heard that before.” Her gaze flickered through the crowd. “There are so many foreigners here. I’ve had at least one American talk down at me.”
I watched her closely, a smile already waiting on my mouth. “What did you do?”
She shrugged. “I insulted him sweetly in Spanish, and he thought I was complimenting him.”
I laughed. “That’s my girl.”
Elvira’s gaze widened. “Well, he’s finally arrived.”
Curious, I pivoted and searched the crowd for my uncle’s familiar tall form and disheveled dark hair. I found him immediately, next to a broad-shouldered man with auburn hair and brawny arms. He wore black from head to toe, and it suited him. A dark knight with a heart of gold.
Whit.
“Doesn’t he look as if he’d win a fistfight?” Her voice had taken on a dreamlike quality.
“I don’t encourage violence,” I said, my words coming out high-pitched.
Elvira raised her eyebrow.
Across the ballroom, Whit turned away from my uncle, his brows pulled into a tight frown. His blue gaze scanned the room until it landed on mine. We might have been the only two people in the room. With determined ease, he parted the crowd, his eyes never leaving my face.
“You are in so much trouble,” Elvira whispered-yelled.
The man in question reached us, and inclined his head toward me, and then my cousin.
“Hello, Whit. Allow me to properly introduce my prima, Señorita Elvira Montenegro. Elvira, this is Whitford Hayes.”
“Lord,” he said with a slight smile. “Lord Whitford Hayes.”
“You’re alord?” I asked, dumbfounded.
He inclined his head and then addressed my cousin. “You’ve been found. I meant to congratulate you earlier.”
“Accepted,” she said. “It’s wonderful to meet you,LordHayes.”
Whit’s blue eyes flickered to mine, crinkling in amusement. I folded my arms across my chest, furious that he’d failed to mention that he was apeer of the realm.No wonder he had to rush home. His future wife was probably a duchess or a princess.
“And how do you know my cousin?” Elvira asked. “Why is she addressing you by your first name? Why haven’t I heard anything about you?”
Whit regarded my cousin with a peculiar expression that was at turns amused, annoyed, and insulted. “We worked together,” he began dryly. “She addresses me by my first name because she’s earned it,and”—he slanted the annoyed look my way—“I don’t know why she hasn’t said anything about me. We’re colleagues, so to speak.”
I was not, under any circumstances, imagining the slight emphasis he’d placed on the wordcolleague.
“What game are you playing now, Whit?” I asked, unable to keep the anger from my voice.
“No game,” Whit countered. “Only clearing the air. Dance with me.”
“Was that a question?” Elvira asked. “I really don’t think it was. Inez, would you mind clarifying if we’re rooting for Mr. Hayes’s pursuit?”
Before I could reply, Whit replied, “I’m here as a friend. I thought, at the very least, that’s what we were.”
“We are,” I said quietly.
