Warren was kept busy as a son of a pure blooded mother like Venetia, who had a good amount of connections with the high-cla.s.s vampires. Complying to Warren"s request, Heidi behaved like the doll she was supposed to, smiling and greeting the people. There were times when people made her uneasy, not just the men but also the women. The women held a low value to the humans and they didn"t hide it and the men spent more time pressing their lips on her hand even with their partners next to them. At a certain point, Warren had thankfully come to her rescue by making her hold a gla.s.s of wine.
From where she stood she could see the slaves that were lined towards the wall, who had their heads bowed and eyes casted down on the floor. Looking around, her eyes caught sight of Nicholas with a group of people who had surrounded him, listening to whatever tale he was spinning with a lady next to him.
"Would you like to dance, milady?" one of the men asked with his hand outstretched. Unsure of what to do, she looked at Warren who nodded his head with a smile, telling it was alright. Giving the man a small smile, she placed her hand and as she walked her eyes met Nicholas" eyes who didn"t have a happy smile but a grim look.
The man was a human like herself, a polite one which was very rare to find in the midst of the people in the hall here. There was no reason for her to show her distaste towards the man and she danced with him, just the way Stanley had taught her to be prepared for such occasions. She had been so consumed with her thoughts before that she couldn"t even remember the man"s name. Heidi danced until the song was complete and before she could return back to Warren"s side she caught sight of Lettice indicating her to come where she was.
"You look stunning tonight. I hope Warren didn"t forget to compliment you," Lettice"s words made her smile.
"You look nothing less than the beautiful moon itself," Heidi grinned.
"You are good with words but thank you. How are you doing?" Lettice asked looking at the people in the hall.
"Fine as usual. I didn"t know music could be played so sad," she commented.
"Ah, you don"t like it? You get used to it after hearing it several times," Lettice said tucking the blonde strand of her hair behind her ear that was hindering one of her eyes.
Remembering about the letter, Heidi asked, "Was there any reply from my family?"
"I called you here to speak about it. I received the letter from my maid today," Lettice and Heidi didn"t want any suspicion and therefore had sent the letter in the name of the maid who worked for the Meyers, "The letter said that he doesn"t work there anymore and was kicked from the household due to his inability to work. There"s a small problem though..." seeing Rhys return, making his way towards Lettice, he hugged his wife.
"What is it?" Heidi asked.
"I sent a man to look and search for Howard at the Duke"s residence but he hasn"t returned back yet. Don"t worry, I am sure he will be fine," Lettice pulled, an encouraging smile on her lips.
"Yes," Heidi answered.
After Lettice and Rhys left, Heidi couldn"t help worrying for the old man who had risked his life for her sake. If only...she thought to herself. If she hadn"t tried running away that night, Howard would still have been safe. If only Nora hadn"t ratted him out, everything would have gone according to her plan. But what was done, was done and there was nothing that could fix it.
On her way back to where Warren was, Heidi caught sight of someone unexpected talking to Warren and her footsteps stilled with her heart. What was the Duke doing here? She asked herself before turning on her heel and making her way out of the crowd, away from the man who had had threatened to violate her. With quick movements, she finally stepped outside the hall and walked up the stairs where there was no one in sight.
Rubbing both her hands against her arms, she continued to walk until the music had simmered down with now nothing but the silence and the wind blowing outside. As she walked she saw snow falling from above where there was a large patch of roof missing. It felt like magic, she thought to herself and it looked absolutely beautiful.
"Beautiful," startled she turned her head to see it was Nicholas, walking up the flight of stairs to where she was. With Nicholas around, she realized there was nothing to worry about.
"It is beautiful, isn"t it," she commented looking up the sky from where the snow was falling.
"I didn"t mean the snow, Heidi," his words made her heart soar and her cheeks burn.
"You look handsome," she said, sparing a small glance towards him and then looking back at the snow.
"Is that right? Tell me why I am not able to hold your gaze then?" he asked to see her blush in response. He always had her gaze, she thought to herself.
"Where is this place? It feels like we are in an entire different land," she asked him curious.
"This is the mansion of the second lord of Bonelake," he replied to see her eyes go wide in eagerness. She did look like a naive child, Nicholas observed her. He had been talking to one of his acquaintance when he had seen her hurrying herself out of the hall as if she had seen a ghost. He had excused himself, trying to find her which was easy as he knew the mansion like the back of his hand.
"Wow really? Why is it abandoned though?"
"Well, you could say after the second lord of Bonelake pa.s.sed away, the third lord had his own mansion and didn"t want use something which was already used. The council came to a decision to take it under its property as the lord had no family."
"I see," she replied softly.