"The Hannings" masquerade is always entertaining."
"Yes. Though one must maintain awareness at such gatherings."
She wondered what Trant thought of the whispered rumors surrounding her, for he still seemed set on his suit.
"One must always keep caution in mind."
Especially when capable hands wanted to smear the crimson juices farther below. Marking her inside as well as out.
Stop thinking of him.
"I invite you to spend the evening near me. I will make sure you are in full view of the a.s.sembly."
"That is a very generous offer, Mr. Trant." Her sleeve brushed the sleeve of another woman, Trant turning her just when they might collide. But, of course, he wouldn"t make such a mistake. "I will give it serious consideration."
She noticed John Clark watching from the edge of the floor, and again something uneasy slid through her. The rakes had sniffed an opening. They wanted to see if the whispers were true.
She should stay near Trant. Or near Mother.
She caught a flash of blond hair curling above a mask, making her breath catch. But the color was too strawlike. Not rich, spun gold.
Her pulse beat uncomfortably fast. Her stomach clenching the muscles below.
Don"t show.
She had been looking forward to seeing Roman, but suddenly, everything in her clenched in dread.
"I spoke with your father earlier," Trant said.
His eyes examined her, as if he knew something, or suspected, but couldn"t yet be sure.
Don"t show.
"I hope you found him well." She tilted her head as they twirled.
"He was more amenable in nature than I usually find him."
She swallowed, keeping the cool smile about her lips. Reading into his statement easily.
Don"t show.
Roman could simply crawl through her window later . . . yes, please. For here, where two worlds were able to collide, just like at Vauxhall, he was at his most dangerous to her real life.
And with John Clark prowling the edges like a wolf sensing an unguarded chicken in the coop, she needed to secure the gate.
She stuck close to Trant, dealing with his marital insinuations and probing questions, not separating from him until an hour later-the need for breathing room finally overtaking firm caution.
Emotion always led her to trouble. Diabolical feelings had crept beneath her cold mask weeks ago, whispering, and now she seemed unable to rid herself of them.
Whispering of want. Trying to overcome the very real barriers she needed to maintain.
Her mother. She needed her mother-a natural repellant to anything remotely liberated. She walked a clear path to her destination, purpose in her movements, an attempt to dissuade any predators lurking at the edges.
"Merrick hardly cares," a voice hissed, only audible because of a sudden musical pause.
Her feet slowed.
"How much do you owe?"
Three men stood, heads bowed together, a large double pillar behind them with a plant between.
Keep moving! Do not stop!
Her fingers disobeyed, and her fan slipped to the floor. She bent to retrieve it, ducking into the area on the other side of the pillars. Pressing against one, listening.
Foolish girl.
"Forty."
One of the men whistled.
"A thousand at the races, a thousand at faro, a thousand to my tailor. All spread here and there. You have the same liabilities." The man"s voice was harsh, pride stung.
"I don"t owe one man forty thousand pounds."
"He consolidated my d.a.m.n debts. Every single one. "
"Well, old boy, I have to say, you left yourself open for it."
"I did no such thing."
"Shouldn"t have dabbled there. I told you so that night."
Smack.
She jerked as the wooden pillar she was standing behind-a pure decoration along with the dozen others in the room-shook at the smack of the man"s hand.
" She had it coming. "
"And now you do."
"I need you to help me, not treat me like a child."
"I don"t have twenty, no less forty, mate. Besides, bad business to get involved."
"Do you know what they do to people who don"t pay?"
"Ask your brother to help."
"He"d rather serve me up to them himself."
"Beg then. Only way around it. He can put the matter before Parliament. Heard whispers from others. Wanting to do something about them. Wanting to see them ruined. Or . . . have something else happen to them."
"Shut your trap," the third voice hissed. "Do you have a death wish? You don"t know who might be listening."
There was some grumbling, and some nervous stuttering, and the men moved away.
She swallowed. How she had avoided hearing all about the Merricks before, she didn"t know, as the least mention was a shout to her ears now.
She wondered what the men had meant about Parliament and ruin. About something else happening to the Merricks.
The air at her side stirred, drifting across her bare shoulder. She stiffened.
"Hear anything interesting lately?" A staccato-edged melody.
Thoughts of newly interested rakes or political gossip or something decidedly more deadly retreated under the onslaught of twining emotions. No one in the ton possessed such a voice. That street accent lurking in the syllables beneath.
With her back still pressed to the pillar, she turned her head to see Death-or surely the visage of such-leaning against the pillar next to hers, only a few feet away, separated only by the fans of a fern. His head tilted back, just enough so she could see perfect lips smirking beneath a full-hooded cloak.
"No."
His mouth curved, though his eyes were lost to shadow. She had a feeling he had been standing there for far longer than she wanted to admit. She had become much more observant since he had entered her life, and she always seemed aware of him, but perhaps only when he wanted her to be.
"You look beautiful clothed in white, golden hair knotted and curling over your shoulder. Some kind of Greek G.o.ddess?"
"Some kind." She looked him over, tension and dread slipping beneath the pleasure that always rose up to override everything else when he was near. Happiness that he had shown and was next to her. "So, Death? Aren"t you missing a few accessories?"
"They took my weapon at the door. Said they didn"t want any "accidents." " He easily closed the gap between them. Touching the small knife at her waist. "How did you manage to keep yours? Dainty, yet strong enough that you could unman someone if you stuck it just so." He made a motion to an unmistakable spot on a man. "No one thinks you a threat?"
"Their mistake." She tossed her head and smiled. Easy banter that she had been unable to let loose with anyone other than her sister and Miranda, until this man had stormed into her life.
"And you? Come collecting?" she asked lightly, as he leaned down and into her. Their banter nearly as intoxicating to her as their physical actions. She loved flirting with this man.
"On a mission for souls." His lips brushed her ear, his hood brushed her hair. "Don"t worry, Charlotte, I will take gentle care of yours."
They were out of view of the traffic lanes. And for a long moment she wished everyone else beyond the pillars would disappear, cease to exist.
"I wasn"t sure you"d come," she said, her voice so low as to be a whisper. Conflicting desires battled each other-fear that he had arrived, pure bliss that he stood in front of her.
"I have an invitation." He languidly tapped his chest and stepped back, leaning against the pillar next to her, a proper distance in the event that anyone came upon them. "Do I need to check you for yours?" His mouth jerked wickedly beneath the hood. "Search you for it?"
She rubbed her bared arms, wary thoughts overriding the others for a moment. "Actually, the night has an ill feel to it." Danger and unease. She watched him for a reaction but couldn"t see anything but his lips beneath the dark hood. "Perhaps, perhaps we can meet later. I . . . I"ll come to you?"
"Will you?" There was something strange about the way he said it. Something she couldn"t discern.
Her mouth opened without her consent. "I can"t see your eyes." She reached up to push his hood back, and her thumbs brushed his cheeks. He stilled, and she froze as well. Sometimes she said and did the most absurd things when near him.
Especially because if anyone stepped around the closed-off s.p.a.ce, they"d be able to see him. But she needed to see him, had to know what he was thinking.
She pushed the hood fully back.
A dark mask circled his temples. Black ovals r.i.m.m.i.n.g clear, light blue. Golden hair curling about his crown, falling to brush the mask. Straight nose and full lips beneath. Not a haughty, patrician face. Not the hawkish or mousy features of many of the men in her sphere. But straight, hard lines dipping into sensual curves, over and over again around his face and body.
"Better?" His voice sounded amused, but there was something shuttered in his eyes, as if he didn"t quite know how to respond-wasn"t sure what she wanted from him.
She pulled his hood up so that it covered his hair although she could still see his expression, his eyes.
A waltz started up, heavy and pulling.
He smiled flirtatiously, as if trying to dispel the haze. "Is this where I ask you to dance then?"
She blinked. "You can"t dance with me."
"I a.s.sure you, I know the steps." He looked amused, but again it was as if he was using the emotion to push at a barrier.
"No, I mean, people will notice us."
There was something dark and completely visible in his eyes before it cleared, and only amus.e.m.e.nt remained. "You think someone will peer under my hood? See if there is a face beneath?"
She wanted the banter. She wanted him. But the wariness that had been creeping upon her had sunk in its claws. Rational thought, which had been far too long missing, pushed through. "No, but even if it takes weeks, it is a game for the ton to identify those beneath the disguises. Rarely does anyone remain anonymous for long." She threw a hand to his costume. "All it takes is for someone to bribe the butler who read your invitation."
He smiled lazily and fished a paper from the dark cloak. "Would it do your reputation ill to be seen dancing with"-his eyes dropped to the vellum-"Mr. Reginald Barton then?"
Her lips parted, then pressed together. "You stole his invitation."
" Borrowed. Borrowed, Charlotte." The lazy smile was still about his lips, but there was something tight in his eyes. "I have my own invitation, but I knew you wouldn"t want to be seen with me."
"That"s . . . that"s not it." Pride stiffened her spine. She wasn"t a sn.o.b.
"I can dance with a maid and one or two of the courtesans as well, if you"d like. People who we can be a.s.sured will keep their silence if any of them figures out who I am. Women of my kind." He flashed a smile. She couldn"t smile back though.
"Come Charlotte, you"re not frightened , are you?"
Her stiff pride told her to respond in the negative. "A little, yes."
He bowed low over her hand, his hood swinging back down to cover him completely from her view as his lips lingered on her clothed knuckles. "Don"t be. I will take care of things."
And she wanted to believe him. Did believe him. That was the problem. That was always the problem.
"Come, my Charlotte." Death tugged her from the shadows and into the moving bodies. "I can play nice."
And, indeed, he did seem to know all of the proper steps for the waltz, smoothly leading. Though there was something a little too earthy, a little too sensual to his movements. It made her heart beat faster. Leading her in a three-beat rhythm that far too closely mimicked thrust, pause, release.
"I told you I can play nice," he whispered far too close to her ear, his body automatically pulling hers toward his, closer than was deemed acceptable.
"I hardly think your mauling is nice. " She felt hot, out of control, not nice.
He smiled, but he did increase the s.p.a.ce between them. It simply made her body strain toward his, like magnets too near to each other.