Chapter 14
Fourteen
W hen Dev arrived in the ballroom of Lord and Lady Bradshaw’s townhouse, the ball was already in full bloom. The musicians were already playing, the ballroom was crowded and beginning to grow stuffy, and the hum of dozens of conversations had reached a volume that nearly eclipsed that of the music.
Dev had once loved the hum of excitement that filled a ballroom during the height of the social season.
He had seen every ball as an opportunity to laugh with his friends and admire the young people dressed in their finest. Though he’d never truly been inclined to marry, he’d danced with as many women as was decent and, when needed, had treated the occasions as a market to find his next bed companion.
But striding into that particular ballroom on that evening filled Dev with only one thought. Where was Kitty, and was she safe and enjoying herself or would he need to rush to her rescue?
It was not easy to make out his beloved in the sea of people at first. It seemed as though everyone who was anyone had accepted the Bradshaw invitation.
For many, it was their last opportunity to enjoy the delights of London before leaving for the country.
So Dev found it necessary to wander around the room, greeting people he had no care for and allowing himself to be brought into conversations he was not interested in for several minutes, all while searching for Kitty.
When he finally spotted her, she, Lady Everly, and her friends were being addressed by a pair of gentlemen halfway across the ballroom.
Dev narrowed his eyes, trying to place the two, particularly the one that offered for Kitty’s hand to lead her into the dance.
He tamped down a swell of jealousy when the man, Lord Salisbury, led Kitty away from her friends and into the line of the dance.
Dev’s jealousy was short-lived, however.
He smiled and broke away from the conversation he was ostensibly a part of so that he could watch his beloved enjoy herself in the dance.
Kit had been so deeply worried that he would be found out and exposed in some dramatic scene worthy of the stage, but to Dev’s eyes, Kitty blended in perfectly with everyone around her.
Lady Everly had provided her with dancing lessons in the last week or so, and by the look of things, Kit had mastered every step.
It was charming to watch how much Kitty enjoyed herself as she danced, though Dev could tell even from a distance that his beloved was still worried. He waited, smiling at her even though she did not notice him, willing her to relax and enjoy the ball for what it was and herself for who she was.
Such enjoyment could have been possible had Kitty not changed partners and found herself face to face with Kit’s wretched brother, George.
Dev noticed what was about to happen moments too late.
Whether deliberately or by accident, Kitty attempted to hide from her brother and ended up tumbling over her own feet instead.
Dev charged forward, determined that nothing and no one would harm his sweetheart if he had anything to do about it.
He arrived on the scene just as Lady Redditch was about to take Kitty away.
“Allow me,” he said, taking charge and claiming his sweetheart before truly stopping to think what the others surrounding them would think of his sudden appearance. “Thank you for your assistance, Lady Redditch.”
A few more words were spoken, but Dev ignored all of them. “Are you well?” he asked as he walked Kitty to the side of the room.
“I…I do not know,” Kitty whispered, choked with fear. “George….”
Dev clenched his teeth and took Kitty in another direction, moving her outside so that both of them could enjoy fresher air away from the other ball guests.
It was a lucky thing that the Bradshaws had an extensive garden behind their ballroom, one that was enclosed and shielded from the rest of the city, but that was not particularly crowded as of yet.
A few couples or small groups were scattered here and there along the paths, where lanterns on poles provided enough light to see by.
Dev took Kitty as far from the house and those other guests as he could, to a corner of the garden with a bench.
A lantern on a pole stood on either side of the bench, but the one on the left had gone out, leaving the area partially shielded.
“Are you well, truly?” Dev asked as he sat them down on the bench, sliding an arm around Kitty to keep her close.
“I…I will be,” Kitty said, breathless and trembling slightly. “I need but a moment.”
Dev nodded, and despite a few people glancing in their direction from the other side of the garden, he took one of Kitty’s hands in his and raised it to his lips for a kiss.
Kitty turned her head toward Dev with a grateful smile. “I do not know what I would have done had you not come along,” she said. “I was so afraid that the moment had come and the game was over.”
“It is not a game,” Dev insisted, holding Kitty’s hand against his heart once he’d kissed it. “It is your life.”
Kitty looked as though she might weep at Dev’s words. Dev hadn’t meant them to be sweet or poetic, just a statement of the truth.
“If George were to have recognized me, I do not know what would have happened,” she said.
“I will tell you what would have happened,” Dev said, shifting closer to her.
He caressed the side of Kitty’s face and tilted it up so that their eyes met.
“There would have been a quick shock followed by scandal and gossip. But none of it would have mattered, because the two of us would have been gone from London by morning, bound for someplace where we could live in safety and security together.”
“Dev,” Kitty said so softly Dev nearly did not hear it. “You are too good to me.”
“You deserve someone to be good to you,” Dev insisted. “You deserve all the joy you can manage, just as you are.”
Kitty tilted her head down with a sheepish smile. Even in the scant light, Dev could see the blush form on her cheeks. Dammit, but Kitty had no idea how utterly sweet and charming she was.
Dev was on the verge of doing something wild and dangerous by lifting her face to him again and kissing her soundly, despite the fact that any number of people could have seen them. He was stopped from the potentially disastrous action by Lord Salisbury’s call of, “Ah, there they are.”
Frustration snapped through Dev, particularly when Kitty jumped and tensed by his side. He twisted to face their interruption but stayed seated very close to Kitty indeed, even though it would raise comment .
Another moment later and Dev did not care who said what about their proximity. Salisbury was not alone. He had George Seymour with him. Kitty reached to grab hold of Dev’s thigh desperately.
“I thought I spotted the two of you coming out here for air,” Salisbury said as the two men approached. His tone was affable, as if he were trying to soothe or appease Kitty. “I insisted that Lord George accompany to apologize and make certain you are well.”
“I’ve no need to apologize for anything,” Seymour muttered as though he did not intend to be heard.
Kitty curled in on herself a bit, shaking noticeably and lowering her face, likely in the hope that Seymour would not look too closely at her.
“Miss Dryden, even though it is clear that you have found yourself a worthy champion,” Salisbury said, crouching slightly as if he would look Kitty in the eyes, “please do allow me to apologize for any clumsiness on my part that might have led to the missteps.”
“She’s a simple, country lass,” Seymour said by way of complaint. “She probably only learned the steps last month. If it is anyone’s fault that she fell it is her own.”
“Seymour, you are not helping the matter,” Salisbury snapped. “Country or not, Miss Dryden is a lady. Apologize.”
“There is no need,” Kitty whispered, her voice higher and wispier than Dev had ever heard it, which, perhaps, aided the illusion necessary to fool her brother.
“You see?” Seymour said, throwing out a hand to Dev. “There is no need.”
“Seymour,” Salisbury scolded him, shaking his head. He assumed a dignified air and bowed to Kitty. “I, at least, apologize.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Kitty said, managing to timidly lift her head so that she could briefly meet the man’s eyes, then nod. Once she did that, she lowered her face and turned it slightly away from Seymour again.
“Apologies,” Seymour said gruffly, already looking back the way he came.
When Kitty said nothing, Dev said, “Gentlemen, your apologies are accepted. Now, if you will be so kind as to allow Miss Dryden the air she needs to settle her nerves.”
“Of course,” Salisbury said. He bowed once more, then turned to follow Seymour, who had merely grumbled and turned away, back into the house.
Once they were gone, Kitty let out a breath and sagged. “I will never be safe from encounters such as that,” she said, half to herself.
“Perhaps not,” Dev said, his heart aching for his beloved, “but with time, I vow that they will become easier.”
“Will they?” Kitty asked, glancing up at Dev with desperation in her eyes. “Or will I spend the rest of my life fearing that the next man who asks me to dance or the next encounter with someone I know will be the end of me?”
Dev opened his mouth to protest the idea, but he could not truly argue against it. There would always be a risk of discovery for Kitty as long as they were in London.
But if they were not in London….
“We’ll leave London,” he said. “We will go to my family’s house in Wiltshire, and from there, we could establish a residence in Birmingham or Manchester. Or we could travel.”
Kitty sent Dev an affectionate but hopeless look. “And how would that look to the outside world? Can you really throw over everything in your life for a dubious mistress?”
“You would not be my mistress, you would be my wife,” Dev said, shifting so that he could take Kitty’s hands.