Chapter 6
“Absolutely not.”
“But – ”
“No buts,” Anne said firmly. “I promised one more story, and how many more did I read?”
Meredith, eyelids drooping with tiredness, muttered, “Two.”
“Two,” repeated Anne, unable to keep the smile from her face. “And now you have to go to sleep.”
Meredith’s bed chamber was dark, with a single candle lit on her bedside table, but it was enough to make every pearl on Anne’s court gown shimmer.
“It is not fair,” pouted Meredith, a small frown puckering her forehead. “Why can you go to balls, and parties, and see princes and kings, and I have to go to bed?”
Anne smiled this time. “Because I am far older, and far wiser.”
For some reason, this response seemed to concern the younger girl. “But what if I get older without getting any wiser?”
“Then you will have to pay far more attention to your tutor when we return home,” Anne said gently. She had not intended this to be a lecture; she was late already to meet her father, and if she did not hurry, he was going to start to fret.
“I hate Miss McPhearson!”
“I know,” said Anne soothingly, brushing back Meredith’s hair from her face, “but you need to learn things if you are going to be wise. Come on now, I will blow out the candle.”
But her hand was stayed by one a little smaller than hers. “Were you wise when you were my age?”
A twinge of awkwardness pulled at Anne’s heart, but she attempted to brush past it. “Absolutely not! I had to grow up before I was wise enough to attend balls.”
And even then, a small voice said in her mind, you were not really wise enough, were you?
Kissing Meredith and tucking her in tightly, Anne smiled at the drowsy child and whispered, “Sweet dreams.”
She picked up the candle and by the time she shut the door behind her, Meredith’s breathing had already slowed to slumberland.
Anne leaned against the door. It was getting harder as Meredith got older, but she had known that would happen. Any little girl without a mother was going to become a handful, but at some point, Meredith would need to know.
She swallowed back the emotion threatening to fall from her eyes. If only her mother had lived. Anne would have someone to talk to then, a woman who could guide her during this difficult time.
But this was getting her nowhere. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed down her gown and tried to ignore the stiffness in the bodice. She cannot stay here, standing outside Meredith’s bed chamber. She has to go to the court ball, and be seen with Maxim.
Not that that was a hardship! Why, just yesterday when they had gone horse riding, every moment with him had been intoxicating. The mere thought of ever going horse riding again, to try and share that closeness, was madness.
She need not have concerned herself with her father missing her, at any rate. As Anne entered the ballroom, she was forced into a corner by the sheer number of people. Sir Thomas was a few yards away chatting animatedly to someone who looked like a duke, and Maxim was nowhere to be seen.
Disappointment caught at her throat, making it sore. Maxim had spent the day not with her, but waiting for a royal audience with Prinny. She had not realised it was possible to feel the lack of someone you had only met a few days before, but he was…
Well. Anne swallowed and tried to plaster a smile on her face. He was starting to become the reason she got out of bed in the morning. He was far more vibrant, interesting, and stimulating than anyone she had ever met.
After years of boredom and monotony, helping her father to raise Meredith, Maxim was a wonderful distraction – even if he was going to disappear once Christmas Day arrived.
Suddenly, a wave of loneliness washed over her. She would be so alone once they returned to Romney with just Meredith and her father.
Perhaps it would be better if she just married Maxim…
Anne pushed away the thought as she spotted a handsome man in more gold finery than was good for him dancing on the other side of the room.
Dancing – with another woman!
Hot fiery anger flooded through her veins, and something that tasted very much like jealousy rose in her stomach. What did Maxim think he was doing, dancing with another woman?
As quickly as the emotions had come, Anne forced them down. She was not a jealous woman as a general rule, and she does not like it – but she liked the way that Maxim was smiling at that another woman even less.
A gaggle of chucking gentlemen moved past her at such speed that Anne was forced to take a step back. She could not truly be falling in love with Maxim, could she?
That would be ridiculous. The last thing she should be doing was opening her heart to another, particularly someone like Maxim. How many other women had he seduced on the journey to here from Russia?
Anne swallowed. Falling in love; she knew where that could lead, and it did not lead to happiness.
In that moment, Maxim spotted her. His eyes lit up, even from this far across the ballroom, and without saying another word to his partner, he bowed and then left her standing in the dance.
The young woman stared, evidently outraged. She was forced to step back and allow the other dancers – those who still had partners – to continue on.
A flash of pleasure roared into Anne’s heart but she pushed it away just as sternly. It was wrong to find pleasure in another person’s disappointment, surely?
Maxim had reached her, clicking his heels and kissing her hand, which made Anne smile.
“My lady,” he said in his deep, calming voice. “I thought I would never gain the pleasure of looking at you today, and so you have given me the greatest gift possible. Here is a small attempt to make amends.”
In her hand he placed a small box, wrapped in brown paper and with a silver ribbon.
Anne could not help but laugh at his sparkling eyes and way with words. “Another gift? What is it?”
Maxim’s smile matched hers. “You will have to open it to see.”
It took only a minute to pull the ribbon and wrappings away, and Anne gasped as two large diamond earrings appeared inside the box.
Her eyes grew. “I-I cannot accept these.”
“Of course you can.”
Anne looked up. Maxim’s face was diffused with pleasure, but as she looked down at the earrings, a sense of just what a dangerous dance they were weaving came over her.
“Maxim,” she managed to say, “these must be worth – ”
“You are my future bride,” he said magnanimously. “You must have diamonds!”
Pulling them out of the box, Maxim leaned forward to place them in her ears. “Besides,” he whispered, his breath caressing her neck, “it is expected.”
Anne turned her head slightly as he placed the first earbob in her ear, and saw Prinny watching them, muttering to one of his companions. As she turned her head in the other direction, her father came into view. He was nodding approvingly.
Anne worked hard not to roll her eyes. Always watched, always putting on a performance. Did Maxim never grow tired of it?
“And now, I would like to dance with you,” Maxim said impressively. “Come, I think they are making up a new set.”
Anne glanced over to the dancers. “I…I have not danced in public for a while. You will have to forgive any mistakes.”
Maxim took her by the hand, which he squeezed as they walk over. “Why not?”
Thankfully, it was possible for Anne to ignore this question, as by the time they had reached the set, the dance was about to begin.
Maxim held out his hand. “My lady.”
A shiver of anticipation flowed through Anne’s entire body, and as their hands touched, heat seared along her fingers. There was something about Maxim; something she could not explain, but her body seemed to know.
Weaving in and out of the other dancers, Anne did not take her eyes from him, and his gaze never left her.
It was as though they were the only ones in the room, the only people in the world.
Anne felt her breath catch in her chest every time they came close together, and the temptation to lean in and steal a kiss, even before all the court…
“I want to kiss you,” murmured Maxim as they came together, their hands interlinked. “And I know you want it.”
Desire thrilled through her as she stared into his dark eyes, a smile dancing on her lips. “How could you possibly know that?”
Maxim smiled. “I know.”
It was fortunate for Anne that the dance ended at that moment, and gentle applause rang out around them, as it drowned out the half-formed thought that escaped her lips.
“I think I am falling – ”
“I shall get you a drink, my lady,” Maxim said with a grin. “‘Tis warm in here, it is not?”
And with that, he was gone.
Anne breathed out and tried to calm her beating heart. He was everything she had ever hoped for – no, had ceased to hope for. She could never have expected any gentleman like this would ever want her.
“Miss Anne Marsh.”
She turned to see who had spoken, and was immediately accosted by a well-dressed elderly gentlewoman who was frowning.
Anne curtsied low. She did not have to know who this woman is to see it would be ungracious not to give her all the deference of a queen.
The lady looked a little mollified as she said, “Lady Romeril. I thought in incumbent upon me, Miss Marsh, as you have no mother, to warn you about that man.”
With her last two words, Lady Romeril pointed her fan towards Maxim.
Anne’s cheeks darkened as she said, “My lady, I do not – ”
“He is a ruffian,” Lady Romeril said decidedly. “A wild gentleman, one with a secret no one can discover. I know that your little tête-à-tête was indelicately disturbed and you had no choice but to announce your engagement – ”
Anne stared. Who was this woman, to walk up to her so forcefully, in the middle of St. James’ Court, and speak to her this way?
“ – but you are not the only one, of course,” continued Lady Romeril with a wink. “Why, I remember Lord Romeril and I, at the Duke of Axwick’s ball – not the incumbent, of course, his grandfather, who from memory – ”