Chapter 20
“Turn around and tip your head up,” Dorian spoke from behind her.
Twirling in front of the floor-length mirror, the skirts of deep purple fluttered in the air.
The bodice, gathered beneath her bosom, flowed out in a sleek column to her dark jeweled slippers.
The rich shade suited her coloring, and the modiste had certainly earned every penny to create this magnificent gown.
Evelina lifted her chin as he slid a necklace around her throat; the faultless triple strand of diamonds converged with a large square cut emerald in the center.
Her eyes transformed into dinner plates. “Dorian! No, I cannot take—”
“You can and you will,” he commanded over her shoulder. “They are yours, Ellie. Do not insult me by refusing them. The necklace was my mama’s,” he added quietly. “The jade is antique and of the highest quality. Also, it holds a lot of memories for me.”
Her fingers skittered over the gem. “I’m… I’m sorry. The last thing I want to do is to insult you. Thank you.”
Turning in his arms, she rested her hands on his shoulder; she would have expected Dorian to embody male perfection, but the sight of him in formal evening attire made her feel breathless.
The stark black and white of his ball suit emphasized his height and virile leanness.
His hair was tamed in waves and gleamed under the warm gas light lamp.
His face, freshly shaved, was fit to be immortalized in stone.
A diamond stick pin glittered in the snowy folds of his cravat. He was every inch a Duke.
He slid a pin, topped with another emerald, into her chignon. “Have I told you how breathtaking you look?”
“You have,” she replied, her head tipping to meet his eyes. “Who would have thought you would be such a romantic?”
“Take care not to utter a word of that. To anyone,” he emphasized with a solemn but wolfish glint in his eyes. “I have a reputation of being ruthless, callous, and a savage—and I would like it to stay that way.”
She motioned zipping her lip. “Not a word would slip from me.”
“Good,” he nodded as he escorted her to the door. On the way out, she snatched her reticule from a table, and soon enough, they were in front of his palatial carriage.
“Is there anything in this ball you would want me to keep an eye out for?” she asked. “As I did the last time?”
“No,” he replied, with a subtle shake of the head. “There is no espionage tonight. Tonight is when we enjoy ourselves.”
She widened her eyes comically, “You? Enjoy yourself? And here I thought that was what you were doing all along.”
His hand came down on her backside hard enough to make her gasp. “Sarcasm gives me hives, Evelina.”
She held in a shudder of arousal. “I’ll… remember that.”
Dorian handed her coat over, “The carriage is waiting.”
The second set had broken, and Evelina was nursing a glass of water while Dorian had stepped away to speak with two other lords.
Her eyes landed on the door as Benedict Rothwell, Victoria’s brother, stepped through it.
He looked flawless in a dove grey frock coat and waistcoat with a subtle damask pattern.
She wanted to speak to Benedict and get his side of the story that Dorian had told her.
How had he betrayed Dorian? By my math, they would have been the same age. Eleven or twelve. Just a boy, himself. How on earth could he have betrayed him?
She made a quick trip to the washroom to freshen herself, but then, upon returning to the main chamber, Dorian snagged her arm and spun her around, pressing her into his side. Giggling, she wondered what had gotten into him for him to show such whimsy.
“Look there,” he nodded to his left.
“What do you—” Her words left her as she glimpsed her cousin Harriet, dark hair up in dangling ringlets, dressed in a lilac satin ball gown that showed off her slender figure yet remained modest.
Ellie was off before the next breath, and she rushed to her cousin’s side—belatedly realizing that Dorian had not held her back whatsoever.
“Harriet!” she called from half a room away.
Her cousin spun, and the young girl’s eyes widened; in moments, she met Ellie in the middle, and they embraced tightly. “Harriet! You’re here!”
Harriet trembled with what Ellie hoped was relief and happiness. When she pulled away, the elation in her cousin’s visage proved her hopes right.
A tear beaded in Harriet’s left eye. “God, I’d hoped to run into you one day soon.”
“As did I,” Ellie choked out, glancing around at the onlookers who were trying—and failing— not to stare.
Harriet bit her lower lip before bursting into a somber giggle again. “Mama and Papa are so out of sorts today that they allowed me to attend this ball with only my maid as my companion.”
“Why were they upset?” Ellie’s brows furrowed. “And are you truly here alone?”
“I am,” she nodded eagerly. “But I am happy to be here on my own. I feel that I can do better without Mama embarrassing me and Papa looking like a lost puppy.”
“I understand,” Ellie linked arms with her cousin and walked the pair to the refreshment table. “But why were Aunt and Uncle upset, though?”
Taking a glass of champagne, Harriet sighed. “I did not hear much, but from what I could gather, it is something to do with their bank. Papa had been saying something about losing clients lately, so Mama has less to spend. You know Mama is never happy about being a miser with the finances.”
“Of course,” Ellie held back a grimace.
Harriet looked afraid to say the next words. “And then again, without your marriage to Carrington, it seems her ticket to a spot in the le bon ton is withering.”
Pressing her lips tight, Ellie felt her heart thump unnaturally under her breastbone. Looking around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear her, she dropped her voice and admitted, “I am scared for you, Harriet.”
Dropping her glass from her lips, Harriet asked, “Why?”
“With how materialistic Aunt Constance is and how desperate she is to become one of the ton, I am afraid they will sell you off to the highest bidder as they attempted with me,” Ellie explained.
“Unfortunately, I do not think lady luck’s dice will roll twice and you will get a man who will be free from their horrid choice. ”
“You—” Harriet swallowed tightly. “You really think so?”
“I fear it,” Ellie whispered ruefully. “If they try to do something of the sort, come to me, immediately.”
“Where will I find you?” Harriet asked.
That was where Ellie had to pause. She knew Dorian was very protective of his private spaces and that he would not like it if she did give his address out, even to her cousin. But there was one place they could meet where Dorian would not turn her away.
“Go to the Labyrinth on St James Street,” she told her cousin. “Whoever is there will get you to me.”
Nodding, Hariett hugged her again. “Truly, I have missed you dearly, cousin.”
“Me too,” Ellie replied. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you tonight, but I have to return to my husband.”
Before she let her go, Harriet asked, “Are you happy with him? Is he good to you?”
Ellie could not help but flash a sincere smile. “Against all expectations, yes, I am, and he is. He may not show it outwardly, but he feels things intensely, and he is very… I’d say… overly protective of those he feels he is responsible for.”
“That’s good,” Harriet whispered. “I know how Mama and Papa treated you growing up. It is about time you found a person who loved you truly.”
Loved me…
“I’ll see you soon,” she squeezed Harriet’s hand.
Elated, she drifted through the crowds to find Dorian, but he was no longer at the place she had left him.
As if summoned by Dorian’s very presence, she glanced up at a balcony to see him leaning on the balustrade overlooking the ballroom like a dark King.
He was nursing a whisky, and the small curve on his lips as he gazed down at her made her shiver.
She drifted up the sweeping staircase to join his side.
“You did not seem too surprised that Harriet was present tonight,” Ellie asked, giving him a knowing eye. “Was that your idea of a surprise?”
“I have eyes everywhere, pet,” he replied, lifting the glass to his lips. “A caution of the trade.”
“Your present one or your previous?”
He shrugged his left shoulder. “Both.”
Leaning in, she dropped her hand on his free arm. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
He chuckled, a low, rich hum. “I understand you are still confused about many things surrounding us—” he waved, “—the steps that led up to all this. I promise you, as soon as a few more things fall into place, I’ll explain it all.”
Her gaze swept up at him. “Have you found Ash yet?”
“No,” he muttered, his eyes roaming over the gathering beneath them. “I have a top investigator running on it. There is nothing newsworthy as of yet, but when there is, you’ll be the first to know.”
Laughter and chatter wafted up to them from the ballroom while music floated all around them. Ladies swirled about the floor in a flurry of rainbow colors, the lords, their counterparts and foils, dressed in somber dark suits.
“Do you think we will find him?” she asked.
Straightening, he gave her a deadpan look. “I must say, as your husband, you’re jabbing me in the heart with such fervent desire to find this man.”
At a loss for how to react, Ellie awkwardly patted his shoulder. “There, there, dear husband.”
Throwing back his head, Dorian belted out a laugh, and she felt a giggle bubble up her throat. “Did you dare comfort me as you would a child?”
“Er… yes?” Her voice was a squeak.
He shook his head. “I do not know if I should be chuffed or insulted.”
“The first one,” she murmured meekly.
Dorian turned, pressed his back to the balustrade, and heaved her into him with a sharp yank. Her hands slapped on his chest in shock. His kiss was unexpected but not unwelcome.