Chapter 3
“Absolutely not!”
Indignation was clear on her face as both Alex and Cathy pleaded with her to lower her voice, lest she attract the disapproving eyes of those who upheld ladylike etiquette above all that was holy.
Evie glared at Alex, absolutely aghast. “I will not do something so…so…”
“All right, so perhaps that was a little too obvious,” her friend capitulated with a thoughtful look.
“And that scheme has been utilized an unprecedented number of times tonight to be hardly noteworthy.” She paused and tapped her chin with a pensive expression.
“We might have to be a little more inventive…”
“I am so happy you are pouring so much of your creativity into this undertaking,” Evie groused, while Cathy only tried to stifle a soft laugh.
“I do not see the point in ruining a perfectly good gown just for some entertainment. Besides, what am I supposed to wear after I spill the wine on my dress?”
“A good point,” Cathy noted. “It would be quite embarrassing to walk around with a stain on your dress.”
“And my honor!” Evie added in protest.
Alex smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. “So, what do you suggest to do instead?”
“Nothing as childish and cliché, I should hope,” she muttered, shaking her head.
She managed to acquire a glass of wine from one of the passing footmen. The fragrance from the burgundy depths wafted delicately up to her nose. It was a most tantalizing brew, indeed. A pity, however, that she did not mean to enjoy it.
Evie tilted her head back slightly as she downed the wine, drawing a shocked look from Alex and a slightly scandalized one from Cathy.
In all the years she had known the two, she had never displayed a proclivity for alcohol, and even as she delicately handed the glass to another passing footman, she felt the warmth rising up to her cheeks.
“Well, that was certainly… unexpected,” Alex muttered in sheer astonishment. “I cannot say that I am unimpressed.”
Evie smiled triumphantly at her friend. “Now that we have dispensed with that, I shall henceforth take my leave of you both.”
“Now, even I am impressed,” Cathy said with a slight shake of her head.
Evie shot her friends a grin over her shoulder before she turned away and headed for one of the doors that led out to the back rooms. A ball usually stretched on for an interminably long time and it was not unusual for young women to require the use of an empty room.
Of course, there were also those who used these rooms for something more inappropriate, but she was not one of them, despite what her friends thought she was setting out to do.
She sighed as she made her way to the balcony. Her face was getting uncomfortably hot and a breath of the brisk night air might be enough to cool her down.
It was also fortunately empty, which meant she could make use of it to linger for a few moments and hopefully manage to convince Alex and Cathy that she had managed to tryst with some unfortunate fellow.
Or I could just tell them that I did attempt at it, Evie thought as she lifted her gaze up to the night sky. I would not be lying if I claimed to fail at that endeavor, though…
Unlike all the other young ladies of the ton who set out to find a suitable match for themselves right after they made their bow, she had never had to apply her efforts in that direction.
She might not admit it to others, but Evie knew that she was woefully lacking in the art of flirtation, never having the need for it.
In any case, it would be too late to start learning it now, she sighed inwardly to herself.
After the summer, she would wed the Earl of Ripley and there would be no need to learn a skill that was going to go largely unused. It would be much better to apply her efforts to something else, like learning how to better manage a household or throw a grand ball.
She leaned over the railing with a soft exhale. A delicate breeze blew past her, cooling her heated cheeks. When she was alone like this, she could pretend to leave the world and all its foibles behind. She needed not to think about Lord Ripley or her future in an arranged marriage.
Just like this, she could simply be Evie. She could simply exist as herself, without having to fit into some mold or step into a role she did not choose for herself.
But what was it like to truly live for oneself? It seemed like such a thrilling thought, so exhilarating and yet, so dangerously uncertain.
Evie shook her head as if to clear her head of such dangerous thoughts—when she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps from behind her.
Immediately, she stiffened, her heart racing in her chest at the thought of being alone with another.
“Why are you so afraid?” a small voice taunted her in her head. “You are never going to find this much excitement in your life with the Earl, anyway. Why should you not be glad for this opportunity?”
She whirled around, her chin tilted slightly in defiance to face whoever it was that dared to disrupt her peace.
Instead, she was shocked to find a tall man who had forgone the use of a mask, baring his features for all to see.
And who could blame him, really? If Evie had looked anywhere as handsome as he did as a gentleman, she might have felt the obnoxious compulsion to show off her face everywhere she went.
A square jaw, aquiline nose, and sensuous lips—she could name at least a dozen young ladies in the ballroom who would collapse at the sight of such a face.
In the dim light, she could not make out the exact color of his eyes, but his hair was a deep gold.
His chin was tilted—not in defiance as hers was, but with the arrogance of a man who knew his place in the world.
She felt her hand grasp at the baluster behind her, her eyes narrowing as their gazes locked. He seemed strangely familiar to her, but she was quite certain she had never seen him before.
Evie had been to more than three Seasons and she knew very well that there were hardly any coincidences in a world as artificial as the one she lived in. Everything was contrived, even when it did not appear so at first glance.
Just who was this man before her and what was he doing out on the balcony at the very moment she sought refuge in it?
Julian could not believe his luck.
He had barely managed to get Colin off his back and made his way to the balcony for a breather, when he found that it was already otherwise occupied by a young woman with eyes the color of icy sapphires glittering from behind her ornate mask.
She regarded him with the haughtiness of a queen, looking down at him from her raised chin, when the top of her coif barely reached his shoulder.
He had not thought he would encounter such a beauty outside of London, but he was perfectly fine with being wrong this time.
“Well, well, well… what do we have here?” he said in a low, teasing voice, arching his eyebrow as he regarded her with keen interest. When she bristled at his words, he found himself all the more intrigued by this creature before him.
“I could say the same of you,” she returned with icy hauteur. “Who are you and what are you doing here? Did my friends send you after me?”
He smiled at that. “I do not need anyone to tell me what to do, least of all your friends—whoever they are.”
She studied him suspiciously. “So, you came here of your own volition? Nobody persuaded you to do so?”
“Why would I need to be persuaded to seek out the company of a beautiful young lady such as yourself?” Julian laughed lowly.
She looked at him as if she could not believe what he had just said. She did not seem like an impressionable and naive débutante, but she was nowhere near his league when it came to the art of flirtation.
Or it could be that she was simply not interested—a matter that could be remedied with very little effort on his part.
“You, My Lord, are possessed of a silver tongue,” she sighed with a hapless look. “I am afraid that your skills may be better put to use on another poor soul.”
He smirked. “But what if I insist on using it on you?”
She peered at him from beneath her lashes and he nearly reeled back in shock before he caught himself. She did not appear to be aware of it, but that simple glance was a masterpiece in artful seduction, heating his blood without much effort.
How the hell did she do that, Julian wondered to himself. Never before had someone managed to affect him with a simple glance. It was rather unnerving.
“In that case,” she said simply, her voice lowering almost to a purr. “You will find your efforts wasted.”
“We will never know unless I try.” He managed a crooked smile at her.
She let out a slight giggle, covering her mouth with a single gloved hand. “Are you a rake, My Lord?”
“A rake?” he scoffed. “Absolutely not!”
In response, she laughed outright, and he found himself leaning into the sound. In the darkness, it was as if her eyes glowed with mirth as her red lips curved into a bow.
“Not a very good one either,” she added with a slight smile, dealing yet another blow to his bruised ego.
How dare this slip of a girl make fun of him? However, Julian found himself enjoying this strange conversation immensely. It was hardly the exchange of words one expected as a prelude to less innocent dealings, but he found himself very much enticed.
Hooked. Snared. Unable to break free from the spell she must somehow have cast over him.
He stepped forward and she leaned back, her brow scrunching into the most adorable frown he had ever seen.
Frowning? Adorable? Julian thought he might have gone a little mad from being in her presence too long.
“I suggest you take a step back, My Lord,” she warned him.
He simply smiled as he reached out to her. “You… have something on your face.”
“I do?”
“Yes,” he murmured hoarsely, leaning in to brush his fingers over her cheek. The smoothness of her skin, the warmth of it, caused him to take in a sharp breath.
“Did you… manage to wipe it off?” she asked him softly.
He nodded as he placed his hand over hers on the stone railing. She was no longer leaning away from him and he was made intensely aware of just how delightful it was to be in such close proximity to this mysterious beauty.
Her warm breath fanned over his skin, heating his blood to distraction. A light fragrance wafted from her skin and her hair, sending delicate tendrils to wrap around his senses.
His hand trailed from her cheek down to her jaw as his gaze dropped to her lips—softly pink and luscious, they invited him for a taste.
Julian knew that he was playing with fire, but like the proverbial moth, he was inevitably drawn to her light and the scalding heat that flared brightly between them.
His hand slipped to the back of her neck, her gaze searing him as it met his. Vaguely, Julian was aware that he should not be doing this. At least not in the open where anyone may walk in on them and give this nameless beauty a good reason to trap him in matrimony.
He had known many men who had fallen prey to such schemes and vowed that he would never join in their ranks.
However, when his lips touched hers, his mind was soon emptied of all thought and logic. All that mattered to him was the woman in his arms and the fact that her fingers curled into his biceps, her soft lips opening up to his own.
He had seduced a great many women before. Why was he now feeling as if it was him currently adrift in such a stormy sea of passion?