Chapter 13
What on earth was that all about?
Anna needed a moment to steady herself as she stepped into position opposite Colin, her legs trembling too much to dance properly. But she was there, she had agreed to dance, and she could not very well walk away before it started, since that would have reflected poorly on her and her partner.
Colin called out for a country dance, and the musicians started playing a lively tune that sent a shiver of fear down Anna’s spine. She had never been much of a dancer, to the point that she wanted to apologize in advance to Colin for the torment his feet and dignity were about to endure.
She hopped forward, her hand meeting Colin’s.
“I will have your cousin removed from my house,” he said cheerily, as they stepped back and forth in a sort of sway. “Although I am probably the one in peril now.”
Anna frowned as they began to turn in a circle. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Well, it seems the new duke is awfully protective of you,” Colin replied in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious. “I really thought he was going to flatten your cousin. Wring his neck, at least. As much as I relish excitement, that is not the kind of entertainment I seek.”
Shame bloomed in Anna’s cheeks. “I am so very sorry, Lord Belford. I had no notion that my cousin would be here, nor that he would be so… disgracefully behaved.”
Of course, if she had known that he would be in attendance, she would have predicted wretched behavior.
The awful creature had once accused her of being spoiled, but he was the one who had always been overindulged, to the point where she wondered if he had ever heard the word ‘no.’ Inheriting her father’s land, title, and property had only exacerbated his belief that he was entitled to whatever he desired.
“In truth, he was not invited,” Colin admitted with a grimace.
“I have never liked him. I told His Grace that I played cards with your cousin once, and I despised him even then. He is here as a guest of Lord Barton. And as I am old friends with Lord Barton, I felt I could not hoof out his guest. I should be the one to apologize for your discomfort.”
Anna relaxed slightly as they turned in the opposite direction, leaping in a circle to the rhythm of the music. “You have no need to apologize. My cousin does whatever he pleases.”
“At least you can be certain that he will not force you to marry him,” Colin pointed out. “I believe even he would not be so foolish after what just occurred. The new duke would pummel him to dust if he even approached you again.”
Anna’s eyes glazed over as she fell into her thoughts, seeing Jeremy towering over Benedict, ready to harm him in her honor. He had not hesitated, despite the difficulty of their acquaintance. He had not hesitated to catch her and pull her close when Benedict bumped into her, either.
I do not understand him… It perplexed her as much as knowing that he had kissed her so passionately, so intensely, while having a family. It no longer felt like some manner of game to frighten her off, but something she could not pinpoint. That was altogether more frightening.
“He was only being polite,” she said defensively. “The new duke. When he… stepped in before. Do not mistake his actions; if he could, he would have kicked me out of the house before he arrived at Stonebridge.”
As the words left her lips, she was not certain if she was saying it for her own benefit or for Colin’s.
“I am not sure of that, Your Grace,” Colin replied, his gaze drifting to something past Anna’s shoulder, a slight smile playing upon his lips.
Anna concentrated on the next steps, a confusing sequence of hops, jumps, turns, and crossed arms. “Yes, well, respectfully, I am.”
There was no way that Jeremy actually cared about her. She would not believe it, and she would not be tricked into even considering it. After all, the very reason she was at the ball at all was that he had demanded it, so that she could find herself a husband and be out of his life for good.
The pair said nothing more as the dance went on, though the silence was an amiable one. She had never taken the time to get to know her neighbor, but maybe that was a mistake, because he seemed like he could be a good friend.
Soon enough, the music faded to a close, and the couples bowed and curtsied, respectively.
Some would stay on for the next dance, while others would leave the floor to make way for new couples.
Anna assumed she would be part of the latter category until Colin’s attention once again moved to something behind her, his grin widening.
“It was a pleasure, Your Grace,” he said with a dip of his head. “But it seems another is keen to take my place as your partner for the evening.”
Anna swallowed thickly. “What do you mean?”
Colin nodded to whatever had captured his attention, though Anna did not dare to turn around.
She could not, not when she could feel the presence of the man behind her; that sensation of the air leaving the room, her heart beating faster, her entire being responding as if Jeremy’s fingertips were already on her, touching her, caressing her, exploring her.
“I will be having this dance,” the Duke said, his voice making her shiver.
Colin dipped his head and stepped aside. “With pleasure, Your Grace.”
Anna struggled to catch her breath as Jeremy passed her to take his place across from her. Even with a mask on, she could not ignore the fire in his eyes or his unsmiling mouth, which was full and tempting.
Why did you kiss me? If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t still crave it, curious to know what might have happened if she hadn’t stopped the moment when she did. And, perhaps, she wouldn’t hate him quite so much.
The music started, and to her surprise, Jeremy seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
He moved with incredible grace for a man of his size, his body swaying mesmerizingly from side to side.
The crowd began to notice, especially the ladies, whose eyes were fixed on him as if they could not help themselves.
Well, I hate to disappoint you all, but he already has a family.
Married, or so it seems. Anna tried to glare at him, but even she was captivated by the fluid motion of his powerful body.
His elegance and poise did not weaken his masculinity, but rather made her think that he must be a formidable fighter.
If he could move like that upon a dance floor, how agile must he be in a brawl?
Or in a bedchamber…
She nearly lost her footing when that thought slipped in unexpectedly. Regaining her composure as best as she could, she responded to the start of the dance, her heart pounding as they met in the center.
Her palms pressed to his. “You dance well. How can that be?” she asked, feigning indifference. “I thought you were Scottish. Are your dances not all wild leaping and flailing and jigging about in a most unseemly fashion?”
A quiet grumble of faint amusement sounded in the back of his throat.
“Ye’d never want to dance an English dance again if ye were to ever dance a proper reel,” he replied, as he swept around in a circle and came back to her, his hands curving around hers.
“Ye think me a heathen, lass, but I endured years of education at Eton. They made us dance there.”
“You went to Eton?” Genuine surprise colored her voice.
“Aye, unfortunately.” He sniffed. “Although me mother is also to blame for teaching us how to dance these boring English dances.”
Anna willed her curiosity to stop nagging at her mind, but it would not be quietened. “And… who was your mother?”
“A Scottish lass, but she wanted us to know how to be among ye English dullards.”
She could have sworn she saw a smirk lift the corner of his lips, but when he whirled around again and faced her once more, it was gone.
“If we are so boring, then why are you so insistent on remaining here?” Anna muttered. “Why not purchase a castle for yourself in your beloved, oh-so-thrilling Scotland?”
He ignored her question as he moved closer, far closer than the dance commanded. “Me mother was enamored by ye English,” he said. “She thought ye could not be anyone until ye knew how to move in English society. I suspect it is why she married me father, wooed by his English charm.”
Anna racked her brain for the entries on the convoluted line of inheritance that she had read.
There hadn’t been any information on his mother, but his father had been no one of societal importance: the youngest son of three, belonging to a marquess whose name she was unfamiliar with.
A title that had probably fallen into obsolescence, or had been inherited in a similarly convoluted fashion.
“Was your mother of nobility?” Anna asked.
He nodded. “Aye, she was a laird’s daughter. We were raised in her father’s castle, and me own father never had any desire to return to England. Ironic, in truth, but me mother didn’t mind so much, as long as we bairns were educated in England.”
His gaze hardened behind his mask, and Anna sensed he wasn’t going to continue with the details of his past. Still, she had to try; it was the most she had been able to get out of him since they met.
“Is that the castle that you lost?”
He shook his head. “It’s still standing, but it belongs to a cousin now. He’s much like yer own.”
Anna pulled a face. “It seems they are a plague upon every corner of this island, from the southernmost tip to the northernmost point.” She paused to complete a complex diagonal hop. “Were your mother and father happy?”
“Aye.”
She could only assume that they were no longer living. Unless that was the family he had been referring to? A small flicker of hope wavered in her chest, praying he might reveal the truth and alleviate her guilt and anger about kissing a married man.
“Are they still… with us?” she asked, in what she hoped was an innocent voice.
He shook his head, and her hope sputtered. “They were older when they met and married.” It was all the explanation he supplied. “What of ye, eh? How did ye end up married to the late duke?”
She shot him a look of disapproval for his discourteous remark, and a little for the fact that he hadn’t given her the relief she had been hoping for. “Well, I shall just say that I did not have much of a choice.”
Her gaze drifted away from Jeremy to search the crowd for the drunken beast who had put her in that situation. It was rather difficult, considering everyone was masked and in costume, with several gentlemen dressed in Tudor attire.
“My cousin,” she added, a soft gasp escaping her throat as Jeremy took hold of her chin and lightly turned her face back toward him.
“I won’t have ye staring at other men when ye’re speaking to me, Duchess,” he said in a low, stirring whisper.
Her stomach fluttered, and her mind raced with visions of herself in the library, pressed against the door: his hand in her hair, his mouth on hers, his other hand lifting her skirts as desire pulsed between her thighs.
She gulped. “I was just… looking to see if my cousin was still here. He is the one who forced me to marry.”
“Even less reason to look his way, when ye ought to be looking at me,” Jeremy replied, as he slowly withdrew his hand.
Too late, however. All around, Anna heard a refreshed wave of whispers and noted the inquisitive stares of the gossipmongers, her skin burning beneath the intensity of their scrutiny.
They already believed she was a murderer; after tonight, they would probably call her a seductress, too, though neither was true.
Jeremy seemed to notice the whispers at the same moment, his eyes flashing with irritation as they darted this way and that.
Rather hypocritical, Anna thought, after what he had just said, but she did not feel like goading him.
Instead, she just needed to focus on getting through this dance without any more problems.
After two promenades and several call-and-response steps, the whispers had risen to a pinnacle. Only then, beneath so many curious stares, did the music finally have the decency to come to an end.
Jeremy did not hesitate to bow his head, his half-covered expression tense with annoyance. “I am going to the terrace for some fresh air,” he said bluntly, as he turned and departed without another word.
Anna watched him leave, suddenly filled with her own burst of irritation.
Did he understand nothing about etiquette?
Did he not realize how his actions affected her?
Leaving a woman alone on the dance floor conveyed a very potent message, and she was not about to let him get away with it… even if it benefited her.
If it was an English education he needed, then he would receive one. And she would not be a gentle tutor.