Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Thank God for masks…
Edward swept his gaze across the bustling ballroom, searching out the guests in attendance while trying hard not to focus on any one in particular.
There were scores of them, spread far and wide, all engaged in socializing as they drank and laughed and chattered among themselves while moving to and fro; never stopping, always on the move because events like this were intend for meeting as many people as one could do to remind that that you existed and ought to be remembered.
Most importantly, while the women wore colorful gowns and the men wore smart suits, every single person at the ball had their face covered by a mask.
“Oh, it is so exciting!” Millicent literally shook as Edward led her through the busy ballroom. She had been a ball of excited energy all day, and it had only gotten worse since they arrived. “Look at it, Edward. It is so beautiful.”
“Yes, it is nice,” he said stiffly as his eyes swept the room.
“It is better than nice,” she snapped playfully. “Although, I do wonder how I am supposed to catch the eye of a suitor? It is not as if he can see my face.”
“Trust me, that will not be a problem.”
“How come?”
“We have our ways,” Edward said vaguely, still looking this way and that. “You forget that this town is not so large. You might be new here, but it takes more than a mask to hide who is beneath it.”
“Oh,” Millicent said as she considered this. “So, they will see you and know who I am?”
“Something like that.”
“You better not go far then,” Millicent giggled.
“I do enjoy the masks, but they make it hard to see. But they look wonderful, don’t they?
I wonder where Sandra is? She did not tell me what mask she was going to wear…
” Millicent spoke quickly, more to herself than to Edward, a natural consequence of her nervousness.
Edward let her talk, paying little attention, his eyes always scanning.
He was caught in two minds that night, and as they fought against each other, Edward was yet to determine which he wanted to win.
One mind was the one of practicality. He was there tonight for Millicent and Millicent only.
Thankfully, his broken engagement had done nothing to affect her reputation, and already there were whispers and rumors of various lords about the ton who were single and might wish to meet with her.
Naturally, Edward assessed them as they came, ticked them off, and had decided already which were suitable and which she would avoid.
Thus, his mission tonight was his niece.
They walked arm-in-arm, sweeping through the ballroom, making sure to be seen.
Her gown was silver and black; the silver sparkled in the light, while the black was so dark that it seemed to absorb it.
As for her mask? That was white with feathers whose tips were black. She truly did look beautiful.
As Millicent was his mission, he determined at the same time that the one thing he could not do was become distracted, and no greater distraction existed than Celestine.
So, while he scanned the ballroom in search of Celestine, he made sure to look vaguely, never focusing on one person, doing his best to not find her.
Although maybe I should find her? Just so I know where to avoid.
That was the other mind with which he wrestled. Constant thoughts of Celestine and what he would do if he saw her. He looked throughout the ballroom, doing his best not to find her, while secretly hoping that he did.
Once again, thank God for masks.
Of course, Edward had spent the week forced to listen to rumors about his and Celestine’s broken engagement.
Those he could handle. What he could not handle were further whispers which suggested that she was already looking to be courted – that she planned on attending the ball for that very reason.
If I had any doubts at all about how Celestine felt about me, that settles them truly.
Did it though? Even before their fake engagement, she had never wished to marry. So, that she was apparently searching to do so now was strange and made little sense. Her mother must have been behind it. Likely, Celestine wanted nothing to do with it at all. And perhaps –
No! Focus, Edward. Do not go down that path. Not tonight.
“Edward, you are hurting me…” Millicent said from beside him.
“Wha…” He turned to find Millicent pulling on her arm. “Oh! Sorry.” So distracted was Edward that he had not realized how hard he was holding onto his niece.
“Are you feeling all right?” she asked worriedly. Behind her white mask, he saw the worry reflected in her eyes.
“I am fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Smiling, he lowered his black mask and showed his face. “I am fine, Millicent. And do not distract yourself with thoughts of me. You are who tonight is for.”
“I just wished to –”
“I know what you wished,” he cut her off gently as he put his mask back on. “But as I have told you all week, I am perfectly well. Truly, I am just so proud of you, Millicent. Do not let my horrid week take away from what tonight is about.”
Still, she looked at him with worry.
Despite her initial anger toward him, Millicent had quickly returned to the sweet girl who he knew so well. She worried about him, and all week she had done her best to help him recover from what she assumed to be a broken heart.
He told her often that it was not so bad as that, but she did not believe him. Then again, she had always been perceptive like that…
“Come now, let us…” Edward trailed off and sneered when he saw a lord in a dark suit with a red mask approaching through the crowd. Even with the mask, there could be no denying who it was, and Edward’s hackle’s rose as he braced himself.
“What?” Millicent asked. “Who are you… Oh!” She gushed and her cheeks colored pink. “He recognizes me.”
“Unfortunately,” Edward growled.
It was Lord Grundon, of course, and he stalked toward Edward and Millicent as if he were a hunter and they were prey. He wore a smile below his eye-mask, but it was false and emotionless, just like the man himself.
“Miss Witcher,” Lord Grundon greeted as he approached them both. “I was hoping to see you here this evening.”
“Really?” Millicent blushed shyly.
“Of course,” Lord Grundon purred. “For a chance to see your beauty, even if it is only a second’s worth, I would cross the widest ocean. Lucky for me, arriving here this evening wasn’t quite so arduous as that.”
Millicent giggled at the comment, a clear sign that she could not see through Lord Grundon’s obviously false charm.
“Lord Grundon.” Edward stepped between them and looked warningly at Lord Grundon. “I wish I could say it was a pleasure to see you, but such lies taste too bitter to waste time with.”
Millicent gasped. “Edward…”
“I merely wished to give my salutations,” he said, holding onto his emotionless smirk. “And, of course, to bask in your niece’s radiance for a moment. Miss Witcher…” He bowed for Millicent, and when he rose, he was sure to smirk at Edward before turning and vanishing into the crowd.
Edward watched him go, a glare that burned all those who were unlucky enough to be found in its way. He had hoped that Lord Grundon might distract himself with someone else this evening, enough that he would forget about Millicent entirely.
Now, it was clear, that he had eyes for Edward’s niece. Worse still, Edward suspected those eyes existed only to frustrate Edward and undo him.
“Edward, what was that?” Millicent snapped at him. “You were so rude to Lord Grundon.”
“He is lucky that rude is all that I was.”
“But why?” she asked. “He has been nothing but kind to me. And he is rather charming.”
Edward turned and was about to tell Millicent exactly what he thought of Lord Grundon. Before he got the chance, Celestine’s warning echoed in the back of his mind. To try and push Millicent away would only drive her into the man’s arms. Such was the way of young women.
“You are right,” Edward said with a grimace that he felt in his chest. “I was…” He cleared his throat. “I will do better the next time I speak with Lord Grundon. You have my word.”
“Good,” Millicent said. Then she smiled wistfully as she searched through the crowd. “I do hope that he finds me later. Perhaps he will even…” She trailed off and her mouth fell open.
“What?” Edward turned to see what she was looking at. “What is it?”
“Oh… nothing.” Millicent said awkwardly. “Come, let us walk a little.” She pulled on his arm as she tried to lead him.
It did no good, and no sooner had Edward turned did he see the reason for Millicent’s strange behavior. As busy as the ballroom was, as loud and bustling, the entire room seemed to quiet in that moment, and the crowds faded into nothingness as his attention became fixed on a single occupant.
She wore a gown of yellow and gold and silver.
Her chestnut hair was pinned back by a sparkling tiara.
Although the gown flowed around her legs, it was tight at her waist, cinching it so that her bosom could not be ignored…
nor should it be. Her mask was silver, a simple design that hid her eyes, but there could be no denying who she was.
Edward watched Celestine float through the ballroom, her mother and sisters with her, but that hardly seemed relevant. She stood apart from them, a light seeming to shine across her, and the world stood perfectly still.
“Edward…” Millicent tugged on his arm. “Let us go this way.”
“I…” He knew he should have allowed Millicent to pull him. To stare as he was, to allow his obsession to grow, was dangerous and would do nothing but bring him pain.
Yet, he could not stop staring at Celestine. His mouth hung open. His chest thumped. His eyes were wide and unblinking. How did I have her, only to let her go? What was I thinking?
And just like that, all the hard work he had done this week to forget about Celestine was smashed into a million little pieces, turned to dust so that he might as well not have bothered.
Things only got worse from there.
Through the crowd, Lord Grundon suddenly appeared and he made straight for Celestine.
Edward chuckled at first when he saw the look of revilement cross Celestine’s masked-face, and he was certain that she was about to turn him away.
Only then, her mother swept in, and within seconds the three of them were engaged in a conversation.
Walk away, Celestine. You know better than that…
He wished that he could hear what was being said because a second later Lord Grundon linked his arm with Celestine’s and lead her toward the dancefloor.
“No…” Edward said.
“Oh…” Millicent pouted. “I am sorry, Edward. I wish he had asked me instead.”
Edward slowly followed them, not even realizing what he was doing. Millicent called out after him but he did not turn back or stop. Soon, he stood on the edge of the dancefloor and he watched with contempt, with frustration, and with unabated rejection as Celestine and Lord Grundon danced together.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
And this certainly wasn’t how he was supposed to feel.
The engagement had been fake, his feelings were meant to be the same, but as he watched them begin their dance, Lord Grundon’s hands on her waist and their bodies close, Edward’s stomach twisted into knots and his chest tightened so that he could hardly breathe.
“Even with the mask, that glare is unmissable…” Percival appeared beside Edward, looking rather pleased with himself.
“Not now, Percival,” Edward growled, unable to tear his eyes away from Celestine and Lord Grundon.
If there was one positive to be taken from the situation, it was that Celestine looked none too pleased with her dancing partner.
But across the way, her mother watched and nodded along as if willing the pairing to happen, and Edward came to understand that it might not matter what Celestine wanted.
As a single lady of the ton, she would always be seen as a commodity, someone to be pursued and eventually owned. She might not have wanted it, but that was simply the way of the world.
For a time there, Edward had saved her from such a fate. No more…
“I do find it strange,” Percival continued. “That for a man who was so sure of himself, so certain of his own feelings, that you stand here now and look at Miss Celestine as if you lost something.”
“I said not now.”
“Perhaps you should have just done as you had told everyone you were doing and married her,” Percival said dryly. “A pity that you lost the chance.”
The words stung like a knife being driven through his chest, and the longer that Edward watched Celestine dance with Lord Grundon, the more that he came to realize their truth.
I am too late. I had my chance, but I have missed it…