Chapter 7 #3
It was like dancing with liquid. Like being liquid. Every sweep and curl executed with precision and flair. Never had I had a partner who could move like this. Never had I been twisted and handled and shown off on the floor.
Never had I met a man like Gabriel Noble.
Was he lacking in anything? Besides his social skills when he was being insufferable.
Although other than the first few days, he had been less so—not counting the barbs that he still tossed every so often. But the affection he displayed for his brother and the people with whom he worked told a different story to mine.
And even with the continued simmer of animosity, every time I had been in a situation where I could have been harmed—with my brother (not that he would have), the other prisoners, or the negotiants—he had taken definitive action.
If you were in Noble’s circle, you were obviously under his protection.
He smiled as he showed me off in a turn. I knew I looked like a wonderful dancer in that moment. Because even though I was passably good, he made me look great.
He brought me close again and his green eyes burned into me, unhidden by the mask. They had looked that way earlier, when he had been about to kiss me. Heat swept through me, but he simply spun me again.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I managed, when we were once more aligned together.
“Which one was that?” His body pressed harder against mine.
“Do you attend these functions often?”
“No.” He twirled me out, then back in again. “Just John’s masquerades. Sometimes I think he holds them so often because he knows I will attend.”
“You are good friends? I thought you disliked anyone gilded-born?”
His muscles tensed beneath my glove. “John and I have been friends a long time. And I don’t dislike everyone in the gilded.”
“If you say so.”
He spun me so my breath caught. My feet barely touched the floor.
“I do.”
“Where did you learn to dance like this?”
“Down by the docks, of course.”
The heat scorching my cheeks and the excitement from dancing negated my withering glare. The music swelled as he twirled me again, the crescendo wrapping around us like a silken wind. The ballroom’s fairy lights flickered, the charged air hummed.
“My mother, if you must know.”
“You dance like this with your mother?”
“I was required to stand in during dance training at one time in my life. The body doesn’t forget.”
“Dance training, where?”
He pulled me against him again as we turned and his green eyes turned smoky as he lowered his head. My breath caught and I had the inane thought that this kissing activity really required practicing right now.
The music stopped, the bars of enchantment coming to rest, and he switched his arm from around my waist to underneath my gloved hand. Escorting me from the floor—the twinkling lights followed in our wake.
Admiring glances lined our path. More than one woman was eyeing Noble with an avaricious gleam.
Apart from the standard masquerade wear, he hadn’t attempted to disguise himself tonight.
And even if he had, after that turn about the dance floor, his identity was assuredly obvious to all who knew him.
We stopped at the refreshment area.
“Gabriel,” a voice purred, a woman in a fashionable royal blue dress slinking to his side. “I haven’t seen you in a double fortnight. Naughty you, keeping away from us.”
“Lady Dalworth. How is your husband?”
She waved a hand, then brushed it down his sleeve. “Away, as usual.”
“I see. Lord Sixth’s Lady of Dalworth, this is my companion, Mistress Rose.”
The beautiful woman, a merchant’s daughter who had married decidedly up two years past and refused her natal name in address, barely spared me a look and a baring of teeth.
“Charming. I wanted to extend an invitation to meet with the ladies for tea, Gabriel. We are interested in sponsoring your foundation. A formal note will be sent, of course, but I wanted to let you know in person. I stopped by your residence today, but your butler said you were out.”
“How unfortunate to have missed you there. I will respond to your note as soon as I receive it. You do serve the best tea.” His smile was charming.
She preened, and I wondered how she couldn’t see the hard light in the back of his eyes, the edge underlining his curved lips.
Lady Dalworth seemed only to be taken in by his sweet guile.
Perhaps she only saw what she wished to see.
Or what he wished her to see. He manipulated women as easily as making a turn on the dance floor. I had to remember that.
“I will see you soon, then, dear. I hope you enjoy yourself this evening. I have found patience never lets me down.” Her voice lilted as she sashayed off.
The woman wasn’t even trying to be ambiguous. She had a fine figure, and beneath her mask her features were decidedly fine as well—I had briefly met her the year before. But she didn’t have a chance with Noble. Couldn’t she tell?
“No, they never can. What is intriguing is how you can tell?”
I looked up to see Noble watching me, eyes calculating. I realized with a dawning sense of horror that I had said that last bit out loud.
“Your eyes,” I replied.
They immediately shuttered and I cursed myself. I had just begun to be able to read him and I had given my advantage away.
The shutters lifted as quickly as they’d been erected, leaving behind amusement and interest. “Mmm. I’m curious to see if you continue to guess correctly. Most see only what they wish to see.”
I didn’t comment on his part in that equation—that of providing the canvas upon which to project.
I didn’t think myself so different from most. I also liked to see what I wished. But desperate times required rationality and attention, and the last few years had made me look more deeply beneath a surface.
“A game?”
“A challenge. Come, Marietta, take my challenge.” His voice was husky and deep, sexual and mysterious. The truth was in his eyes, though, watchful and keen.
“I accept.”
Pleasure and increased interest joined the watchfulness. “Not everything is singular. There is nothing wrong with discovery alongside victory. It is all in how you approach the challenge itself.”
His hand slid along my back, dipping to touch my natural waist. “I hope you give in to the desire I discovered earlier.” He turned me and pulled me back against him, my rear nestled in the juncture of his legs. Heat shot straight up my spine.
We were attracting attention. I tried to calm myself by repeating that no one knew who I was. I was just some wanton woman who had arrived with a too attractive man.
“I want to discover how to get my brother released.” His lips brushed the back of my ear and I forgot to breathe. “That is how I’m approaching this.”
He murmured against my skin. “If we are lucky tonight, John will know of a way to delay the trial. What will you do for the weeks that it might take to search?”
I pushed away and turned to face him, an angry retort on my lips.
His smile was lazy and rakish, but his eyes were watchful, calculating.
Spirits. He was going to give me a permanent headache. “You are testing me.”
He inclined his head. “Perhaps.”
“Well, stop. I am perfectly capable of following through on my tasks, I’ve already told you that.”
He bowed so his face was level with mine, his arms clasped behind his back. “You have yet to be truly tested, Marietta. You may think me poking fun about the kissing earlier, but you will need to carry off your disguise after we leave tonight. Your brother’s life depends upon it.”
I lifted my chin. “I will do whatever it takes.”
He smiled that rakish grin again, and this time it was echoed in his eyes. “Perfect.”
~*~
At eleven we slipped from the festivities into a well-appointed study. Bookshelves lined the rooms, their contents arranged with deliberate precision—the complete opposite of Noble’s chaos.
Alcroft was standing at a rosewood sideboard, decanter in hand, pouring liquid into three crystal glasses in turn.
“Lady Second Winters, I presume?”
I jumped. Alcroft had the same way about him as Noble. He didn’t turn, expectation telling him everything would be as he anticipated, even as his shoulders tensed just slightly at the possibility it might not be.
“How did you know?” For all that I was supposed to be forgettable, a surprising number of people seemed to know or recognize me after only a few brief comments. Phineas, Lucian, now Alcroft.
“Gabriel told me.”
I looked at Noble. He nodded in affirmation at my unasked question.
Alcroft lifted the rune-carved crystal glasses and set them on the matching rosewood desk, waving a hand to the two chairs on the other side. “Please.”
Noble made himself comfortable, removing his mask, as Alcroft already had. I perched on the chair and kept mine in place.
“What specifically did you need?” he asked.
Noble lifted his glass and leaned back. “A way to hold off the trial as it moves to the High Court. We need more time.”
Alcroft nodded and sat back in his chair as well, steepling his fingers. “You’ll need someone from the High Council to place pressure. First Tier would be easiest, though someone in the Second would do if you have a power player.”
“I have favors owed to me by power players in both. I could call one in, but it wouldn’t be commensurate with the request, and creating a debt is out of the question.”
Alcroft smiled. “Always wanting the upper hand, never wanting to be the one to owe. I do have a favor I can bring due with the head of Documents and Procedures. Do you want it?”
Noble nodded and relaxed a bit more into his chair, swirling the nightoak brandy. “That would be perfect. Is it enough of a recompense for the favor owed?”
“Yes. And I was wondering if it was ever going to be used. He deals in tonics, not tricorns, so a favor from him is less useful to me. Frankly, I will be well rid of the tie to him. He is keeping it hidden well, but his creditors are knocking. He will be more than willing to pay a debt without having to draw a draft.”
“I suppose you want the Huntswitch favor?”
Alcroft tapped his fingers together. “You know I do.”
“Excellent. I was going to gift it to you on the next holiday anyway. As if I care about the races.”
“You bastard.”
“Yes. Wonderful, isn’t it?” Noble gave a cheeky grin, which Alcroft returned.
I had stepped into a place where I didn’t speak the language.
“You will let me know what your contact says?”
“Of course.”
“The quirks and quillets will be out for this one.”
“Yes.” Alcroft shot me a speculative glance. “It should prove entertaining at the very least.”
I didn’t see anything entertaining about the situation, and it must have shown around my mask.
“No offense meant to you or your brother, Lady Second Winters. I refer to the game of manipulating the law and its enforcers until such time that Gabriel can absolve your brother.” He tilted his head. “Gabriel always finishes the tasks set before him. Do not despair.”
“You sound certain.” I looked between them, wondering at their easy friendship. “How long have you known each other?”
Alcroft was part of the gilded, and though Noble seemed able to hold his own, he hadn’t been born to it, that much was obvious. They must have met through business.
“Oh, we have known each other for what now, twenty years?” Alcroft seemed amused, and I couldn’t understand why. Noble made a sound of agreement. “Quite the puzzle, is it not, Lady Second? I will leave you to suss it out.”
I looked at Noble. He seemed equally amused, but there was a fine line of tension around his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
“School?” it was the earliest place where a non might work their way into gilded circles. It was a monumental task to advance socially, but Noble was powerful. And other than dynasty, power mattered more than anything to the gilded. Maybe—
Alcroft’s eyes changed. Noble tensed further. “Did I ever tell you that I begged High Lord Steelcrest to register you at Gildonvale?”
Noble snorted. “I’m sure that was a scene you would not wish to re-create.”
“No, no I would not.”
Noble looked to the long case clock at the side, tension visibly strumming through him. I filed it away. I hungered to know his secrets. “We’ve kept you too long.” He rose and started retying the strings on his mask. “Let me know what your contact says. We are staying in the Ashfield row.”
Alcroft rose too and rounded the desk, bowing his head to me and shaking Noble’s hand, his mask held loosely between his other fingers.
“I will. Perhaps I’ll drop by sometime this week.
I admit that Lucian has infected me with his excitement about the case.
I will send a note first, but there might be something I can do. ”
Noble nodded and re-donned his mask as they exchanged final words. He slipped his hand around my waist as we exited and walked down the hall, bypassing the ballroom and heading straight for the door.
“And now, my dear, it is time for you to become my wench.”