Page 41 of Enticed By an Earl
“You poor dear,” the matronly woman said, putting an arm around Kitty like she would shield her from the boorish men who dared to argue near her. “Let me take you to the retiring room.”
Kitty wanted to leave, but she did not want to be whisked off by a woman she did not know.
She was saved from that by the sudden and blessed appearance of Dev, who came from seemingly nowhere and slipped an arm around Kitty’s shoulders. “Allow me,” he said, pulling Kitty closer to his side and half shielding her with his body. “Thank you for your assistance, Lady Redditch.”
“Oh!” the matronly woman said, as if she’d just pieced together the rumors and realized Dev had some sort of claim over Miss Kitty Dryden. “You are quite welcome, my lord.”
“I suppose the best man has won,” Salisbury said good-naturedly as Dev walked Kitty off to the side.
Kitty regained her wits enough at the last moment to glance back to Salisbury with a grateful and apologetic smile. Fortunately, Salisbury nodded to her as though nothing were particularly out of the ordinary as the dance went on.
“Are you well?” Dev asked as he walked Kitty to the side of the room.
“I…I do not know,” Kitty murmured. “George….” She couldn’t manage anything else.
Dev nodded, then changed directions, taking Kitty toward the French doors at the far end of the ballroom and hurrying her outside.
Fourteen
When Dev arrived in the ballroom of Lord and Lady Bradshaw’s townhouse, the ball was already in full bloom. The musicians were already playing, the ballroom was crowded and beginning to grow stuffy, and the hum of dozens of conversations had reached a volume that nearly eclipsed that of the music.
Dev had once loved the hum of excitement that filled a ballroom during the height of the social season. He had seen every ball as an opportunity to laugh with his friends and admire the young people dressed in their finest. Though he’d never truly been inclined to marry, he’d danced with as many women as was decent and, when needed, had treated the occasions as a market to find his next bed companion.
But striding into that particular ballroom on that evening filled Dev with only one thought. Where was Kitty, and was she safe and enjoying herself or would he need to rush to her rescue?
It was not easy to make out his beloved in the sea of people at first. It seemed as though everyone who was anyone had accepted the Bradshaw invitation. For many, itwas their last opportunity to enjoy the delights of London before leaving for the country. So Dev found it necessary to wander around the room, greeting people he had no care for and allowing himself to be brought into conversations he was not interested in for several minutes, all while searching for Kitty.
When he finally spotted her, she, Lady Everly, and her friends were being addressed by a pair of gentlemen halfway across the ballroom. Dev narrowed his eyes, trying to place the two, particularly the one that offered for Kitty’s hand to lead her into the dance. He tamped down a swell of jealousy when the man, Lord Salisbury, led Kitty away from her friends and into the line of the dance.
Dev’s jealousy was short-lived, however. He smiled and broke away from the conversation he was ostensibly a part of so that he could watch his beloved enjoy herself in the dance. Kit had been so deeply worried that he would be found out and exposed in some dramatic scene worthy of the stage, but to Dev’s eyes, Kitty blended in perfectly with everyone around her. Lady Everly had provided her with dancing lessons in the last week or so, and by the look of things, Kit had mastered every step.
It was charming to watch how much Kitty enjoyed herself as she danced, though Dev could tell even from a distance that his beloved was still worried. He waited, smiling at her even though she did not notice him, willing her to relax and enjoy the ball for what it was and herself for who she was.
Such enjoyment could have been possible had Kitty not changed partners and found herself face to face with Kit’s wretched brother, George. Dev noticed what was about to happen moments too late. Whether deliberately or by accident, Kitty attempted to hide from her brother and ended up tumbling over her own feet instead.
Dev charged forward, determined that nothing and noone would harm his sweetheart if he had anything to do about it.
He arrived on the scene just as Lady Redditch was about to take Kitty away.
“Allow me,” he said, taking charge and claiming his sweetheart before truly stopping to think what the others surrounding them would think of his sudden appearance. “Thank you for your assistance, Lady Redditch.”
A few more words were spoken, but Dev ignored all of them. “Are you well?” he asked as he walked Kitty to the side of the room.
“I…I do not know,” Kitty whispered, choked with fear. “George….”
Dev clenched his teeth and took Kitty in another direction, moving her outside so that both of them could enjoy fresher air away from the other ball guests.
It was a lucky thing that the Bradshaws had an extensive garden behind their ballroom, one that was enclosed and shielded from the rest of the city, but that was not particularly crowded as of yet. A few couples or small groups were scattered here and there along the paths, where lanterns on poles provided enough light to see by. Dev took Kitty as far from the house and those other guests as he could, to a corner of the garden with a bench. A lantern on a pole stood on either side of the bench, but the one on the left had gone out, leaving the area partially shielded.
“Are you well, truly?” Dev asked as he sat them down on the bench, sliding an arm around Kitty to keep her close.
“I…I will be,” Kitty said, breathless and trembling slightly. “I need but a moment.”
Dev nodded, and despite a few people glancing in their direction from the other side of the garden, he took one of Kitty’s hands in his and raised it to his lips for a kiss.
Kitty turned her head toward Dev with a grateful smile. “Ido not know what I would have done had you not come along,” she said. “I was so afraid that the moment had come and the game was over.”
“It is not a game,” Dev insisted, holding Kitty’s hand against his heart once he’d kissed it. “It is your life.”
