Chapter Three
“Try to be on your best behavior, won’t you?” Diana asked as the Master of Ceremonies led them through the corridors and to the ballroom.
“As if I’d be anything else,” Sebastian said, his eyes already twinkling with mischief. He would try, for his sister’s sake, to not cause any upset, but he suspected it would not be he who would be starting any trouble.
“Lord Sebastian Nicholes, Viscount Hartwood and his sister, Lady Diana,” the Master of Ceremonies announced.
His voice boomed loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, and the brief moment’s silence was quickly replaced by a murmur of whispers. Ladies raised their fans to their faces, as though that somehow hid the fact that they were gossiping, and Sebastian worked hard to keep the scowl from his face.
“Come,” Diana said, “let’s not stand at the entrance while everybody gapes at us.”
Rather than descending the few steps that led to the ballroom floor, she spun left and marched to the seating area while Sebastian trailed behind, slinking and shuffling. He knew what her plan was—to sit quietly and hidden in a corner until the talk died down or became focused on something else. It was what she always did as these sorts of events.
He sat heavily opposite her at the smallest and most unassuming table of the lot. She looked around her, clearly uncertain, her shoulders curled in and her body made small. He, on the other hand, spread himself out, sitting tall and proud and refusing to let anyone bother him.
He brazenly looked around the crowd and saw the usual suspects—certainly no one he wished to speak to—but then his eyes alighted on someone quite different.
The young lady in question was tall, her skin a gentle bronze from hours spent in the sun and, quite unlike the other ladies, she seemed proud of it, rather than coveting the pale-white skin with lightly flushed cheeks that was so popular. Her hair, dark as a raven, had been decorated with the tiniest, most delicate little pearls that glinted in the candlelight.
But what intrigued him most was the way in which she smiled, a little awkwardly, perhaps, and a little curiously, as their eyes met across the room. What she didn’t do was immediately turn and start talking to her companion, her eyes wide with impish delight. She didn’t look at him with disdain, as most of the others did, nor did she seem even in the slightest bit interested in his past.
And he was drawn to her, make no mistake.
Beautiful and intriguing.
“Who—” Sebastian began, unable to take his eyes from her. Diana’s head turned quickly, her eyes lighting up as she spotted Jenny.
“Ah,” she said, “you’ve managed to find the one person in the room who may just have a worse history than you.”
Sebastian glared at her, quite uncertain what to think. He did not want to encourage rumor, but he so desperately wanted to know more about this strange and captivating lady.
“In what way?” he asked finally.
“Well,” Diana said, shifting in her seat to make herself more comfortable, her eyes sparkling with the excitement of talking about someone else. “She may parade as a lady now, but she is far from it in reality.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Sebastian asked.
“Word is that she was born to a lady of the night—father unknown, naturally. And she was maid until last year. Rumor has it that she used some of things her mother taught her to stay in with the wealthy gentlemen, if you know what I mean.”
“No,” Sebastian said, shaking his head, “what do you mean?” Diana tutted and rolled her eyes.
“Come now, Brother, I know you are not that naïve. She used her… feminine charms, shall we say? Occasionally offering the lords a service above and beyond her duties as a maid.”
“That sounds positively ridiculous, Diana. Sometimes I wonder if you truly hear yourself when you speak.”
“You know her brother somehow found his way into the world of business and married the daughter of a duke, don’t you? How he managed that, I do not know, but it sounds like trickery to me, don’t you agree?”
“No,” Sebastian said, shaking his head wildly. “I cannot imagine it is a trick. Not everyone is out to get something that doesn’t belong to them, Diana,” he reprimanded.
“And neither am I!” She sounded outraged, a hand to her chest and she looked around to check no one had heard his damaging words.
“Perhaps not,” he said, “but you certainly believe everyone else is. And besides, you of all people should know to pay no heed to rumor. We have been on the receiving end of it quite enough.”
“Youhave,” she spat. “I have been an innocent casualty in the disaster that is your life.”
“All right,” he said, holding his hands in the air and rising from his seat. “I did not bring you here only to be berated. If you wish to continue down this road, I will—”
“No!” she said, quick and loud. “No, please don’t,” she said, softer now, and he took his seat once more.
