Page 19 of A Lady of Means
“All mine,” he said in return, those fathomless eyes and large hands engulfing hers until they let her go.For now.She wanted to stand right there, engulfed until she was in flames.She felt the Duke’s impatience as he waited to walk her to Kathleen.She cleared her throat and looped her arm through the Duke’s.When she made her exit and retreated home, it was those words that echoed in her head where he’d planted them.
All mine.That’s what she wanted to be.All his.
Moria had to find a way to let him win her, without losing it all.
ChapterEight
London’ssecond most fashionable ball tonight boasts a guest list not ordered by pedigree.The price of entry?Payment of something dear.What are you willing to sacrifice to avoid the fear of missing out?
- Scandalous Lives of Londonscandal sheet
* * *
After the ball,was…another ball.Of a different sort.This one was exclusive in the way that gaming hell membership was exclusive, and not in the way that balls were.
Each invitee to the ball had to complete a singular task outlined in their invitation and offer proof of completing said task as their entry to the ball.The whole process made it so that getting there was almost as fun as the revelry itself…almost.
Moria’s favorite part was that each attendant was required to hide their identity behind a mask.This allowed for the semblance of anonymity, as much as a paltry strip of beaded cloth could allow.
The rich and powerful mixed with the ennobled impoverished in a grand swirl of limitless activity in the black and white ballroom of Pomfrey House.Ladies were allowed to attend unchaperoned amongst gentlemen, and this made for a more illicit tableau than the party Moria had escaped earlier that evening.Moria had had to sneak out over her own balcony in a hoop skirt, she hoped this night proved to be worth her many gambles.
“Are you sure we won’t get into some kind of trouble for being here?What about our reputations?”Kate asked, coming to stand at Moria’s side at the top of the staircase that looked out over a packed ballroom.
“That’s why Lady Moria’s hair is so big, it’s full of secrets,” Carina said, with a wink.
“It’s not nearly as big as your ego,” Moria shot back, sticking out her tongue as the line to make it down the stairs moved.
“Carina is right.We’re your friends, why would we get you into any trouble?”Lady Gretchen asked, squeezing Kate’s hand for reassurance.
“I’m in no position to pass up friends,” Kate answered, following the line in front of them.
“Why did your parents want you to debut this season?”Carina inquired, smoothing a curl back into Kate’s coiffure.
“They wanted me to get socialized,” Kate said, adjusting her mask.
“And you’ll get socialized alright,” Lady Gretchen said, pulling a flask from the sleeve of her gown.
Kate’s eyes flew to the other two ladies.“What do you mean?”
“You’re a regulation beauty.Own it.”Moria paid her new friend a compliment before she linked arms with the three women, making their way down the grand staircase in dramatic fashion that drew some attention.Their entrance drew some attention, but it was Lord Tristan Valentine who was the first to recognize Moria behind her fox mask.
“It had to be you.”
From Moria’s side, Miss Herring rolled her eyes at Valentine’s approach.Moria didn’t heed her, pulling her glove higher up her arm so she had something to do to steady her hands.“I thought you were impervious to my charms, Valentine?”
Tristan Valentine lifted back his domino mask and gave her a smile.“Impervious, but not blind.”
Moria couldn’t help herself.“Beauty only gets you so far.”There was a knife’s edge to her voice that she hadn’t been able to restrain.Kate’s face fell, looking at her curiously.
Valentine offered his arm for Moria to take.“Careful, my lady, or someone will mistake you for sounding bored.”
“Is my sister-in-law sounding bored already?What a pity.”Crooned the voice of their host, Moria’s brother-in-law, Fitzwilliam Pomfrey, Viscount Ludlowe.
Moria could hear the familiar thread of sarcasm in her childhood friend’s voice.Even in the crush of people who turned their attention her way, her sister Noelle was nowhere to be seen.
“Good evening, my lord.Will Adelaide be attending this evening?”Miss Herring asked.
“There will be a literary salon this evening to discuss works of fiction with interested parties where shemightbe in attendance.”There was a twinkle in Fitz’s eye, pride and mischief intermingled.
