Page 32 of Unmasked By a Captivating Lady
“Our wager,” said Miles slowly. “Two guineas, which I have forfeited to you.” He paused. “It was wrong of me to bet on a woman’s affections….”
Andrew gazed at him steadily. “If it makes you feel better, then I shall take it.”
Miles nodded. “It doesn’t make me feel any better, but itisthe right thing to do in the circumstances.” He smiled bitterly. “Even if it is theonlyright thing I can do.”
Without another word, he left the room, not looking back.
***
In his room he stared out of the window, brooding, at the square beyond. He had got what he wanted; he was not going to the ball. Why, then, did it all taste like ashes in his mouth?
He kept staring out of the window. The street and square below were almost empty now, but tomorrow night it would be a different scene entirely. Tomorrow night, it would be filled with carriages jostling for a place, depositing gentlemen and ladies in their finest attire on the doorstep. He could almost hear the sound of the orchestra, and chatting, and laughing.
But he would not be here to see or hear any of it.
He kept staring out the window, picturing the Nott’s carriage drawing up. His heartbeat quickened, thinking of Ara, stepping down from the carriage, gazing up at the grand house. Her mother had insisted on new gowns for the ball and had claimed that Ara looked a dream in hers.
His heart twisted. He would not be here to behold her in it.
He stepped back from the window. It was no use torturing himself like this. He had made up his mind, for better or worse. He had informed his brother and that was the end of the matter entirely.
Chapter 16
Ara felt her stomach flutter with tiny nerves as she peered down at the carriage from her bedroom window. The carriage driver was waiting patiently for the family to come out, to take them to the ball. Everything was ready.
“Miss,” said Mary, the maid, behind her. “If you please. Your hair is not quite done yet, and your mother was quite insistent that you be ready before the half hour is up.”
Ara turned away from the window, walking quickly back to her dressing table, and seating herself in front of her mirror. “Of course, Mary! I am just so excited, I became distracted for a moment…”
The maid smiled indulgently. “It is going to be a fine night indeed, miss!” She expertly finished pinning Ara’s hair, weaving a few tiny white flowers through it. She stepped back, peering at Ara in the mirror, smiling. “There! It is done! Oh, you look so beautiful, miss!”
Ara smiled tremulously, gazing at her reflection. She couldn’t quite believe that it was her; that this woman smiling back at her really was the same Arabella Nott who had come to London only a few short weeks ago. The Arabella Nott who had sulked, and complained, and hated the thought of spending even a moment in the city, never mind an entire season. The Arabella Nott who had never thought she would gain a thrill of satisfaction from a mere gown.
It seemed that woman was gone. Now, Arabella Nott was fashionably attired and tressed. Her dark blonde hair was swept up into a high bun at the back of her head, with tiny plaits interwoven among it. The hairstyle was studded with the tiny white flowers and diamantes, scattered through it like stars. Around her neck hung a single diamond, in the shape of a teardrop, on a golden chain.
But it wasn’t just the unfamiliar attire. The woman who stared back at her was changed in some fundamental way. Her cheeks glowed, and her eyes sparkled. Ara knew there was only one reason for it.
The Duke.
Her smile wavered for a moment. The intensity of her feelings was a little frightening. The fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about him still confused her. Was she indeed in love with him? If so, it fundamentally changed everything she had previously thought and felt about marriage, and indeed, her whole future.
The door suddenly burst open. Her mother was standing there, staring at her incredulously.
“What are you doing?” she cried. “Why are you still sitting there? It is time to leave, Arabella!”
Ara took a deep breath, standing up. “I am ready, Mama.”
***
Ruth clutched Ara’s arm tightly as the carriage pulled up in front of the Duke’s house on Grosvenor Square, jostling for position behind another that was already parked in front of the grand entrance way.
“I think I will surely faint!” squeaked Ruth, her blue eyes aglow with excitement. “Oh, Ara, have you ever seen anything so magnificent?”
Ara peered out of the carriage window. It was indeed an impressive house, one of the best that she had ever seen in London. The Duke of Lancaster’s estate occupied almost an entire block on Grosvenor Square, set within sprawling grounds behind a high metal gate. She glanced up. It was at least three storeys high, with long, gilded windows.
Somewhere in there, he lives,she thought in wonder.Somewhere in there, he has his chambers, where he sleeps, and awakens each day.
It suddenly hit her forcibly that he was averygrand man. A very grand man, indeed.
