Page 42 of Unmasked By a Captivating Lady
She heard scurried footsteps approaching the carriage, and then the door opened. Her father was standing there. Just behind him was her mother and Ruth.
Without a word, they all got into the carriage, closing the door behind them. There was a strained silence.
“Are we leaving, then?” she asked, her voice echoing in the silence.
Her mother’s face was like thunder. “Yes, we are leaving, daughter! How you think that we could stay there a minute longer after your appalling behaviour is beyond me!”
Her father glanced at her sharply. “What happened, Ara?”
She sighed heavily. “I…do not know.” She hesitated, biting her lip. “The man…who I thought was the Duke was trying to talk to me, and I did not want to listen to him.”
“The gall of him,” muttered her father darkly. “I should march back into that ball and challenge him to a duel…”
“You will do no such thing, Moses,” cut in her mother sharply. “We have had enough drama for one evening, without you stirring the pot even more.” She paused, staring at Ara. “I cannot believe that he even dared to show his face there! Do you know who he really is?”
Ara nodded slowly. “He is the younger brother of the Duke,” she said slowly. “They had a bet, that in the weeks leading up to the ball he would pretend to be the Duke, so as to see how many young ladies he could entrance through the title.”
Her father snorted. “What tomfoolery! And the Duke was a willing participant in this nonsense?”
Ara nodded again. “I am afraid he was, Papa. He told me so himself, when he asked me to dance, and apologised for it. He said that neither of them meant to hurt me.”
“And what did the man – the younger brother of the Duke – say to you?” asked her mother, staring at her intently.
Ara sighed heavily, feeling so weary of it all that she could barely think.
“He apologised,” she said stiffly. “He was still trying to apologise, but I did not want to listen to him anymore. I was angry…”
Her mother glared at her. “You should have bitten your lip, Ara! Have I taught you nothing? How can you not know that causing a scene like that is a sign of atrocious manners, and a terrible lack of control?”
Ara felt her old anger stirring within her, coiling like a snake in the pit of her stomach. She glared back at her mother.
“If we had left when I wanted to, it would never have happened,” she shot back, roused beyond measure. “I pleaded with you to leave, but you insisted that we stay, and put on our social faces. Therefore, in a roundabout way, it isyourfault, Mama!”
Her mother reeled back. “How dare you!” She rounded to her husband. “Make her apologise to me, Moses!”
Her father sighed heavily. “Now, Grace, you must calm down, too,” he said. “We are all heightened with what has happened here tonight, and I think it best if we head home and talk about it in the morning.” He paused, staring pointedly at Ara. “When we have all had time to consider things properly.”
He rapped on the top of the carriage. It lurched slightly, and then they were pulling away from the house, towards the grand gates of the house.
Ara glanced at Ruth, who had been sitting there wide-eyed through the entire exchange. The younger woman was pale and looked shocked. Ara smiled at her tentatively, but Ruth pointedly looked away, staring out of the carriage window.
Ara’s heart plummeted. Ruth was mad at her, along with everybody else. She had ruined her night, along with everything else. Ruth had been so excited about this ball. It seemed that she could not do a thing right by anyone.
She leant back in the seat, suddenly so weary she could barely keep her eyes open. All that she wanted was to be back in her room, and crawl into bed so that she could put this awful night behind her, once and for all. Would she wake up in the night and think that she had dreamt it?
The carriage was almost to the gates. She didn’t know why, but suddenly, she leant out the window, gazing back at the house.
She gasped. There was a figure, in an upstairs window, gazing down at the carriage, as it drew away.
Her heart lurched, and she felt her skin suddenly crackle, as if it had caught fire. Whether it was with anger, or desire, or a combination of both, she just didn’t know anymore. It was him.
He didn’t draw away. He kept staring at the departing carriage, his hand holding the curtain apart.
But the next minute they were out of the gates, flying through the streets of London, and the vision of him vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Chapter 21
Miles dropped the curtain with a shaking hand, turning away from the window. She was gone. Arabella Nott had just driven through the gates of the house, with her family, away from the ball.
