Page 16 of Unmasking a Wicked Marquess
“Sometimes people are unlucky in love, but sometimes, people are lucky too.” Violet took Juliet’s shoulders and spun her around so quickly on the stool that she nearly toppled from it. “What if this is your lucky find? What if the man you met tonight could be the man you love? The man you are destined to be with.”
“Pff, I do not believe in destiny.” Juliet waved her hand in the air and turned away again, facing the mirror. “What if your destined partner was born on the other side of the world? You would have no chance to meet one another. That would make the world a cruel place indeed.”
“Oh, you’re being difficult on purpose,” Violet huffed and sat on the foot of the bed, flopping her body down.
“No, I am being practical.” Juliet took out the last pin out of her hair and looked at her face in the mirror. She couldn’t help wondering if the mask she wore had offered some protection that night, though it was not a thought she would voice to her sister. What if the mask had hidden enough of her face to make her seem more beautiful than she was? What if the masked man had been disappointed when she revealed it? “Tonight, shall be just what it was, a perfect memory.”
She smiled rather sadly, watching in the reflection as Violet eyed her with more than a little resentful look.
“Or maybe you have missed out on the love of a lifetime.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Juliet laughed and waved a hand in the air. “I am sure I have not missed out on such a love. Just because he was interesting, and …”
Passionate.
She decided to keep the thought to herself and stopped her own body from raising her hand and placing it to her lips. She had not expected a kiss to feel like that. Any kiss she had ever seen on stage was chaste, merely a press of lips together, yet the kiss she had shared with this man had been nothing of the kind.
The sensuality of his tongue brushing her own, the excitement it had elicited in her gut, to the point that her hand trembled as it clutched her lapel, was intoxicating. She didn’t think she’d forget for a long time the way his hand had rested on the curve of her waist, pulling her to him as if she was the very thing he had desired at that moment.
“You’re staring in the dreamiest way into that mirror.” Violet’s words broke the quiet. “You are more like me than you think you are.”
“Am not,” Juliet said defensively, but smiled all the time. “Anyway, what is done is done. I cannot turn back the clock and ask his name now, even if I wished to.”
“Do you now wish you had?”
“I am not saying that.” Despite Juliet’s certainty that it was best to leave the one magical night as it was, her curiosity burned within her.
Who were you? This mysterious man who could kiss with such passion and spend his days in India, bringing the scents of spices with him when he came to a ball?
“Well, maybe you do not want to know his name, but I certainly do.” Violet stood and walked towards the door with a fixed look of determination in her eyes.
“Vi? What does that mean?” Juliet asked in a sudden panic and followed her, running and picking up the hem of her dressing gown to make sure she didn’t trip.
Violet opened the door and stood with her hands on either side of the frame, a victorious smile spreading across her cheeks.
“I was excited in much the same way the night I met Brandon. Now, if there’s a chance that you one day could be as happy in marriage as I am, how can I miss this chance? Leave it with me.” She patted Juliet’s cheek lovingly and retreated into the corridor. “I shall discover the name of your masked suitor.”
Juliet said nothing and stared after her sister, with her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. She did not know whether to call her sister back to argue with her or to let her go and do as she pleased.
Chapter 5
“Well?” Amelia sat in the chair beside Edward with such haste that the slice of toast he had been holding threw into the air and he had to catch it with his other hand to stop it toppling to the ground.
Across the table, Jane sniggered into her teacup as Edward’s eyes slid to his mother beside him. She seemed rather like a child who had just been promised the finest of sweetmeats, perching on the edge of her chair with her cheeks flushed red and her eyes open wide.
“Well, what?” Edward asked with perfect innocence, being careful to take a large mouthful of toast to delay this conversation for as long as possible.
“Jane says you danced last night at the ball with more than one lady.” Amelia waved her hands animatedly. Behind her, Philip walked into the room. He chuckled, clearly having already expected this conversation.
Proceeding to stand behind his wife, he calmly took her shoulders and moved her back in the chair. She gave no sign of noticing what he was doing, for she didn’t look at him, though she did indeed move back in the seat. “What did you think of the ladies? Was there one you liked?”
“Mother, please.” Edward sighed deeply and stared down at his coffee cup.
He had no intention whatsoever of telling anyone in his family about the particular lady who had captured his attention the night before. She was entirely different from any other lady he had danced with, so much so that falling asleep hadn’t been a simple thing. He kept seeing her in his mind’s eye, and more than once, he had dreamt of the two of them still outside under that canopy of ivy on the stone terrace.
He dreamt of what more could have passed between them other than a single kiss. He’d imagined himself kissing down her neck and pulling the hem of her skirt, dragging it up to reveal her legs. He pictured her tipping back her head, maybe breathy moans escaping her.
Revealing to his mother and father that he had met a woman he desired so strongly he could not sleep seemed an unwise idea indeed.
