Page 45 of Love & Letter Charms
“Oh.” That delightful flush in her cheeks deepened, her gaze dropping to where her hand rested in his, as if his praise was too direct a light to face. “I—thank you. Yes, I …” She hesitated, each word carefully chosen, but as she continued, her voice gained confidence. “The pianoforte has been my companion since childhood. When I play, it is as if … well, as if I am in another world entirely. Everything else falls away. All the tension inside me releases. The overwhelm of the real world disappears, and I can finally breathe.”
“The overwhelm of the real world,” he repeated softly, committing this new detail to memory, another precious addition to the collection of things he already knew about her.
She must have misread something in his expression, for she dipped her head and rushed to add, “Oh, I know it sounds foolish. My world ought not to be overwhelming. My life has been nothing but comfort and privilege. A loving family, beautiful homes, every advantage one could possibly want. Such a life should not feel so very difficult to manage.”
He paused, regarding her for a moment with quiet contemplation before replying. “The fact that your feelings don’t align with your circumstances does not make them any less real. Our emotions follow their own logic, not the logic others might impose upon them.”
Her eyes widened as they returned to his, surprise evident in every feature, as if understanding was the last thing she had expected from him.
“What is it that you find so overwhelming?” he asked.
“Oh, well …”
“Only if you wish to share,” he added, though his heart ached to know more, to understand the depths that lay beneath her careful reserve, to discover what kept her hidden away from the connection that had flourished between them in their letters.
She drew in a breath, her lips parting as if ready to reveal something important, but then the music drew to a close, and he was forced to release her, stepping back to bow as she curtsied.
The separation felt like physical pain, a severance of something vital. Already he was calculating how many dances must pass, how many other partners he must endure, before he might reasonably claim her hand again without causing unseemly gossip. He yearned not only for her nearness, but for the unspoken words still hanging between them.
“Thank you for the dance, Lady Aurelise,” he managed to say.
“Thank you, Your Highness.” She slipped away, her silver-blue gown disappearing among the crowd as she retreated to where her family waited at the ballroom’s edge.
Her family.
His stomach plummeted like a stone dropped from a great height. Aurelise’s face brightened visibly as she reached her sister, clasping Miss Rosavyn’s hands in hers while their mother bent close, lips moving in what was surely a torrent of whispered questions. And there, just beyond them?—
Ah. Evryn stared across the ballroom, his gaze locking with Ryden’s in a look that mingled disbelief and unmistakable warning. And beside him—oh, good stars. Lady Rivenna Rowanwood herself, wearing the expression of a woman calculating precisely how many ways she might ruin him without technically committing treason.
Splendid. Ryden had, of course, entirely neglected to account for that particular consequence when deciding to approach Lady Aurelise before any other Crown Court lady tonight. Naturally her family would be present along with every other distinguished household in Bloomhaven. He would have anticipated this had his mind not been entirely consumed by the earth-shattering revelation of her identity.
He offered Evryn a grin that was equal parts apology and mischief, accompanied by a jaunty wave, before turning smartly away. He could only hope Aurelise would convince her formidable kin that he had already disavowed any interest in her before her grandmother devised a suitably elegant method of ending his existence. He needed more time to convince them all that he was worthy of her.
His mother was watching him now, the tilt of her head conveying a very specific, very pointed expectation. Ryden drew a slow breath, straightened his shoulders, and crossed the floor toward Lady Olivienne for the next dance.
But even as he led the raven-haired beauty onto the floor, his thoughts remained fixed on Aurelise. On L. His mind turned to the idea that had been taking shape in his mind over the pastday. A delicious game, a challenge crafted to draw her out from behind the careful walls she had built around herself, and to help her discover the courage she refused to believe she possessed.
She would be horrified, of course. Would most certainly attempt to refuse. But he believed he could convince her, could appeal to that side of her nature that was not quite as demure as she led everyone, including herself, to believe. That quiet spark of mischief that emerged in her letters when she thought no one but he was watching.
He turned Lady Olivienne through a complicated series of steps, his smile automatic while his mind continued weaving plans. The real pleasure of this Season was only just beginning.
Chapter Thirteen
THE DARE LIST
(To be undertaken by Lady L, under no duress whatsoever, except perhaps that of curiosity)
stargaze from a roof
explore somewhere new and bring back evidence
