Page 33 of A Duke in Pursuit of Passion
She would recognise that face anywhere. The last time she had seen it, it had been pressed up against her sister's as they kissed behind the garden wall, right before she and Louisa had suffered their worst argument ever.
She quickly checked her mask and searched his gaze for any sign of recognition. Even when she was certain that he hadn't recognised her, she could not calm her racing heart.
"Are you well, miss?"
Clearing her throat, Ella straightened up and released his arms. "Yes, very well, thank you."
"Then I apologise for stumbling into your path," Mr Giles said, his voice just as charming as before. "Perhaps you might accept a dance as penance?"
Ella's skin crawled at the thought, but more than that, her heart raced at the thought of how close she was to the last person who might have seen her sister.I have to get closer to him.
"I would be honoured, Mr …" she said, fluttering her eyelashes and gripping her feather fan to make herself look a little more alluring. Everything in her was telling her to run for Lord Rolfe, to tell him she had found him, but she couldn't bear the thought of losing him just as she had Louisa.
"Mr Anthony Phelps, at your service, miss," he said, bowing exaggeratedly.
A false name? Two can play at that game,Ella thought before smiling sweetly. "Actually, it is Lady, Lady Fiona Marks."
"Marks?" Mr Giles tested the name on his tongue, and for a moment, Ella thought she might have overstepped. "Not a name that I recognise."
"I am new to town," Ella said quickly. "Just passing through to see family before I make my way over to the Americas."
Ella was absolutely stunned with herself for allowing the story to slip from her lips so easily. And yet the glint in Mr Giles' eyes told her that she had hooked him.
"The Americas, aye? What takes a beautiful young woman as yourself so far?" he asked as he held out his arm to lead her onto the dancefloor. Though her skin continued to crawl in his presence, she placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.
And still the lies flooded from her lips. "Inheritance."
The smirk beneath his mask was not at all well-hidden, and Ella could tell she was increasingly intriguing him with every falsity.
As they began to dance, it became abundantly clear to Ella that he was attempting to flirt with her.Did my sister truly fall for such idiocy?she thought, unable to believe her sister had ever been so foolish. Then she remembered that she knew something about him that her sister didn't. She knew his game. More than that, she felt confident enough that she might be able to play him at it. And so when he asked, "My Lady, might I call upon you tomorrow?" she was already well prepared.
"Oh, Mr Phelps, I would greatly enjoy it, but I am afraid my aunt is very strict," she said, fluttering her lashes at him. The disappointment that darkened his gaze told Ella she had him right where she wanted him. "However, if I were to go for a walk in one of the nearby parks andbumpinto you, she could have no objection."
His eyes lit once more at that, and he graciously accepted the idea. Though it caused the bile to rise in her throat, she allowed him to kiss her hand in farewell once their dance came to an end, with a promise to meet him at a park nearby Lady McGilligan's estate, one she and Alice had passed through on their way to market.
"Until tomorrow, My Lady," he said, straightening up.
"I greatly look forward to it,Mr Phelps."
Forcing a smile, she watched him turn and begin to make his way around the edge of the dancefloor. And as she watched him, she saw how he watched the others in the room, how he seemed to pinpoint the party's young and seemingly unaccompanied ladies. And again, the bile rose. Unable to stop thinking how many women he might wish to target that night, Ella whipped around and looked energetically for Lady McGilligan and Lord Rolfe.
If she were to enact any sort of plan, she couldn't waste any more time at the ball, nor could she tell Lord Rolfe about what had just happened with all those people around.
And the moment she found Lord Rolfe and his aunt nearby the refreshments table, she approached them, fluttering her fan wildly. "I am afraid you must both forgive me, but I am not feeling well. I do believe I may need to return home and rest."
The concern that flashed through Lord Rolfe's eyes warmed her heart. But his aunt insisted, "We shall leave immediately," almost as though she sensed that Ella had what she needed from the evening.
*
It was during the carriage ride home that Ella decided it might be best to wait until morning before disclosing what had happened. The last thing she wanted to do was give them both something to worry about, something that might keep them both awake for the night.
And so when they got back to the estate, she discreetly excused herself to her bedroom along with Alice to help her undress.
She had only managed to get out of her gown and into her chemise and dressing robe with half her hair unpinned before she heard the knocking upon her door.
"I wonder who that could be," Alice wondered aloud as she headed to the door to answer it. Unphased by it, Ella continued to unpin her own hair. It was only when Alice exclaimed, "Lord Rolfe!" that she jumped up from her stool and whipped around to face him, her cheeks blushing at her dishevelled appearance.
He, on the other hand, looked just as he always did with his glossy hair swept back from his face and the evening shadow of facial hair making him look ruggedly handsome. What a glorious man he had become from the wiry boy he had once been. And just the sight of him made her heart race.
