Page 45 of An Offer for a Spinster
“It’s right that you’re Apollo, by the way,” she remarked, after a moment or two. “Apollo was always a savior, somebody who protected those who could not protect myself. The way you swept in and saved me from Mr. Burles was extremely heroic.”
Again, came the smile. The dance called for the partners to spin away from each other, turning their backs for a minute. She heard him speak, his voice low and gruff, as if trying to disguise it.
“I believe you could have saved yourself.”
She smiled. When they faced each other again, Apollo’s face was smooth and serious, with no sign that he’d ever talked at all.
“Come, tell me who you are,” Katherine said. A shake of the head was her only response. “Ah, do you intend to melt away once the dance is finished? Nod for yes, shake your head for no, and shrug your shoulders if you are undecided.”
Apollo shrugged his shoulders. He was smiling now, lips twisting in a lopsided grin that seemed so familiar to Katherine that she wanted to scream in frustration.
She was feeling a little something of everything, it seemed. Her heart pounded, butterflies fluttered wildly in her stomach, and somethingburnedinside her, something she hadn’t quite experienced before. Apollo seemed so familiar and yet so strange, but she couldn’t recall ever feeling quite so attracted to a man in her life.
He was watching her intently, eyes shadowed by the mask, but she could still see them. He watched her hungrily but deferentially, never touching her or stepping too close except when the dance required it.
“Do you read, Apollo?”
A nod.
“Do you read novels, or do you turn up your nose at them?”
There was a muffled burst of laughter, which Apollo turned his head to hide. He nodded, and she lifted her eyebrows.
“Which is it, then? You read them, or you despise them?”
He held up one finger. Katherine found that she was enjoying their strange method of communication. It wassomething different, and a far cry from the stiff, soulless conversation topics usually favoured at parties.
“So you read them. How exciting – I do like a man to read novels. I find that people who despise novels are either terrible bores or simply haven’t read them. Or, there is another possibility – they read novels and love them, but their pride does not allow them to admit it. I find that men are the most common culprits here.”
A smile, and a nod.
“Have you readPamela,Apollo?”
There was a brief hesitation, then he nodded.
“What did you think? Did you like it?”
A shake of the head.
“Ah, good. Poor Pamela did not have a happy ending, in my humble opinion. But, of course, one should not discuss novels at a masquerade – one should exchange gossip, flutter at handsome, eligible ladies and gentlemen, and try and guess who is who underneath the masks and costumes. I’m usually quite good at this, but you are proving quite a challenge, Apollo. Quite a challenge indeed.”
On that note, the music ended with a flourish, and the partners drew away from each other, bowing and curtseying. Katherine clapped, eyes on her Apollo. He made no move to melt away into the crowd. She was determined, now, to find out who he was. She knew him, she was sure of it. If he would onlyspeak.
“Since you cannot speak,” she said thoughtfully, “I suppose I must suggest refreshments, then?”
He nodded and offered his arm. Katherine took it, and they weaved their way through the crowd. When her hand touched his bare forearm, a sensation of tingling spread across her skin, causing the fine hairs on her arm to stand on end. It was so shocking and immediate a reaction that she sucked in a sharp breath, earning herself a questioning look from Apollo.
“I’m quite alright,” she managed, smiling up at him. “I just… just found myself in something of a draft.
He lifted his eyebrows at that, and rightly so. A draft in the heated ballroom seemed almost ridiculous.
“What do you think of L. Sterling, Apollo? Or Mrs. Radcliffe, or Frances Burney? Have you a favourite novelist?”
A shake of the head, a pause, then he held up two fingers.
She lifted her eyebrows. “The second author? Mrs. Radcliffe? Ah, yes, a good choice. HerMysteries of Udolphokept me breathless until the last page.The Italianwas even better.”
He nodded, smiling at her, and Katherine felt that warmth again, spreading through her chest as if she were sinking into a deep bath of hot water.
