Page 98 of The Earl Takes All
“I’ll try.”
He glanced around as though seeking a secluded spot. “Let’s dance, shall we?”
“You’re in luck, as my dance card isn’t filled tonight.” It had been before she married. Every ball had been a whirlwind of dances. Tonight she hadn’t even bothered to bring an extra pair of slippers.
She’d waltzed with Ashe a dozen times, had always been comfortable with his presence, but for some reason tonight words escaped her. He knew the truth, and she didn’t know quite how to respond to that. “It’s a lovely ball. So well-attended. It speaks to how much you and your wife are loved.”
“I suspect it speaks more to curiosity. Minerva and I seem an odd match.”
“I never thought so.”
“Speaking of odd matches—”
“Don’t,” she commanded in a low sharp tone.
“I just never saw the two of you together.”
“He’s changed.” Only he hadn’t really, had he? She simply saw him differently, saw him as he truly was. She shook her head. “It’s not that. I never really knew him before. Don’t think he really knew me. We’re quite compatible. More than compatible. I love him.”
Drawing her closer, leaning in, he swept her in a circle as he whispered, “He is not Albert.”
“I am very much aware of that. He resembles him not at all. I wouldn’t be with him if he did. He is not a substitute for... what we have is very different. But it’s what I want. What I need.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“Life offers us no guarantees against being hurt. He would not hurt me, not on purpose.”
He grinned wryly. “That I know to be fact. Even at his worse, when he is three sheets to the wind, there is good in him.”
“People don’t seem to truly know him. I think it’s because he never wanted to outshine his brother. He accepted his place as the second, the spare. In his journal, my husband wrote that fate had made a mistake in allowing him to be born first. It’s funny how we sometimes allow Society and our place in it to determine our behavior, even if it goes against the grain. You’re his friend; you grew up with him. You must know how incredibly worthy he is.”
“His worthiness has nothing to do with my misgivings. I would defend him to the death, and I will stand by him on this. And by you. If you ever need me for anything, do not hesitate to call on me.”
“Although I am sorry that you lost your parents when you were a child, I am grateful for your place in Albert and Edward’s life.”
“And now in yours.”
“And now in mine.”
The music drifted into silence. He kissed the back of her hand. “Fortunate men, my friends.”
Laughing, she arched a brow. “To have your friendship?”
“To have your love.”
Itwas an odd thing to find himself at a ball, not flirting with young single ladies, not making matronly ones blush, not arranging trysts in the garden—although he had thought numerous times about slipping Julia out for a rendezvous among the roses.
He’d danced with her because it was his favorite thing to do at a ball, danced with Minerva out of politeness—and curiosity. She seemed to have no suspicions regarding his true identity. He’d listened to a couple of lords debating some political question; he’d spoken to one lord about the changes in agriculture. He’d introduced a young swell to an even younger lady, which left him feeling as though he were matchmaking. Strangely, he enjoyed it all. He didn’t miss the marriageable women batting their eyelashes and fans at him. He didn’t miss the flirtation or sneaking out for a forbidden encounter behind an ivy-covered trellis.
He was content in his new role of earl and husband.
But that didn’t mean he was completely satisfied with the activities in the ballroom. He was in need of a drink and a hand at cards. Just one.
AfterAshe left her, Julia skirted the edge of the ballroom, greeted one person, then another, avoided lingering. She couldn’t quite settle in. Recalling her earlier thought regarding refreshments and the benefits of champagne, she decided a trip to the refreshment room was in order. She was halfway there when the Duke of Lovingdon approached her. “Your Grace.”
“Lady Greyling, I understand congratulations are in order. I spoke with your husband earlier. One would think he thought he was the only man to ever have a daughter.”
She smiled. Edward couldn’t love Allie more if he had fathered her. His feelings toward her were honest and true. “He is rather fond of Lady Alberta.”
