So she knew who he was. She knew he was the Duke of Nightingale, and it was clear that she was impressed almost beyond the ability to maintain her composure.
He almost walked away. This couldn’t be the lady he’d met. This wasn’t the bold, daring person who had grabbed his hand in the garden, even though she had been able to see him perfectly clearly. She had known who he was out there, and she hadn’t been a bit intimidated. If this ladywasimpressed by his title, she couldn’t be the same one.
He couldn’t simply walk away from her though. To do so would be the height of rudeness, and it would also give others the impression that he was searching for something. If the lady he sought was really determined to hide her identity, he couldn’t let her get a hint of the fact that he was looking for her—that would send her farther into hiding.
So he smiled at the young lady in front of him. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
“I’m Lady Beatrice Stonehill,” she said. “My father is the Earl of Reeds.”
He nodded and held out a hand to her. “Would you favor me with a dance?”
“Of course,” she whispered, seeming incapable of speaking at full volume.
He led her out onto the floor. Her hand trembled in his. No, this was definitely not the lady he sought. In addition to her overwhelming nervousness, he had been able to assess her hand now, and he’d found it perfectly smooth. There was no scar here.
He hoped the dance would be a short one. He didn’t wish to be rude, but he was wasting his time.
At least this party would last all week. He would have plenty of opportunities to find the correct person. But he wanted to find herquickly. He didn’t want to spend the whole week searching—he wanted to know who she was so that the two of them would have some time to spend getting to know one another. That wouldn’t happen unless he was able to find her early on in the party. If he found her on the very last night, she would go home in the morning and there would be no time for the two of them to see what they could make of one another. It would be dreadful if that happened, he thought. It would feel like a missed opportunity, even if shewaswilling to see him again after thiswedding. What he really wanted was to spend this week with her, to have this as the foundation of whatever they would build next.
The dance came to an end. Lady Beatrice clung to him for a moment, as if hoping he would want to keep her as a partner for the next dance, and he stepped back gently and freed himself from her grip. “Thank you for your company, Lady Beatrice,” he said. “It was lovely to meet you.”
“Will I see you again?”
The desperation in her voice was so disheartening. How could he ever have believed she was the one he was looking for? “I’m sure you will,” he said, offering her a small smile. “I shall be here all week, and I’m sure the same is true of you. We are certain to see one another again. But I don’t very often choose to dance,” he added, not wanting to get her hopes up or set her up to turn down other possible dance partners because she was waiting for him. “Perhaps we will see one another at a meal.”
She nodded. He offered her a bow and then turned and walked away.
There would be dozens more dances like this, he was sure. Dozens more dances with ladies who believed he might be the perfect match for them, if only they could win his interest—and Nicholas knowing all the while that none of them ever could. There was only one lady who held any interest for him now, and all he wanted was to find her.
Still, he danced. He found another young lady who fit the description of the one he’d met outside, and then another. How could there be so many slender, auburn-haired ladies? Surely he would get through all of them eventually.
And one after another, he discovered, they were the wrong one. Some were like Lady Beatrice, so overwhelmed at the experience of being in the arms of a duke that they couldn’t possibly be the person he was looking for. Some were able to maintain their composure, but were so dreadfully dull as conversationalists that he was equally certain they couldn’t possibly be the lady he sought. Still others were a pleasure to talk to, but lacked the sharp wit he had so loved in her. And on all of them, smooth, perfect hands. No scars to be found anywhere, and so there wasn’t a chance he could have found the correct person.
At last, he knew he had to abandon the search, at least for this evening. Lady Hannah was standing at the side of the room and watching him with an expression he couldn’t understand on her face. Maybe there was hatred there. Certainly there was jealousy. He didn’t want anything to do with Lady Hannah, but it did seem heartless to make her watch as he danced with what must seem like every lady here except her.
Still, he was careful, as he left the ballroom, not to walk in her direction. He didn’t want to risk a confrontation, and if she tried to compel him to join her on the dance floor now, he didn’t think he would have the resilience to tell her no. What would be the harm in dancing with her, given that he had already danced with nearly everyone else here? That was how it felt, anyway.
There would be harm, though. He had to be very careful about Lady Hannah. He couldn’t give her any sign that she might get what she wanted from him, especially not now that he understood why her father wanted to see her married to him. It was all about Lord Codfield’s need to resolve his debts and Nicholas was sure that Lord Codfield would do whatever needed to be done to make sure that happened. Lady Hannah would know how dire her father’s circumstances were, no doubt, and she would be ready to push every bit as hard as he would. If Nicholas allowed her to have even the slightest inkling that her aims might be successful, she would work twice as hard to win him, and he would never be rid of her.
Now more than ever, he had to keep his distance, because the lady hetrulywanted was here somewhere. She might be watching him even now. And if she was, the last thing Nicholas wanted was for her to see Lady Hannah acting as if he belonged to her, because that sight would surely drive the mysterious lady away from him.
He would do whatever it took to find her, he pledged to himself, and he would do everything he could to win her affection.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
At last, the party seemed to be dying down for the evening.
Nicholas couldn’t have been any gladder of it. It was true that he felt some disappointment at the fact that he still hadn’t identified the lady he was looking for—he had hoped he might find her tonight—but after all, it was still very early in the week. There was still time.
More pressing, right now, was the fact that he was exhausted with the strain of socializing. Between his excitement at having found the lady from the masquerade again, the anxiety of holding Lady Hannah at bay, and the difficulty of trying to sort through every lady at the ball to find the one who had so enchanted him, he had quite a lot weighing on him. Perhaps it would all feel more possible after a good night’s sleep. At any rate, that was what he was hoping for. Things often did look better after one had slept on them, he reflected.
He made his way out of the public area of the house and up the broad staircase that led to the second floor and the bedroom in which he had been placed for the duration of his stay. He was halfway up the stairs before he noticed that he was drawing even with one of the very last people he wanted to see right now—Lord Codfield. And Lord Codfield had seen Nicholas before Nicholas had noticed him and was now standing on the stairs waiting for Nicholas to draw even—there was no avoiding this.
Nicholas steeled himself for the unpleasant conversation he was sure was to follow. “Good evening, Lord Codfield,” he said.
“Your Grace.” Lord Codfield offered a small smile. It did seem friendly enough. “I trust you’ve had an entertaining evening?”
There was something wry in his tone. Of course, Nicholas thought—Lord Codfield would have seen him dancing with every young lady he crossed paths tonight and utterly avoiding Lady Hannah. Lord Codfield would understand, just as well as he hoped Lady Hannah did, what that meant. Nicholas hadn’t considered how Lady Hannah’s father would react.
