“I don’t think I could drink another,” she protested, but he shook his head.
“It’s burnt,” he said. “So it’s not as potent. Try it.”
The servant came darting back with the glasses, and Max tossed him two shillings, which the man snatched out of the air without breaking stride. Bianca took a sip and realized it was crisp, cool, and decidedly less potent than the champagne she had already had two glasses of.
“Where shall we go?”
It was crowded in the grove, to say nothing of warm and cloying, under the profusion of oil lamps burning in the trees. “Somewhere it’s quiet and cooler,” Bianca suggested, plucking again at her tight bodice. Now she saw the benefit of the tiny food portions.
Max’s gaze dropped for a heartbeat to her fingers. “Right. This way.” He steered her away from the orchestra, past the rotunda, toward the darker paths beyond the winding colonnade and supper boxes. Away from the crowd, Bianca removed her mask again, sighing in pleasure as the cool air hit her face. Max had taken off his mask when the champagne arrived, and not bothered to replace it.
“Welcome to Vauxhall, my lady,” said a leering harlequin sauntering by.
Bianca looked at him, startled, but Max put his arm possessively around her. The other man made a moue of regret and hurried off. “Did you know that man?” she whispered as they walked.
“No,” he said in amusement. “Did you?”
“Of course not!”
“In Vauxhall, it matters little. He admired you.”
Bianca flushed. “I shall never be used to that sort of admiration.”
Max laughed softly. His arm lingered at her waist, and she found it rather comforting. “You should try. I admire you a great deal.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. She had nearly said that he was different, that his admiration didn’t make her feel the same way. His admiration made her feel... beautiful.
They turned a corner, where a pair of ladies dressed as Grecian goddesses were strolling arm in arm. “Maxim! Oh, Maxim,darling,” cried one, catching sight of them. She tore free of her companion and flung herself on him. “You’re back!”
Astonished, dislodged by the woman’s attack, Bianca retreated a step, too surprised to speak.
Max was trying to untangle her arms from around his neck. “I am not,” he said coolly. “Not really.”
The other woman had hurried up, and now she pouted under her half mask, sidling close enough to walk her fingers up his arm. “But you are! When shall you come to see us again?”
His jaw set, Max put the first woman away from him, holding her a moment to quell her attempts to throw herself on him again.
“Maxim,” she mewed in disappointment. “After all the fun we’ve had together...”
The second girl glanced at Bianca. “I suppose you’re his new girl. Lucky little pigeon, ain’t you?”
“I am not,” said Bianca indignantly. “I’m—”
“Good evening,” said Max with swift finality. He seized Bianca’s hand. “We’re done, Harriette, and you know it.”
“Don’t have to be,” she said coyly, but Max was already striding away, pulling Bianca with him. She stumbled, almost dropping her champagne, as he charged down a path, turning corners until finding a secluded bench.
Bianca dropped onto it with a thump. Max put his hand on his hip and stared at the ground, his fingers drumming on his hip. She had learned his nervous habits by now, so Bianca just addressed the matter directly. “They, I take it,werelovers of yours.”
He cursed, violently, under his breath.
“I knew you had some,” she went on. “I’m only surprised it took this long to cross paths with one. Or two.”
He plowed his hands into his hair and sank onto the bench. “I never wanted you to meetany.”
“Well.” It was much darker out here, and blessedly cooler. Bianca finished her champagne, looking into the distance at the blue-black velvet of the sky above to give him a moment to compose himself. “It wasn’t a terrible shock.”
It was obvious to anyone that he was mortified and furious. She wasn’t going to pretend it hadn’t happened. That was how Cathy had almost ended up married to him instead of to Mr. Mayne; Cathy had never been able to stand up to her father, to say aloud what really bothered her. Bianca, on the other hand, had never been shy about speaking her mind.
