Secrets of a Spinster (36 page)

Or at least she would have when she found him.

Of all the eyes staring at her, none were his.

She frowned, but only slightly. It wouldn’t do to appear dissatisfied with such a splendid gathering of Society’s finest.

After all that flirting and teasing yesterday, he wasn’t even looking for her? She scolded herself and started her way into the room, ignoring how the crowd parted like the Red Sea before her. Geoffrey wouldn’t do that. He had been more than curious about seeing her in her costume. He had even appeared intrigued.  Very intrigued. So much so that it had made Mary seriously consider surprising him more often.

Or, at least, warning him of a surprise. As she had yet to see him, the actual surprise had not occurred yet.

Perhaps he was looking for her now.

She nodded and smiled at several people, all of whom seemed to think they knew her, though their confusion was plain to see. It was far more entertaining than the entire season combined. This would be her crowning achievement.

Geoffrey would be pleased to hear that.

Assuming she ever found him.

She had several admirers approach, each looking more mystified than the one before, but somehow she was able to embrace her best version of Marianne and send them away without crushing them. She couldn’t escape a dance or two, but she couldn’t mind that when it allowed her a greater opportunity to survey the crowd.

Where was Geoff?

At long last, she spotted him in a corner, engaged in conversation, though with whom she could not see. She completed her dance with Mr. Tremont, who had made his identity known from the first moment, which quite defeated the purpose, as she pointed out. He hadn’t cared. Nor had he cared overly much when she bid him farewell. He had always been one who admired attention more than personal interaction.

She was almost to Geoff when Henry Burlington stepped into her path. His ensemble was resplendent to the point of distraction, and his mask held more detail than the most intricate of gowns. He took no pains to hide his identity either.

“You, my dear, are the breath of fresh air that awakens spring after winter’s chill,” he said with a low bow before her. “The Lord has blessed you with an overabundance of beauty, it puts all other creatures to shame. The sun itself would hide its comparative wretchedness when it sees you in your glory.”

Mary raised a brow, which he would not be able to see behind her mask. His words dripped with flattery and fluff, hardly the sort of thing she expected from him, given their history. He had always said kind things, sincere things, with maybe a touch of excess, but never outright fawning, and never something so ridiculous.

“Ah, I see you have been stunned into silence by my words,” he said, taking her hand tightly in his. “I am afraid I can have that effect on women. Allow me to prove it to you?”

Mary rolled her eyes and tugged her hand away. “No, thank you, Ferdinand,” she said in a voice lower than her natural one.

His eyes widened at her use of his name.

“I prefer to keep my ears unsullied by too much hot air. Good evening.” She inclined her head and swept around him.

Her eyes caught sight of a simply masked Colin Gerrard standing nearby, currently stifling laughter into his fist. Ah, so he had heard her. That made her absurdly delighted.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” he murmured with limited composure as she walked by.

“Coming from you, Mr. Gerrard, that says a great deal,” she replied with a dip of her chin.

He saluted her with his glass, but made no further attempt to pursue.

She was grateful. She had to speak with Geoff now before anything else prevented it.

His back was to her, which suited her even better as it meant she would be able to sneak up on him without suspicion. A slow, catlike smile crossed her lips and she headed straight for him.

He shifted his weight and his companion was revealed.

Mary stopped dead in her tracks.

Lily Arden.

She was grateful that her mask covered half of her face, for it saved her the trouble of being completely in control of her expressions. Lily wore a small mask, but hardly enough to hide her identity. Not that it mattered, she was a breathtaking sight as it was. The violet ensemble made her skin seem perfectly translucent and her dark eyes looked even darker. Anybody would have been captivated.

But Geoff…

Just then Lily smiled, nodded, and walked away without looking back at him. But she still smiled.

Geoff watched Lily go, his expression furtive. Then it cleared and he started to scan the room.

The cold feeling in her stomach melted a little, and a satisfied smirk threatened to make an appearance. He was looking for her.

But first, a little fun.

She forced her face to be perfectly composed, with only the smallest of smiles tilting one side of her lips. She exhaled briefly, then started forward until she was just behind his left shoulder.

“Looking for someone in particular?” she asked, keeping her voice in that same low voice she had used with the others.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” he replied, only glancing behind him for a second, as if he could not have cared who was addressing him.

She hummed a small laugh. “Perhaps I can help you look. I can be very useful when I put my mind to it.”

He seemed to chuckle, then turned to face her. “Are you indeed?” His eyes met hers and she could see interest flare in them. “And have you put your mind to it?”

Mary allowed herself to smirk ever so slightly. “Would you like me to?”

His lips parted on a breath, which caught in his throat. He swallowed and Mary tilted her head ever so slightly up at him. “Something wrong?”

“No,” he said softly, slowly shaking his head. “No, not a thing. Forgive me, but do I know you?”

Mary had to fight to keep from laughing. So he didn’t know her. He was so sure he would, and here he was, just as clueless as everyone else.

She smiled indulgently. “Perhaps.”

“You will not tell me?” His eyes flashed again, this time with amusement. His mouth curved up in her favorite smile. “How can I know, then?”

“Why, you must discover for yourself, Mr. Harris.” She batted her lashes flirtatiously. “It wouldn’t do for a lady to reveal her secrets.”

He laughed softly and gave her a small bow. “Of course not, my lady. I apologize. Perhaps I may tempt the lady with a dance? I wish to discover all that I can.” He held out a hand to her expectantly, though his eyes never strayed from hers.

She seemed to consider the idea for a moment. A rather long moment. Enough that it started to draw comment from the people around them, who hadn’t been paying attention until this moment. A lesser man might have faltered or begun to worry.

Not Geoffrey. His hand was as steady as his gaze, which only grew in heat and intensity the longer she waited. When she thought her toes would melt into the floor, she gave a little sigh and slid her hand into his.

“I suppose I must,” she said airily. “I would dearly love to see you attempt to identify me.”

He kissed her hand suddenly, making her gasp in shock.

“Who said I wanted to identify you?” he murmured as he came closer and began to lead her to the floor. “Perhaps I take great pleasure in mystery.”

A hot shiver raced up Mary’s spine. Now would be the time for her to say something witty, to keep the mystery alive, yet the only thoughts coursing through her mind were those that screamed that if he really knew her, he wouldn’t say such things. He wouldn’t look at her with such heat, nor tease her so suggestively.

She ought to tell him now, before things got out of hand. Before he said something he would regret when he knew who she was. Before she was overcome.

Something was happening to her that she couldn’t pretend to identify. Something only Geoff could do, whether it was the thought of him or the look of him. Something that had been coming on for some time now, but she hadn’t noticed until this moment. She felt… alive. Excited.

Hopeful.

She couldn’t tell him. She wanted to know what he would say now, what he would do next. She wanted to see him look at her this way for as long as possible. She wanted to keep the mystery alive herself. This was her last chance to be someone other than who she was, and heaven help her, she wanted this moment.

“Then a mystery you shall have,” she murmured back, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

He was smiling at her again, the sort of smile that made one’s toes curl up and fingers tingle and breath quicken

He was no longer looking around the room.

He only looked at her.

It was heavenly. Except…

“What of the woman you were looking for?” she asked with a tilt of her head as they took their places.

He bowed with the men. “I never said who I was looking for.”

She smirked. “True. But I have kept you from your looking. Should you not like to find them?”

He took her hand and led her through the dance. “Who says I haven’t?”

Mary swallowed hastily and forced herself to take a quick, quiet breath to still her beating heart. Geoff was just as full of riddles as she herself was. It was maddening.

It was also a tantalizing sort of fun.

She tossed her hair, sending the tendrils of fabric dancing down her back. “Oh, I shouldn’t like to make a certain other female angry by taking you from her.”

“Must we talk of other females?” he scolded as he passed by her. “I wish to talk of you.”

“There is very little to tell.”

He turned with the movement and stared at her intently. “Oh, I doubt that very much. Come, tell me something. Anything.”

What could she say? She wouldn’t lie outright, but he already knew so much about her… Was there anything she had not told him?

“You must not tell a soul,” she breathed as they proceeded down the line of couples, “but my late arrival tonight was a complete accident.”

“You had no intention of making a spectacle of yourself?” he replied, his voice also low.

She hummed a low laugh. “Of course, I did. But I intended to be earlier.”

“What kept you, pray tell?”

“My dress. Some rather important stitches had come undone, and one whole section of the skirt threatened to fall out of place. I would have tripped on it the moment I began to dance, and then quite a scandal would have erupted.” She shuddered in horror—it really had been terrifying. “But as you can see, all is mended.”

He made a soft noise of assent. “Quite mended,” he murmured. “Looking at you, one would never have suspected. You are the epitome of perfection, and there is not an eye in this room that is not more fortunate for having seen you.”

There was no breath left in her lungs. She almost swooned, but he held her still as they moved through the motions.

“You must not say such things, Mr. Harris,” she attempted to scold. “A lady does not know how to take such praise.”

“If you wish it, my lady, I will be silent on the subject. But you had to notice how the others stare.”

“I had not,” she said with the shrug of one shoulder. Oh, all right, so she could outright lie, but only when it didn’t matter. “I pay little attention to what others think.” That, at least, was truth.

He looked rather impressed. “You are more and more a mystery, my lady.”

“A good mystery, or a bad one?” she could not help but ask.

His blue eyes blazed in their intensity as he looked at her. “Oh, a good one. Very, very good.”

Mary swallowed hard and prayed she would live through the evening.

Geoffrey needed to be more careful. More than once already he had nearly revealed that he knew exactly to whom he was speaking. But how could he help it when Mary was being so maddeningly alluring? He had thought this whole charade of the masquerade would be hilarious, but he was so far from laughing it unnerved him. All he wanted to do was take Mary from this overcrowded, overheated ballroom and run away with her into the night. And she was willing, oh was she willing. Or at least, her character was. He had to believe that it was not entirely an act. She could not hide what was in her eyes, and in them, he saw interest, enjoyment, and at times, the same desire that swirled in his stomach. But she was playing a role, and he would let it play out.