Who Brings Forth the Wind (Kensington Chronicles) (6 page)

spending even a few moments with the wrong person could

ruin your chances." Lucinda's voice was now severe.

This time Stacy didn't feel like laughing. She wished with

all of her heart that it was easier for a young woman to stay

single, so that every union could be one of love. But this simply

wasn't the case. Her honest desire was to marry, but at this

moment Stacy wondered if she would ever meet the man of

her dreams. She was comforted by the fact that she knew her

grandfather would never force her. The thought made her sigh

unconsciously, and Lucinda's voice came sharply from the

other side of the coach.

"Did you hear me, Stacy?"

"Yes, Aunt Lucinda," she answered obediently, and the rest

of the ride was made in silence.

The ballroom was crowded when they arrived, but Lucinda

and Roddy were old professionals when it came to this

type of entertainment. Stacy was more than willing to follow

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their lead, and within moments of coming to the edge of the

dance floor, Stacy was swept out into a waltz.

She didn't catch the name of the man dancing with her,

but she answered all of his questions and detected a gleam of

disappointment in his eyes when he learned that she would

not someday be the heiress to a fortune. Not until she arrived

back at Roddy's side did Stacy begin to wonder if some of the

young man's questions might have been out of order.

-The

next hour passed in much the same fashion, Stacy

going from one partner to the next, some young, most old. She

tried to ignore the fact that even if her hair hadn't been piled

high atop her head, she would still be taller than most of them.

The room grew very stuffy, and Stacy felt delivered when

Roddy pressed a glass of punch into her hand.

The glass was on the way to her mouth when she spotted

him across the ballroom--the tallest, most handsome man

Stacy had ever seen. He was dressed all in black, and she

stared at him because she seemed incapable of doing anything

else. His own eyes were on her, and for the space of

several seconds Stacy simply couldn't look away.

"Drop your eyes!"

The low, furious words came to Stacy's ears, but thinking

they couldn't be for her, she didn't heed them. A fierce yank on

her arm, one that nearly spilled her punch, finally brought her

to her senses. She looked down to see Lucinda glaring furiously

at her.

"I said, drop your eyes!"

"Oh." Stacy was startled and instantly contrite. "I didn't

realize it was you, Aunt Lucinda. I'm sorry."

Stacy seemed to be at a sudden loss, her hands all aflutter

as she changed her glass from one hand to the other. Lucinda

wondered if she might not have overreacted and felt compelled

to make amends.

"Here, give me your glass." Lucinda's voice was brisk now,

but not angry. "Go to the retiring room and fix your hair.

There's a good girl."

Stacy complied, but she honestly couldn't feel her slippers

as they moved on the carpets. It was a comfort to find the

retiring room empty. Head in the clouds, Stacy stood before

the mirror and took in her flushed cheeks and dazed eyes. No

wonder Lucinda had sent her from the room. Her own image

faded as once again her mind's eye saw the man in black.

Can aperson really be so drawn to someone afterjustone

look? Stacy asked herself, and then her heart lifted. It didn't

matter if no one else had ever felt as she did. He was the most

wonderful man she'd ever seen.

"I wonder who he is." This was spoken out loud as Stacy's

brow lowered in concentration.

Two young ladies chose that moment to enter the room,

and Stacy swiftly turned and entered one of the booths. She

wanted some time to herself. She came to her senses some

five minutes later and knew she would have to return to the

ballroom or Lucinda would miss her.

And who knows, Stacy told her heart as she moved toward

the dance floor. Maybe you'll spot him again.

An hour and a half later Stacy knew that if she didn't get

some fresh air she was going to be ill. It was dreadfully warm,

and the young man who had promised her a glass of punch

had left and never returned She hadn't spotted the man in

black again, but from across the way she could see Lucinda and

Roddy talking with Lord Culbertson. Stacy was simply too

warm to push her way through the crowd in order to join

them.

With movements that were as subtle as she could make

them, she moved toward the balcony doors. They were closed

but thankfully unlocked, and Stacy drew in a huge breath'of

cool night air the moment she was outside. The breath nearly

stuck in her throat, however, when a deep male voice addressed

her from out of the darkness.

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"I wondered how long it would take you to join me."

Stacy gasped as she spun and saw a man leaning lackadaisically

against the stone railing, close to the house. Stacy "I

was so startled by his presence that for a moment she said

nothing.

Tanner, who had been watching her through the glass

doors for over an hour as she danced and talked with half the

people in the room, smiled at the surprise he knew must be

feigned. It was an old game, often played in social circles. Not

that he cared. He intended to know this woman very well

before she left in the fall.

"I didn't know anyone was out here," Stacy finally spoke

when her breathing returned to normal.

Again Tanner smiled Most of the debutantes he knew

believed that coyness was the way to attract a man. If Stacy

preferred that method of sweet innocence, it was fine with

him.

"Would you rather be alone?" Stacy asked kindly, not

seeing Tanner's smile in the dark.

"Don't go in on my account," he told her. "I realize it's

warm inside."

Stacy sighed with relief and moved away from the doors.

She stepped to the railing a good ten feet from Tanner, thinking

what a nice voice he had but wondering what he looked

like. Stacy glanced out over the gardens, but the moon was

very dim and beyond a shape or two, she could make out little.

"The Madisons have a lovely home," Stacy commented

absently.

"It's nice," Tanner observed, his voice bored. "A little

small perhaps."

Stacy stared at his silhouette and then up at the grand

expanse of mansion before her. Clearly this man was accustomed

to a home far larger than her grandfather's.

"You haven't told me your name," Stacy's companion suddenly

said to her.

"Oh, I'm Stacy Daniels. Lucinda Warbrook's niece."

"Stacy would be short for--?"

stasia.

[in, Anastasia. That's a lovely name. I think it fits you."

was well aware that he was doing some pretending of

i. Since he'd seen her in the park he had set about

ting everything about her he wished to know. Unmarried,

old, not spoken for, and of course what his eyes had

him the first time he'd seen her--tall and beautiful.

/Tin Tanner Richardson."

| "Tanner," Stacy said with surprise. "I've always liked that

ie." Relieved that he had shared his name, Stacy chatted on

a young man from home with the same name.

Stacy would not have been quite so friendly had she been

to see the calculative look in Tanner's eyes as he studied from the shadows. From where he was, the lights from the

llroom gave a perfect view of Stacy in her lovely green frock

Ith its rounded neckline and short, puffed sleeves.

Stacy laughed suddenly. "I'm chattering on here, and you

$iust be bored to death." Suddenly, her whole frame stiffened

%ith embarrassment, but when she spoke her voice was as

$weet and sincere as the woman herself.

"I'm sorry, Tanner. You must be waiting for someone, and

now IVe joined you and ruined it. I'll go inside and leave you

alone."

"Come now, Stacy." Tanner kept his voice calm, but he

wanted the game over. "We both knew you would come out

here to join me."

A moment of silence met this remark. "I don't know what

you mean," Stacy told him in genuine confusion.

"Of course you do." Tanner's voice lost some of its patience.

He didn't care to keep up this pretense much longer.

'Your eyes told me from across the room what I wanted to

know."

Stacy tensed abruptly. It was him! Even though Tanner had

not moved from the shadows, Stacy could now visualize this

gorgeous man--very tall with dark brown hair and dark,

compelling eyes. Lucinda's sudden hissing in her ear now

made complete sense.

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"I have to go in now." Stacy's voice was thick with shame

and near desperation. Lucinda had warned her time and again

to be careful with her eyes, but she'd never understood. Now

by looking at a man and thinking him handsome, she had

unwittingly given him a signal that she was interested Lucinda

would be livid

Stacy moved back to the glass doors of the ballroom to the

sound of Tanner's voice, but she didn't take in the words.

"I think Roddy is ready to leave now," Lucinda told Stacy.

Stacy had come back to the dance an hour ago, and Lucinda

had not seemed at all put out by her absence.

"You wait here by the cloakroom. We'll say our thanks and

collect you in a moment."

Lucinda swept away before Stacy could frame a reply,

which was just as well, since she was too tired to speak. She

waved at a group of girls who were leaving and then slipped

farther down the wall to lean against it and rest her feet. She

knew it wasn't the least bit ladylike, but right now she didn't

care.

"You left the balcony so abruptly that I didn't have a.

chance to tell you something."

Where he had come from Stacy didn't know, but suddenly

there stood Tanner Richardson. He nonchalantly leaned one

hand on the wall above her, and Stacy had to actually look up

to see his face.

With a smile that was almost tender, Tanner turned on the

full force of his charm. Stacy's heart pounded in her chest.

She'd never reacted to anyone as she was doing now.

"I was going to tell you," Tanner went on quietly, his deep

voice confidential, "that I was waiting for someone to join me.

I was waiting for you."

Stacy could only stare up in stunned surprise. She couldn't

W

or think, not even when his free hand reached for her

he gently touched the end of her adorable nose.

"I'll look forward to seeing you again, Anastasia," he

ispered before straightening. A moment later he was gone.

Stacy didn't move or even breathe in the seconds that

Uowed. Her heart felt as if it might pound through her chest.