How silly. Such things were so terribly superficial, and yet, she’d never felt pretty. When Dax looked at her then, she did though, and it felt so, so terribly good.
“Hello, Dax,” she said with a soft smile.
He opened his mouth, but he said nothing, his lips closing on air as he continued to stare.
It was as if she stood at the top of a waterfall, and the energy of the falling water pulsed beneath her feet. Anticipation thrummed through her, and her breath quickened. Something was about to happen. She didn’t know what or how she could possibly know that, but she did. She could feel it. It was in the intensity of her husband’s gaze, the way her hands shook ever so slightly against her skirts, in the way she couldn’t quite seem to draw a full breath.
She knew he had meant to recreate the ball where he’d suffered his humiliation, but there was something else unsaid.
He held out a hand to her, a smile coming to his lips.
He wasn’t going to tell her what more there was. It seemed he was going to show her.
He drew her hand through his elbow, bringing her closer to him than she’d been since that night he’d kissed her so abruptly. Her heart raced, and she had to swallow to regain her composure.
“Hello, Eliza.” The way he spoke her name was deep and inviting, and it sent a thrill racing down her spine.
She knew that voice, but she’d never heard it outside of their bedroom walls. She shivered and tightened her grip on his arm.
“Guests have already begun to arrive.” She barely got the words out, and then, she didn’t know why she spoke them. Were they a warning for him or for her?
He leaned closer, his smile going up on one side. “Unfortunately.”
He spoke only the single word, and it was enough to leave her raw. Before she could find out what he meant or what it was he planned, he swept her down the hall to where they would stand to receive their guests and gave Stephens the nod to open the door.
Peeling each layer of clothing from her body would not have left her wanting more than she did then.
What had he meant when he said it was unfortunate the guests had arrived? What was it he had planned? What did he mean to show her?
It was all she could do to maintain her composure as he introduced her to dukes and duchesses, earls and countesses, barons and viscounts. It seemed no one wanted to miss an opportunity to see just who had caught the Jilted Duke.
She couldn’t blame them. She was just as surprised as they were, likely more even.
Here she was, once the most common wallflower, now standing beside Daxton Kane, the Duke of Ashbourne, as his wife. Nothing could have surprised her more.
At least, she thought there wasn’t until after an interminable time later, the receiving line had dwindled, and the first strands of music filtered through the air. Without a word, Dax took her arm again, and she squared her shoulders preparing to enter the ballroom and join the rest of their guests.
Propriety would have Dax selecting someone of appropriate standing with whom to partner for the first dance, and she turned, hoping to find Sebastian. If she were to start the dancing, she would at least have someone with whom she could converse.
Only Dax never released her arm.
Instead he drew her out on the dance floor with him, sweeping her into his arms as he prepared them for a waltz.
Her breath froze in her lungs, and she felt the hundreds of gazes of a crowded ballroom upon her. The whispers started almost immediately, and even over the notes of the violin and the thrum of a cello she could hear them.
A husband never danced with his wife unless he were showing her undue attention. By dancing with her now at the start of their ball, Dax was showing everyone just how important Eliza was.
If she had felt beautiful before, she felt invincible now. Heads turned, whispers died away, and the entire attention of the crowd was on her.
So she raised her chin and smiled.
He returned her smile as he swept her into the first turn of the waltz as the orchestra soared to life. Soon others melted onto the dance floor, but she didn’t notice them. She saw only her husband and the way he watched her as he carried them across the floor.
One dance became another and another, and soon she was handed off from one partner to the next. A duke here and an earl there and then a marquess. Never before had she been so popular a partner as she was that night, but even as she moved from gentleman to gentleman, something wasn’t quite right.
Her eyes searched for Dax among the crowd, and only once in a while did she catch sight of him. He did his duties as host, dancing with all of the appropriate partners and conversing with the men in the card room.
Never one to ignore a suspicion, she couldn’t help but notice the lingering unease that sat on her shoulders. Finally, Sebastian took pity on her and stepped in to partner her in a quadrille, which upon finishing, he escorted her directly to the refreshment table where she was swallowed up by her sisters.
They handed her a glass of lemonade and pushed her into a chair, her feet sobbing with the relief of sitting.
It was Sebastian who spoke. “You’re a lot like a pair of oxen I know.”
She blinked up at him but couldn’t stop the smile when both of her sisters gasped.
“That’s rather rude,” Johanna exclaimed.
Eliza raised her glass. “There is a magnificent pair of oxen on the estate that I would quite enjoy being compared to.”
Louisa only shook her head, making a tsking noise as she studied Sebastian with rapt attention.
“Still, it’s rather not done.” Johanna put her hands to her hips as if to emphasize her point.
Sebastian waved a hand carelessly. “Have you seen the work a pair of oxen can accomplish? I’m not sure there’s a higher compliment than being compared to one.”
As riveting as this line of conversation was, the unease began to prickle its way up her arms once more, and she interjected, “Has anyone seen Ashbourne?”
“He was at the whist table with the Earl of Westin last I saw. Shall I fetch him?” Louisa offered.
Eliza shook her head and stood, giving her empty lemonade glass to her sister.
“No, I shouldn’t have you fret yourself. It will be nice to have a turn about the place after so much dancing.” She tossed a smile in Sebastian’s direction, which he returned with a slight nod of acknowledgment.
She made her way across the room to where the ballroom spilled into a suite of drawing rooms that had been set up with gaming tables. The room was hazy with the smoke of men’s cheroots and pipes, and the din of voices was even greater than the ballroom proper.
She took only a couple of hesitant steps within, sure Dax couldn’t be found inside, when motion to her left caught her eye. There was a corridor just off the card rooms that led to the retiring rooms, and there she saw Dax, standing with his back to the gaming tables as Stephens handed him a tray with a folded piece of paper atop it.
The prickle of unease exploded into a roar as she saw Dax take the paper, open it, and read it as if it contained a message. He nodded in the affirmative to Stephens, who gave a bow and departed. Dax turned, tucking the paper into his pocket and slipped out into the corridor.
She followed, of course. Dax didn’t know about the day Bethany had confronted her on the beach as there hadn’t been an occasion to tell him. She was alert to the undercurrents, and feeling the sway of betrayal, she slipped into the corridor just moments after her husband.