“Clear the hall. I have a woman in here who doesn’t wish to be made a spectacle,” Sidney answered.
“Embarrassed, is she? I would be too,” Tristan teased.
Sidney ran a hand through his hair.
Cassie retied her mask and wished she’d kept her domino. She shivered and hugged herself.
“We have much to talk about, but now is not the time. You have to get out of here before you are seen.” His gaze skimmed her, and she blushed. Just moments ago, his hands had made intimate knowledge of her body. “You altered your dress?”
“My cloak and other mask are in the ladies’ retiring room on the first floor.”
He nodded. “We’ll take the back stairs.”
She lifted her chin. “You needn’t accompany me.”
“It’s not safe. You’ll be identifiable.” He removed his domino and threw it around her shoulders. “Take my mask.”
Cassie tried to hide another shiver as they switched masks. The warmth from his cloak soothed her, and she could smell his scent on the velvet collar. Warm and familiar. A hint of smoke and brandy.
She closed her eyes as he turned away and went to the door. She heard him open it, just a crack, and affirm with Tristan that the hall was now cleared of onlookers.
“Come quickly,” he said.
Her eyes snapped open, and she followed him out, keeping her face averted from her brother who stood in the hall, the lamps dimmed. They hurried toward the back stair and found noisy guests lurking, but growled threats dispersed them. Cassie kept her head averted, holding his hand as he led her down.
The retiring room was not empty as she entered. Lady Delilah was there, weeping on Mrs. Hornberry’s shoulder.
“That hussy ruined my plan! How was I to predict which parlor was north or south? Now everyone saw him with her and not with me!”
Cassie hugged the wall, frozen in place as a maid offered Lady Delilah a glass of water and fanned her.
Her heart pounded.
Ruined her plan? Lady Delilah had had a plan to be caught alone with Sidney?
Stunned, Cassie didn’t know what to make of that information. She swallowed and unpinned the black lace applique and feathers under the domino. She needed to look as little as possible like the woman from the room, though she didn’t know how much anyone had seen of her dress. The one feature she couldn’t hide was her hair. It was rather distinct in color.
Cassie pulled the hood over her hair and removed her mask.
She lifted her chin and sidled past the maid. “Excuse me.”
I belong here. It’s not suspicious of me to be in here.
Lady Delilah sniffed angrily as she passed by but said nothing, and Cassie did not meet her gaze. She went behind the screen and reached past the other side to gather her domino and mask from behind the plant. She exhaled as she left, hurrying back to her mother’s side. Most of the guests were still at supper. Cassie hung Sidney’s cloak over the chair and left his mask on the seat, not knowing where he was. She made her way to the crowded supper room, but there was no seating, so she returned to the chairs and waited. A half hour passed before her parents returned, and her father declared it time to leave. Normally, they stayed until dawn. Her mother was pink-cheeked and glassy eyed.
“I’ll send the carriage back for the lads,” her father said. “We will be leaving.”
Cassie nodded, his tone not one to argue with. She was ready to go. The ball had an uncomfortable tension, and every guest peered around them as if there was a thief among them. Were they looking for the mysterious lady who had been ruined this night?
Chapter 5
Once home, her father told her to go straight to her room in a tone far harsher than she was accustomed to. The carriage ride had been overly quiet. Her mother had stared out the window, and her father had closed his eyes, arms folded.
Cassie gladly retreated to her room, but she couldn’t sleep. Her body teetered between hot and cold as she waited to hear the carriage come up the drive. The longer she waited, the more her parents’ behavior weighed on her.
Did they know? Did Tristan know? She didn’t see Sidney again after entering the retiring room. Had he said something?
Her thoughts whirled like the Dervish dancer she saw in London. Around and around without stopping, faster and faster, beyond comprehension. The only thing to snap her out of it was the arguing coming from the front drive. She couldn’t see it, her window opened to the side of the manor, but she could hear angry voices, and then the scuffle of gravel.
Cassie threw on her robe and bolted from her room. Flying down the stairs, the front door opened as she skidded to a halt on the landing. Tristan and Sidney entered, both dirty, and Sidney sported a bloody lip.
“What the devil is the matter with both of you?” her father asked from a railing above her. Cassie slunk back to the shadows.
“My study. Now,” Lord Summers ordered.
Cassie crept back up the stairs, but not before her father saw her.
“To bed with you. I’ll speak to you in the morning.”
After that ominous declaration, there was no way she would be able to sleep. She looked back to Sidney and her brother, and her brother climbed the stairs toward her with a scowl.
“Off to bed.”
Over his shoulder, she saw Sidney waiting in the foyer as if he dared not enter the same space as her.
Her heart hammered so fiercely she thought they all might be able to hear it. But she was not going to bend to their scornful tones. She’d done what she’d done, and somehow, they knew. So be it.
“Goodnight.” She turned away and strode back to her room. Once there, she sat on the edge of her bed and contemplated everything that had happened.
She could not regret it. Not a single moment. But Sidney, her family, they were furious. And what of the rest of the guests. Was she ruined? Did the entire town of Bridgeport know?
Why were they convening in the study, but her presence was not required? This involved her, didn’t it? And what did her mother think?
She couldn’t just sit here and be discussed. She went to her mother. Perhaps she might have some insight that didn’t involve scowling and dismissing her presence. But upon her arrival, she came across her mother’s maid leaving her room.
“Mrs. Daisy, is she awake?”
“No, ma’am. She sleeps soundly. She told me she had five glasses of champagne. She’ll need headache powder tomorrow.”
“I’m glad she enjoyed the ball,” Cassie murmured.
“Didn’t you?”
“It was…eventful.”
Mrs. Daisy, an older woman who had been in service to the family since Cassie was born, halted and frowned.
“I hope nothing unfortunate happened.”
“I don’t think so, but…the morning might prove otherwise. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, ma’am.”
Cassie went to her father’s study, but she dared not enter. The hall was dark except for the light that shone under the door. Cassie could hear the aggravated rumble of her father’s voice, but the words weren’t clear. At least he wasn’t yelling loud enough to wake the house and inform them that she was a doxy who seduced the pristine and oh-so-controlled Lord Reardon.
That’s how it felt. Like she’d done something wrong. She’d tarnished him, she—the impulsive and willful daughter—slandered the reputation of one of England’s most favored bachelors.