Autumn Masquerade by Josi S. Kilpack & Donna Hatch & Nancy Campbell Allen

Author:Josi S. Kilpack & Donna Hatch & Nancy Campbell Allen
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Hannah fled the library, still grappling with the horrible truth. Her charming Bennett was the arrogant Duke of Suttenberg. How could she have liked him? Trusted him? Usually, she was a better judge of character. Keeping silent and observing those around her normally revealed much about them. But no, she’d played the flirt, and now she must face the consequences.

At least no one had happened upon them when they’d been alone. Kissing. What had come over her? She’d behaved foolishly. With complete lack of sense. She might have been ruined.

With the back of her hand, she wiped her mouth. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t fully erase the sweet, exciting bliss that had consumed her when Bennett kissed her.

Clearly, her reaction only stemmed from having fallen prey to a philanderer. Odd, the Duke of Suttenberg didn’t have that reputation. But a man who went about luring girls he’d just met into isolated rooms and kissing them had no concern for the reputations or hearts of his victims.

She marched so quickly that she had to hold up her skirts to keep them out of her way, heading to the main staircase, intent upon locking herself in her room. A voice caught her attention.

“Wait!”

She glanced back. With his Musketeer hat and mask in place once again, Bennett—the Duke of Suttenberg—strode toward her.

Going anywhere alone while he pursued her would invite another unwelcome encounter. She changed directions and practically ran to the ballroom, slipping in between guests and worming her way toward the center of the room. The candles burned low in the wall sconces and chandeliers, casting a flitting light over the room.

Voices slurred with too much drink mingled with husky whispers and laughter. Couples stood close, ladies gossiped, girls who were newly out giggled, men rocked back on their heels and eyed ladies. Footmen carrying trays of glasses wound through the guests. With so many eyes upon him, the oh-so-falsely-proper duke wouldn’t accost her and create a public spectacle.

As she stood shielded by the crowd, she took several breaths, each time regaining another scrap of her composure. Soon the night would be over. She could do this. She was Aphrodite, the confident goddess who cared not for mortals.

After squaring her shoulders, she lifted her head and impassively eyed the crowd. Nearby, Mrs. Potter, dressed as a swan, fanned herself, flirting with a slender man wearing a domino, whom Hannah was pretty sure was a Buchanan twin. There. She’d make a game of discovering the identities of the guests. Of course, she didn’t know all the guests, having only come to stay with her sister a few times before she moved in with them this past summer. Still, she recognized several members of the local gentry. Each gave themselves away in little ways—body shape, posture, gestures, particular ticks or habits.

The final dance was announced. Another waltz. She let out a strangled groan, shutting down memories of the way Bennett had led her—firm, yet gentle—in a dance that seemed invented

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