The Black Mask by Cynthia Bailey Pratt

Author:Cynthia Bailey Pratt [Pratt, Cynthia Bailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 2003-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Horrified and humiliated, Rose rushed down to the cloakroom. Alone in the peaceful room, warmly scented by the perfumes applied by guests, Rose stumbled to sit down on a bench near the door.

Sir Niles, she thought. How could he? To play so cruelly upon her dreams merely to steal a kiss passed the bounds of decency. How had he guessed she was one of the Black Mask’s most fervent admirers when she hadn’t even known it herself until just now?

Rose pressed her cool hands to her burning hot face. “What a hussy he must think me?” she muttered. He had every cause. She’d not uttered a word of protest when he had kissed her. Nor had she so much as hinted he should call upon her guardian, however temporary or distracted, to obtain permission for a betrothal. No, not she. She’d hung in his arms like a jade, behavior made all the worse by her belief at the time that she was closely embracing a wanted criminal.

A moan of despair escaped her lips. She should return home at once to bear the disgrace as she might. Those three old women, birds of ill portent comparable to the three witches in Macbeth, must surely have recognized her. The tale would be all over London by tomorrow. Her only hope was Sir Niles would do the honorable thing and pretend he had been proposing.

She had no intention of holding him to such a promise but without it, she would be lost.

Blindly she returned to Aunt Paige, holding her veil to her temple. She didn’t seem to have noticed her niece’s lengthy absence. Rose had to twitch at her aunt’s voluminous skirt in order to capture her attention. “I’ve lost my pin,” she said, showing her that the veil fell if she took her hand down.

“So you have.” Paige took one from her bodice lace. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Oh, yes,” Rose said, forcing lightness into her tone. “It’s far and above all the parties we have been to yet.”

“You looked a trifle flushed,” Paige said, peering at her more closely as she pinned the silk. “Perhaps you should take a turn on the terrace at the rear of the house. It must be cooler there.”

“Certainly.” Rose smiled, though she had to swallow hard to do it. “Won’t you come with me?”

“No, thank you. Augustus is certain to ask me. It’s a bit of a scandal, but if you go alone and stay on the terrace, no harm can attach to you.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll risk it. I’m truly not over-warm. This silk is wonderfully cool.”

“I’m sorry you were gone,” Paige said. “Sir Niles came to solicit us for supper.”

“He did?” She spoke too loudly. The chaperones and wallflower girls all looked at her. She gave them a little half wave, a mere twiddle of the fingers. “What was he wearing?”

“Wearing? I don’t know. The same as every other man here, I fancy. Though I must say, Sir Niles wears everything with such flair that one can forgive him for not taking a risk.

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