Diamond of the Season (Heiress Book 1) by Tamara Gill

Author:Tamara Gill [Gill, Tamara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tamara Gill
Published: 2025-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Sixteen

Nathaniel strolled around the ballroom floor, greeting guests and ensuring everyone was enjoying his first ever hosted ball. The evening was meant to celebrate Rosalind's coming out, but it was also a milestone for him, having never held a ball before in his life. So far the night had gone well without any trouble, and everyone appeared to be having a jolly good time.

Rosalind stood out among the revelers. His ward had barely rested between dances before she was whisked away by another handsome, eligible gentleman. Her laughter and radiant smile as she moved about the dance floor was a sight to behold—even if the gown she wore was hideous and suited her not one iota. Yet her smile, her lively manner when she spoke, and the eagerness on the gentlemen's faces as they danced with her only accentuated her natural beauty. Nathaniel caught himself several times halting in his stroll around the room, mesmerized by her beauty and content to simply watch her and revel in her charm.

Damn it all to hell, he needed to get a hold of himself. What kind of man would he be if he seduced his own ward? A woman placed in his care through no fault of her own, only to be taken advantage of by him. Not that she seemed to mind his kisses, but he could not allow that to happen again. If he started kissing her at every chance that presented itself, he would not be able to stop, no matter what society called him when they found out. And eventually society would speak up. There was little that escaped the gossip-hungry matrons of the ton.

He rejoined Lady Smithe, who stood alone, and turned to once again watch the dancers on the floor, or at least one in particular. He was doomed for failure.

"Lady Smithe," he said before he could think better of it, "would you care to dance with me?"

Her ladyship beamed at him, and a little apprehension ran down his spine. He hoped Lady Smithe did not read more into his offer than it was—a simple kindness to fill some of the time they had left this evening at the ball.

"How lovely for you to ask, Your Grace," she replied as she placed her hand on his extended one. "I shall like that very much."

He led her out onto the ballroom floor and soon they were dancing, weaving through the crowd and laughing with the other couples enjoying the country-dance.

"How well you dance, Your Grace. You ought to do it more often. I am more than a willing participant. We are friends, are we not?" she remarked.

That blasted term friends would haunt him, he was sure, before the night was out. "We are, my lady, but I fear that if we do partake in too many turns about the room, we shall cause a scandal. No more than two sets is the limit, is it not?" he replied.

She smiled and shrugged. "I do not see the need in only two.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.