To Dance until Dawn - Emma V. Leech Page 0,22

was Baron Alvanly who’d found her.

“You owe me a dance,” he said, a wicked glint sparkling in his eyes. He was dressed in immaculate evening attire, tall and lithe and rather splendid, with his blond hair gleaming gold. Well, the devil was handsome, she’d give him that.

“Good evening, and yes, I know I do,” she said, daring a glance up at Max to discover his face was rigid, his dark eyes frosty with disapproval.

Well, honestly. She knew Alvanly was a rake and a scoundrel, but they were in a packed ballroom. Dancing with him held no perils. Surely, Max could not object to that. She waited, hoping he would continue whatever it was he’d been about to say.

“Was there something you wished to ask?” she said when he remained silent, ignoring Alvanly’s outstretched hand for a moment, for she’d been certain Max would ask her to dance.

“No,” he said, returning a tight smile that did not reach his eyes. “Enjoy your dance.”

Well, really!

Phoebe seethed with irritation. Alvanly was always popular at events like these. He was funny and charming and a wonderful dancer. She’d look terribly high in the instep if she refused him, rake or no. It wasn’t as if she had agreed to go into the gardens alone with him. Max was just a boring old stick in the mud who thought young ladies ought to be quiet and well-behaved and never stir from home without a man by their side.

Grrrr.

By the time she’d reached the dance floor, Phoebe had worked herself up into quite a ferment of indignation. The unsettling idea that she was horribly disappointed Max had not asked her to dance did not help matters.

“What wickedness is brewing inside that lovely head of yours?” Alvanly asked as he guided her through a complicated turn. “You look ready to strike someone dead.”

Phoebe let out a breath, aware that her expression bore no relation to the inscrutable mask her father had perfected, drat it.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, knowing the lie was easily discernible.

“Ellisborough is a dry old stick. No doubt he disapproves of both of us. You, the bastard daughter, and me, the loose screw. He can’t bear to see people having fun.”

Phoebe frowned a little at that, unnerved that he’d read her with such ease. It had never occurred to her that her parentage might disgust Max. The thought made her chest feel tight with anxiety. If that was true, he hid it well, but then Papa was his friend and he was so well mannered with everyone, no matter their birth. Could he really think ill of her for her illegitimacy? How could she tell if he did, or if he just always behaved impeccably? She was uncertain that Max disliked people having fun, though. Oh, how she wished he were easier to read, but though she considered herself a good judge of character—or of bad character, at least—Max always made her feel uncertain of everything, especially her own judgement.

“I believe he fancies you for himself and doesn’t wish to see you tainted by association with the likes of me.”

These words so discomposed Phoebe that she stumbled, only saved by the tightening of Alvanly’s arms about her. He drew her close, too close, their bodies touching for a moment.

“Alvanly,” she said, shocked. He released her at once, but she felt hot and muddled and she didn’t know why. Surely the baron hadn’t caused such sensations?

“I want you too. You do know that, don’t you?”

His voice was low and liquid, shivering over her back, and Phoebe was compelled by some force she did not understand to look up into his eyes. They were darker than before, the pupils wide, and she was not so innocent that she did not know desire when she saw it. He stared down at her, his gaze falling to her lips, and she knew he wanted to kiss her. What would that be like with a man like him, she wondered. A small tendril of excitement unfurled deep in her belly. She knew from Mama and her friends—who had all advised her at one time or another—that there was temptation in such men, that desire could lead one into all sorts of trouble. Alvanly was a wicked man, a rake, and so he would know what he was doing. How interesting it would be to let him, just to see what it was like, to see if it were different from anything she’d experienced before. She wondered then how Max would