Chapter 4

Nathaniel was utterly lost. The doorway he had entered in order to avoid his mother and Lady Kate had not led him to the refreshment of the outside world, nor anywhere close to his carriage, so he could make an escape. Instead, it had thrown him into a labyrinth of narrow corridors that seemed never-ending, where he could hear the sounds of the ball but could not find his way back to it or away from it.

I should have just danced with the girl,he lamented, turning yet another gloomy corner in the endless maze. One dance to make Mother happy then I could have feigned a stomachache.

But, deep down, he knew that one dance would not have been enough to appease his mother. His mother would have insisted upon a second dance and then conversation with Lady Kate and perhaps a meeting with Lady Kate's mother and father, who were undoubtedly also in attendance. It had been the same rigmarole with all of the other ladies that his mother had tried to nudge him toward, and he was tired of disappointing so many people in one fell swoop. After all, it would continuously boil down to one major incompatibility: they wanted marriage, he did not.

At that moment, he saw a crack of light shining at the end of the corridor. An escape, at last.

He hurried toward it, but just as he was about to push the door wide, his foot caught on something. Or, rather, something caught around his foot. He kicked out, trying to free himself, his shoulder knocking into the door and swinging it open. Losing that last shred of support offered by the door, he tumbled out into a familiar room, struggling with every breath to keep his balance as a thick drape did its very best to take him down.

As long as my mother does not see me, all will be well, he told himself, glimpsing three other people in the room. Only one seemed to have noticed his embarrassing jig though he could not see her properly in the low light of the refreshment room.

He had just managed to disentangle his leg, his dignity restored, when two things happened at once. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied his mother and Lady Kate, appearing just outside the refreshment room. They were deep in conversation and had not yet seen him, but he heard Lady Kate utter the fateful words, "I must have a cup of tea to calm my nerves."

They were coming in, and he did not want to risk getting lost in the labyrinth of hallways again.

But before he could even consider his next move, the lady from across the room began walking toward him. He stared at her, bracing for the expected enquiry into his well-being, considering how he had entered the room.

She was much younger than he had thought while she was submerged in hazy shadow… and quite beautiful in an otherworldly, almost unsettling sort of way. Her eyes captured his attention first. They were haunting though he could not explain why. Perhaps, it was the pale shade of green, so unique and strange. Perhaps, it was the way they reminded him of a wolf or a cat on the prowl, flinty in their determination. Yet, there was a sadness in them too, a sadness in her beauty as a whole—the sort of melancholic muse that he was certain artists would give all they owned to discover.

Her angular face was pale as moonlight, her cheeks and nose dusted with constellations of freckles. Above her eyebrows, he noticed a few more stars, mapping a night sky he was unfamiliar with that rose up to silky hair in a color he could not quite discern—blonde or light brown or perhaps a light red; the lighting in the room warped it. Meanwhile, a feline nose sloped down to full lips, the lower of which she was in the midst of chewing anxiously.

She opened her mouth to say something at the same moment that Nathaniel's mother and Lady Kate entered the refreshment room, still oblivious to his presence there. And two other figures seemed to be closing in though only the gentleman was familiar to him; the lady was entirely unknown, much like the beautiful stranger standing no more than a pace away.

I can make it to freedom if I hide, he realized, for the lady was blocking his mother's view of him.

Without thinking, he grabbed her by the arms and dropped his chin to his chest to bow his head, for though she was not excessively tall, she had some height to her—a useful height, in that moment.

But the sudden touch seemed to startle the young lady, her feet skittering backward, catching on the very same drape that he had just triumphed over. Her astonishing eyes widened in fright as she began to fall backward, her ankle snared by the fabric.

"Steady there." Nathaniel caught her around the waist, pulling her to him in an attempt to help her stand straight. Her palms smacked against his chest, half trying to right herself, half shocked by his impropriety; he could see it in her eyes, just as he could see he was about to get a tongue-lashing for grabbing her. Rightly so, too.

"I apologize," he whispered. "I did not mean to do something so inappropriate. I thought you were about to fall before you did, so I grabbed you, and promptly scared you so badly that you did nearly fall. I apologize, I truly do." It was a small lie but a necessary one.

The woman frowned. "You were speaking with Daniel earlier, were you not?"

"You know Daniel?" Nathaniel breathed a sigh of relief. "He can vouch for my propriety. I assure you; I am not in the habit of snatching at young ladies."

Over the woman's left shoulder, Nathaniel's mother and Lady Kate were wandering further and further into the room, whispering in low tones that made him certain that he was the subject of conversation.

"Do you know where Daniel is?" the woman asked.

Nathaniel met her gaze, nodding eagerly. "Yes, certainly I do. Please, allow me to lead you to him." He offered his arm, his heart hammering. Any moment now, he would be seen. "I realize we have not been formally introduced, but there is not time as you seem to be in something of a hurry, and so am I. My name is Nathaniel, and I would really, really appreciate it if you would allow me to escort you to my friend, Daniel. To make amends for being a clumsy oaf."

To his surprise and delight, the young lady took his proffered arm and said in a quiet voice, "I am Lady Leah."

"Well, Lady Leah, let us not hesitate."

Keeping himself on her right side, so she continued to partially block his mother's view of him, Nathaniel steered Lady Leah toward the door and out into the hallway beyond. All the while, he waited for his name to be called, caught red-handed, but it did not come.

He allowed himself a small smile as he guided Lady Leah back to the ballroom where he hoped Daniel would still be standing on the periphery. Although, Daniel did so love to dance, balancing the seriousness of his business endeavors with as much merrymaking as he could muster when the opportunity arose. Not a rake or even a false rake like his cousin, he was just a gentleman who cherished life, squeezing out the juice and sweetness of it. Nathaniel had been that way too, until his mother's search for a daughter-in-law had begun, and he had not been allowed a moment's peace.

"Oh…" he heard Lady Leah mutter, chewing on her lower lip once more.

"Is something the matter?" Nathaniel could not help but ask.

She cast him a sideways glance. "I needed Daniel to not be dancing."

"Ah." Nathaniel looked toward the dance floor. Sure enough, Daniel cut the very figure of joy as he hopped from foot to foot in a vigorous country dance, and the lady opposite him seemed delighted to have been chosen.

Poor thing, Nathaniel thought, for she likely hoped for a courtship, the way Lady Kate hoped for it. There would be nothing but disappointment by the evening's end.

"Did you have urgent business with him?" Nathaniel asked, listening to the orchestra. The music was fading for the end of the set, but it would begin afresh soon enough, once new dancers took to the floor.

Lady Leah nodded. "Reasonably urgent."

"Does it pertain to the rather intriguing alteration you have made to your gloves?" he teased, sensing her unease. Her intense eyes kept darting this way and that, peering back over her shoulder as if they were being pursued.

She frowned up at him. "Pardon?"

"Did you not like the original color? I suppose black might suit the purple of your dress better, though half-and-half is certainly more interesting. You shall have all the ladies staining their gloves on purpose, creating a fashionable revolution at what is assuredly the dullest party in existence." He flashed her a grin, still feeling guilty for tripping her and using her as a human shield.

A strange squint narrowed her eyes, like she did not know whether to laugh or frown harder at him. "It was an accident. Ink was involved."

"Now, might you tell me something I had not already guessed?" He chuckled, just as the music faded and dancers began to leave the floor. Daniel, however, seemed to be staying put with his unknown partner, the two of them deep in shy conversation.

For a moment, Lady Leah just stared at Nathaniel, her head slightly tilted as if trying to figure him out. He stared back, unable to draw his gaze away from those astonishing eyes. Up close, they were even more disarming, like he was staring right into the eyes of a predator that had not yet decided if it was going to eat him or let him go—but a beautiful predator which made it all the stranger.

"Nathaniel!" a shrill voice cut through the quiet moment. His mother had found him.

His heart jolted, and before he knew what he was doing, he was dragging Lady Leah toward the dance floor, seconds before the orchestra began again. Indeed, he only had time to hiss an earnest, "Forgive me," before the music struck up, and the lead couple called out for another lively country dance.