CHAPTER 3

"I know you have had a lot of fun tonight," Catherine chuckled as she laced her arm through Madeline's with a sweet smile playing on her face. "But it is time for us to leave. Father has arranged for the carriage to pick us up."

Wearily, Madeline nodded in agreement. She truly had been enjoying dancing all night long. She had felt like the belle of the ball for most of the evening, even if that was only in her imagination. Rationally, she had been all too aware of what was really happening, but it was nice to play the role for a while. To pretend that she was desired, just like the other ladies, the ones with obvious captivating beauty.

However, she was ready to leave, to get back to real life.

"There is Father. Let us follow him and you can tell me who was your favourite dance partner this evening. It seemed like you were enjoying talking to Lord Brown for a while."

Madeline laughed. "Yes, he was a rather interesting gentleman, although I am not too sure if I could fully follow what he was talking about a lot of the time. He was speaking about crocheting, assuming that is my hobby because it is that of so many ladies, but he did not know the first thing about a hook or stitch."

The women burst into peals of laughter. The sort of giggles that they simply could not seem to halt, even as everyone looked their way.

It was not until the coldness of the outside air hit them that they managed to calm down a little. Mostly because they had something new and exciting to intrigue them.

"Who is Father talking to?" Catherine whispered quietly. "I do not recognise him."

But Madeline had seen him before. She spotted him inside the assembly halls which he was being publicly shamed by his aunt. She would recognize that tall, imposing figure anywhere because he did not look like any of the other dukes in the hall. He looked strong and weathered, like he understood how to work hard with his hands. His skin had a shine of tan crossing it, which was very unusual, as were his icy, intelligent gray eyes.

The gentleman ran his fingers through his golden blond hair, before he seemed to notice the women looking his way. The moment his eyes met Madeline's she felt her heart skip a strange beat. It was almost as if her stomach was flip flopping like crazy just at the mere sight of him.

"Ah, Damian, here they are. I knew they would not be too long," Marcus declared with a bright smile. "You remember my daughter, of course, Lady Catherine Penny."

Madeline astutely noticed that Marcus seemed very keen to bring his daughter closer to the duke. It almost seemed like he was clearly eager to reaffirm their connection in the mild hope that a romantic connection might blossom. But Madeline already knew that this would never happen. Madeline knew the gentlemen that her best friend was attracted to, and he was the complete opposite. There was no way that she would like his stoic disposition.

"Good evening, your Grace," Catherine said coolly as she curtsied to him. "It is lovely to see you again."

As Madeline was brought forward to meet the man, she did not have the same reservations as her friend. She was more intrigued by him than terrified. She cocked her head to one side and smiled at him, wondering what was going on inside his mind. He seemed to Madeline to have a very interesting mind.

"And this is my daughter's friend, Lady Madeline Moore."

"Nice to meet you, your Grace," she declared with a smile. "I do hope that you are alright. I hope you managed to enjoy your evening despite what happened inside."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Madeline worried if she should have said that. It might have been a big mistake. Perhaps she had offended him. But Damian did not look offended. He merely seemed surprised that she had asked such a compassionate question.

"Oh yes, I have had quite the fine evening."

"It can be quite two faced at these kinds of events."

Madeline was not aiming this comment at anyone in particular. She did not think that there was anyone to blame in particular for the upper classes could lend barb to their words while not being careful. Since she herself had been on the end of gossip tonight, she could only imagine how Damian had to feel. He smiled at her thinly, nodding like he agreed with her remarks, but could not bring himself to say too much.

"Well, ladies, the carriage is waiting," Marcus interjected hurriedly as the area outside the building started to become crowded. "I think it is time for us to say goodnight."

"Goodnight, your Grace," Catherine said rapidly, clearly eager to make her escape before her father coerced her into talking with him more.

Madeline found herself less eager to leave. She did not want to take her eyes off Damian, there was something about him that really intrigued her. He did not seem like everyone else who had been inside the ball. There was an intrigue in his eyes, an intellect that she wanted to know more about.

But she had to pull away. She had to head to the carriage with her friend otherwise it would seem strange. Yet she found herself less able to take her eyes off him than perhaps she should be. As soon as she took her seat in the carriage beside Catherine, Madeline realized that her heart was absolutely pounding against her rib cage.

"My goodness, my father really likes that man," Catherine declared as she rolled her eyes. "He is an accounting client of his who I am sure he would like me to marry. Unfortunately, I find him very cold. He does not give me anything. He is very closed off. I am surprised he was even at the ball tonight. He is not one for spending a lot of time with the ton. He is one of those mysterious dukes who prefers to keep to himself. Something that I have always found very strange. Why would he not want to socialise? It can be so much fun."

"Mhmm, I see." Madeline swallowed hard and nodded. She found herself completely unable to agree with her friend, she got very warm, intense vibes from Damian.

"Father is still talking with him now. We are never going to be able to get home quickly at this rate."

But Madeline understood. If she had been given more chance to talk to this man, then she would have wanted to do the same.

What happened inside the assembly rooms? Why had his aunt argued with him like that, insisting that he was not welcome? She would not be rude and ask him what was going on, it was not good manners to pry openly into someone's business, but she was intrigued.

"So anyway, we were talking about your favourite dance tonight…" Catherine suddenly realized that they were having a conversation that she found far more interesting than Damian. "What about the Duke of Kensington? I think he had a little twinkle in his eyes for you."

Madeline tried to smile. She tried to throw herself back into the mind-set she was in before she spotted Damian, but she could not seem to shake him from her mind. Why did he not ask her to dance tonight? Before his aunt embarrassed him, he could have been on the dance floor with her, spinning her around in time to the music. Now that was a dance she would not have been able to forget.

"Perhaps," she finally declared. "But I am not sure he was really interested in me. Again, I think it was only about the money."

"Maybe so," Catherine agreed. "But even if that is the way to get these gentlemen talking to you, they will soon see you for who you are."

Madeline agreed, but she honestly was not sure if she wanted anyone else to see her. Not in the way that she ached for Damian to see her, which was strange because they had only just shared one very brief conversation. What was it about him? Why was she so intrigued? Why did she still want to lean out the window to look at him just in case she would never get the chance to lay eyes on him again? But she could not be too obvious as she did so. She did not want Catherine to see what she was doing, or she would never live it down.

***

Marcus lingered to talk to Damian for a few moments after his daughter and her friend vanished into the carriage, leaving a trail behind them that it felt like only Damian could see.

Damian did not mind, because he liked talking to Marcus. But it was hard for him to focus on his friend when he had just been within talking distance to the very intriguing Lady Madeline Moore. There was something breathtaking about seeing her up close, and learning that she had a disdain for the upper classes as well, really interested him. He did not think anyone had the same distaste for the wealthy as he did, but it seemed like she did.

"Well, it was very nice to see you tonight," Marcus declared as he held out his hand to shake Damian's. "I hope the incident with your aunt did not ruin the whole night."

"Oh, of course. It was fine," Damian said which was only half true. He certainly felt a lot better than he had done before he met Madeline. "I am glad I came."

"Yes, I am grateful that you came as well. It was a good night." Marcus nodded as he spoke. "And of course I shall see you again soon enough."

"When would you like to see me again?" Reality rushed back to Damian as he thought about the money issues once more. The troubles he did not want to deal with.

"We shall meet again in a month to see if finances are better."

Damian shook his hand, but he was not quite ready to let Marcus go yet. There were a lot of questions floating through his mind and he needed to ask some of them. He just needed a moment to gather himself up to work out what question was the most important.

"Who is Lady Moore?"

That was probably not the question he should have landed on, but he just panicked. Madeline intrigued him, and he could not help reaching out for more. Any nugget of information he could get his hands on was more important than anything else.

"Oh, she is Catherine's very good friend. She is a lovely young woman who has just come into a vast fortune. Luckily for her, because she has been through a lot." Marcus had sympathy in his eyes as he talked about this woman. "I am sure this fortune will help her move forwards."

Damian's heart raced. He asked, half joking, half serious, for more details. "Is her husband looking for investment opportunities by any chance?"

If there was a gentleman who could help him with the mines, then Damian would take that chance. He owed it to the people who worked for the Fairhurst mines. He was always on the look out for some way to bring his plans to life and to help those around him.

"Oh, no there is no husband." Marcus shook his head sadly. "It is a real shame because she is such a lovely woman, but at her age it is unlikely that anyone will ever marry her." He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Although now that she has such a grand dowry maybe everything will be different."

"Well, she did have a lot of dance partners tonight," Damian mused. "So, I am sure you are right. I am sure that someone will want to take her hand."

But how would she feel? How would Madeline like to be married to one of the nobles that she had already called ‘two faced'? She clearly did not have any respect for those men if she could say something like that. Damian could not imagine her attaching herself to one of those gentlemen in there. None of them looked like they would be able to make her smile every single day.

Yet she was likely going to want to marry someone, one day. Especially if she was already worried that she was already considered a spinster by society standards. If there was a chance to change that, surely, she would.

Hmm, that was something that Damian found very interesting, although he was not totally sure why.

"Anyway, I think Catherine and Madeline are keen to leave so I should join them," Marcus declared as he took a couple of steps backwards from Damian. "Goodnight, Damian. It is good to see you as always and I look forward to seeing you next month."

"Yes, I will see you then, thank you, Marcus. Goodbye."

Damian nodded and waved goodbye to Marcus, but his eyes remained on the carriage because he could not think about anything else other than the woman inside. How had Madeline gotten under his skin in such a short time? What was it about her that was so intriguing?

He waved to them all as they drove off, but his eyes only sought out Madeline. The unwed woman with a vast fortune. Now that was an option he had not thought about. He had been trying endlessly to think of solutions that would help the mines stay open for as long as possible, but a woman had never been a part of his plan. He had never thought about marrying someone. Whether it be for love or anything else, having a wife was never in the plan.

He had never found a woman he liked or trusted at all. But perhaps he did not need to have those sorts of feelings for anyone. Perhaps he could come up with an arrangement instead, one that was mutually beneficial. He might not have known what he could offer a woman like Madeline, but that was alright. He could figure it out.

As Damian climbed into his own carriage, Lady Moore's face continued to fill his mind. Her sly smile as she talked about the ton, the kindness in her eyes as she asked him compassionately about the argument with his aunt, and the intelligence that he could see within her. He was going to have to find a way to speak with her again, somehow. Now that he had been officially introduced to Lady Moore, he was sure that a conversation could work in both of their favors. Or so he hoped…