Dominic (29 page)

Ros
a
m
und was a vivacious red haired beauty whose
a
m
bitions for the stage took second place only to her
desire to
attract
the young e
ar
l
, but she recog
n
ized the fact that he was no fool who could be easily attracted. She had heard
ru
m
o
rs
of his dealings with others of the de
m
i
- monde
and
realized
that
to gain
his
protection,
she
m
ust hide her eagerness. He was repu
t
ed to be generous to his conquests but would brook no defiance
of his wishes; therefore,
s
h
e
m
ust
appear
to
bend
to
his
will.
It
would
not
do
to
show
her
claws, at
le
a
st
n
ot
this
ea
r
ly
in
the relationship; she could perha
p
s attempt to
m
anipulate him once
she
had
secured
him
in
her
t
o
ils.
W
as
she
not
h
a
iled as a beauty and that in itse
l
f
should
prove
irresistible
to hi
m
?

*****

Vale’s coach arrived at V
a
uxhall Gardens just before
m
i
dnight and springing down, he assisted
h
i
s partner to alight. He wore no disguise, only condescending to the wearing
of
a
loo
mask.
Rosamund,
however,
had surpassed herself by choo
s
ing a gown overlaid with brightly colored feathers and an exotic head-dress with
m
any
colored
plu
m
es
proclai
m
ing
the
Bird
of
Paradise, her eyes sparkling invitingly from
her
m
ask.

Threading their way through the
m
e
rry throng, Vale led her to the supper booth he had hired for the evening and drawing a
s
ide the
h
ea
v
y curtains
h
e bade her enter and ordered
refresh
m
ents
from t
h
e
attending
lackey.
It
was
a
bal
m
y night and the lanterns which had been strung
around
the
gardens,
vied
with
t
h
e
stars
in
their
brilliance. In the distance an orchestra could be heard providing the music
for
those
who
wished
to
d
ance,
b
u
t
his
lor
d
ship showed no inclin
a
tion to
join t
h
eir
n
u
m
bers.

He
had
been
drinking
whilst
awaiting
his fair Cyprian and, although he could not be
said to be in his cups, a certain
recklessness existed
about him and his eyes glinted through
the
m
ask.
He
laid
his
arm casually
about
her shoulders and she inclined her head toward him in an inviting gesture, atte
m
pting to fascinate him by the fluttering
of
lowered
lashes.
However,
he
saw this
as artifice
and
turned
his
head
away
to
regard
t
h
e
passing
throng. Rosa
m
und pouted slightly and straightened herself in
her
seat;
she
m
ust
try so
m
e other
ploy
to
intrigue
hi
m
. Perhaps rel
u
ctance would serve to i
n
fla
m
e his passion and she leaned
h
erself to the further
side
of
her
seat
so that
he was
obliged
to
drop
his
ar
m
, which,
to
her
chagrin,
he
did not atte
m
pt to replace. Ins
t
ead he continued with his conte
m
plation
until
h
is atte
n
tion
w
as
cl
a
i
m
ed
by
a
party arriving
in a box just a sho
r
t
distance
away,
and
he
sat forward in his seat the better
to
vi
ew
the
ne
w
l
y
arrived revelers.

The
t
a
lle
s
t
of the
pa
r
ty of six
dressed
as
a
knave
he recognized as
W
r
oxham, t
h
e goddess was undoubtedly Regina. However, it
w
as the
f
air butt
e
r
f
ly th
a
t held his gaze, who despite t
h
e silver l
o
o
m
ask, he insta
n
tly recognized as Sophie, her br
i
ght golden curls dancing in the
lantern
light.
Despite
his
resolve
his
heart
lurched
in his breast and he rose i
m
patie
n
tly. His
f
irst i
m
pulse was to go to her, but as he would have
m
ade a
m
ov
e
ment toward the
rear
of
the
box,
Ros
a
m
und,
in
fear
of
l
osing
her quarry, took hold of his arm
to forestall his departure.

“Fie
on
you,
m
y lord,
leaving
m
e
so
soon,”
she wheedled
as she too rose and pressed herself sinuously to his
si
d
e.
“
S
hall
we
take
a
str
o
ll
in
the
garden
s
? I
hear
t
e
ll they hold
m
any secret places i
d
eal f
o
r a lovers’ tryst?”

He would have pushed her from hi
m
, but seeing
W
r
oxh
a
m
bending
solicitously
over
the
silver
butterfly
and appearing
to receive
a favorable
response;
he s
m
iled stiffly, and drawing her hand through his ar
m
, led the way out of the box.

The
garde
n
s
were
heavy
w
it
h
th
e
per
f
u
m
e
o
f
m
a
ny
bloo
m
s
and
,
as
they
passed
through
the
formal
walks
toward the more secluded areas, Rosa
m
und hung heavily on his ar
m
. Laying her head against his shoulder she pro
m
ised all
m
anner of delights once they were re
m
oved from view
of
other
like-
m
i
nded
sou
l
s.
If
she
had
but
taken the trouble to look at
h
i
s face she would have
seen that
h
e paid
her
no
attention, his thoughts obviously being channeled in a different direction. Seeing
W
r
oxham again in
his
attentions,
his
m
i
nd
was occupied
on
a
different course.
To
her
error
however,
she
did
not,
and
she
failed to see the thunderous crease
that ca
m
e to his brow.

Stopping abruptly, he took her co
m
p
letely unawares as he
snatched
her
to
him
a
nd
kissed
her
roughly.
As
she would
have
pulled
away
fe
i
gning
surprise,
he
held
her even
m
ore f
i
r
m
ly bruising her lips with his passion.

Had
they
but
known it, a
sil
v
er
b
u
tter
f
ly
viewi
n
g
their actions
from
the
shadows
of
a
eucalyptus
bush,
pressed
her
hands
over
her
mouth
and
fled
sobbing
from
the
walks.