Fairchild (23 page)

“Is that lemonade?” Sophy asked, tilting her head in the direction of a refreshment table. “May I have some?”

“That is punch, which I believe you’d be better without,” Percy said. “I’ll have the waiter bring you some ratafia, if you would like.”
 

“No, I only fancied lemonade,” Sophy said quickly. A beverage was only helpful if it removed Percy from her side long enough for her to slip away. She might be able to hide herself in the corridor or behind the towering potted palms that were gathered in islands around the edges of the pit, conveniently screening some of the boxes. Alistair would come for her soon if she didn’t do something. She pinched her lips together in frustration.
 

“Would you care to dance?” Percy asked. Sophy nodded and they made their way to the stage, joining the other latecomers at the end of the set.
 

Marking time on the crowded floor, Sophy prepared to seize her chance. When the music ended and the dancers’ ordered pattern changed to a mill of confusion, she slipped out of Percy’s grasp.
 

“Sophy?”
 

He was turning after her, but there were advantages to being small. Dodging behind a corpulent monk, she left the stage and plunged into the pit, where masqueraders sallied to and fro. Some of them were hunting; others were trying to be caught. A corsair raised his quizzing glass at her, startling her with his magnified, goggling eye. Sophy retreated, edging between an Apollo and a Pompadour. Her cloak caught on the lady’s stiff lace, tugging back her hood. Sophy kept walking, ignoring the lady’s angry cry. She would be safe once she reached her goal.
 

She was nearing the boxes. A man in a green mask called after her as she passed, but she did not slow her steps. Their own box was empty, of course. She would be able to watch it from her hiding place. The next two boxes she merely glanced at, but as she passed the last, she froze. Tom Bagshot was there. He wore no costume, just a grey domino over his evening clothes and a silver mask pushed onto his forehead. Alerted by her sudden stop, he turned his head.
 

Alistair was forgotten. The shifting crowd, the grand display; they were gone too. There was only Tom, with a female at his elbow, a dark haired beauty who had to be wearing paint. Nobody had lips as red as that. She laughed, tilting her head confidingly at Tom. A moment late, Tom responded, turning away from Sophy, his mouth shaping itself into a familiar smile.
 

Sophy was curiously angry. Hadn’t that smile belonged to her? She was the one supposed to be making him laugh, sitting in the chair beside him. She took two strides before reason took hold of her. Halting, she closed her hands round the folds of her domino in tight fists.

What was she thinking, staring at him like a lack witted fool? The female beside him saw her, her scarlet mouth curling into a smile of bemusement and scorn. Slowly, Tom followed her eyes back to Sophy. His eyes held hers. Sophy felt herself tremble, cold with despair. Breaking free, she dove into the crowd, weaving her way to the stand of potted palms she had marked. The people closest to her would see her slip behind them, but would they care? It didn’t matter. She had to be alone, had to get hold of herself. Hoping fervently, she brushed through the branches and vanished.
 

He couldn’t imagine why, but Sophy was here and she was alone. Without stopping to consider how this folly had come about, Tom embarked on his own.
 

“Forgive me. I need to . . .” What? There was nothing he could say, and he was already swinging over the front of the box, plunging into the crowd. All his reasons for avoiding Sophy disappeared, leaving only the question—why not? If he wanted to see her, why shouldn’t he? Wandering alone at a masquerade, there was no reason any man could not, he realized with a frown.
 

She moved quickly. In the press of people, Tom soon lost sight of her bright blue cloak and her flaming hair. The colors hardly stood out in this vivid jungle. He elbowed his way past yet another Turk. A woman dressed as an angel started toward him and then changed her mind.
 

Where was she? She couldn’t have disappeared. There were no doors here into the corridors. Tom moved to the edge of the pit to survey the crowd. He saw an Egyptian princess and a shepherdess, but no slight figure swathed in blue. A Mephistopheles was pursuing a laughing Daphne—despite the leaves woven around her arms he didn’t think she would resist as hard as she ought. Mephistopheles’ advances seemed quite welcome. No damsels turning into trees tonight . . . Tom turned and looked at the palms behind him. There were three of them, in giant brass urns. He moved closer, and thought he saw movement in the shadows behind them.
 

He’d found her. But was she alone? Tom thinned his mouth into a hard line, ignoring his sudden qualms. Sidling into the shadow of the nearest plant, he let his eyes wander the crowd. He must wait for the right moment, lest he draw unwelcome attention. Edging under the leaves, he spied a slice of blue through the foliage. Blue, and nothing else. He smiled and began to hum to himself.
Here we go round the mulberry bush . . .

One last look at the pit. Mephistopheles was the only one who saw him; over Daphne’s shoulder he gave Tom a slow wink.
 

Tom stepped further in, keeping his cloak held tight. “Sophy!” he whispered.

She was hunched down, her head level with the top of the nearest urn, her fingers gripping the edge. Her hood had fallen back and her mask was hanging by its strings, so he was struck by the full force of her furious glare.
 

“What?” he asked, momentarily baffled.
 

“What are you doing here?” she asked.
 

Was she expecting someone else? Impossible. “I came to ask you the same question.”
 

“I’m here with Lord and Lady Arundel. I won’t ask after your party. A lady doesn’t notice bits of muslin,” she said nastily. Tom nearly choked.
 

“Bits of
 
. . .” A laugh escaped him. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Sophy. The lady you take for—I suppose you think her my fancy piece?” Sophy didn’t answer, so he kept going, his face cracking into a wide grin. “That’s Anna Morris, the daughter of a friend of my late father.”

Sophy was red as a lobster, but she kept her dignity. “And you walked away from her without a word?”
 

Tom sucked in a breath through his teeth. He had. There were others in the box; Anna was not alone, but he had treated her exactly as a man might treat a paid companion, dropping her on sight of a new quarry.
 

“Merciful Lord,” Tom breathed. Anna was going to kill him.
 

“She isn’t then?” Sophy asked, interested anew. “She shouldn’t be so obvious with her paint. It sends entirely the wrong message.”
 

“Is that what your mother tells you? I thought she had a rather beautiful mouth.”

Sophy snorted. “Yes, I saw you hanging on her lips. ”
 

“Well, I was supposed to be,” Tom conceded. “And I was, until you gave me the start of my life. What are you doing here alone?” His question came out sharper than he intended. Sophy licked her lips.
 

 
“Hiding,” she muttered.
 

“From who?”
 

“The cousin, Alistair.” She cocked her head towards the ballroom, invisible through their leafy screen.
 

Tom lowered his voice. “Why do you need to hide, Sophy?”

She raised one shoulder in a delicate shrug, sending velvet shadows into the hollows of her collarbones.
 
“I can’t explain.”
 

“Has he tried to take liberties?” Tom scowled.
 

Sophy’s face crumpled into a grin. “Hah! You look as fierce as my father.”
 

“Should I be flattered?”
 

“No.” It made no sense that she should be restored to sunny smiles. He wanted to shake her. He repeated his question.
 

“Did he insult you?”

“Yes, I suppose so.” She dropped her eyes. “It was more of an embarrassment than anything else. Every time I look at him I want to run away.”
 

“Your father? Your brother? They did nothing?” The brother was an ineffectual idiot, but surely her father—

“I didn’t tell them.”
 

“Why not?”

She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “It was nothing really. Please let’s not speak of it. Won’t you sit down?” She asked as if she were at home in her parents’ drawing room, then spoiled the effect by grinning at him.

Already bent over double, it was some relief to settle beside her on the ground. Shielding her dress with her cloak, she slid back a few inches so she could lean against the wall, wrapping her arms around her drawn up knees. Tom copied her, unable to resist her folly. There would be all kinds of trouble if they were found here, never mind that they were hiding like a pair of truant children.
 

“Did you miss me?” she asked.
 

“Not at all,” he lied. “But it’s good to see you.”
 

“Has your mother vanquished her maid yet? And did she finish her book?”

“We lost interest in the story, and I’m afraid it’s the other way round with my mother and her maid.” He swallowed, saying far too diffidently, “You could call on her, you know.”

She stiffened, her neck muscles cording tight. “I can’t. My family—”
 

He scowled. “Would you speak to me at all, if we weren’t hiding behind a plant?”

“Of course I would! Lady Fairchild isn’t here.” Snapping off the tip off a hanging leaf, she shredded it between her fingers.
 

“Then why did you run from me?”

“I was running already, remember? It is more complicated than you know. Perhaps if I hadn’t been so foolish, if my—my family understood—”

 
“Hasn’t anyone told you how injurious honesty can be?”
 

“Oh, I know,” she sighed.
 

“You must tell me about London,” he said, trying to lighten the cloud that had settled between them. “Looking at you, I would say it suits you very well.”

Pink crept into her cheeks. “You think so? And how does it suit you?”
 

“I live here, remember? I’d say we suit well enough, the city and I.”
 

“Your evening? Has it been enjoyable?”
 

Tom passed a hand over his forehead. “Not really. I came from a dinner where we were plied with food until I felt like I’d swallowed a nine pounder—cannon shot, you know.”
 

She nodded.
 

“Then we came here, and I had to wear a stupid mask that itches my forehead abominably, and now I’ve offended Anna. I’m tempted to take the coward’s way out and just go home.”
 

“If only we could!” She froze as soon as the words left her mouth, realizing what she had not meant to say. “I mean . . . What I meant . . . Of course we could not.” They were leaning close, like any two conspirators, close enough that he could easily kiss her. There were palm fronds brushing her hair. If he pushed them away and let his own fingers do the brushing, would she permit it or push him away? Or would she turn up her face and offer him her soft, pink mouth? Lord above, but it drew his eyes.
 

“No, we couldn’t,” he said. “We ought not to be here either.”
 

She nodded, moistening her lips.
 

“I should leave first,” he said, quickly. “Let you have your sanctuary. Maybe if I return with refreshments, Anna won’t be too hard on me.” Hah! She was likely to spit him through.

“I’m glad you found me,” she said, subdued.
 

Tom was not a gambler, but he knew when it was time to discard caution and throw the dice. “Will you dance with me? It’s a masquerade. You can dance with anyone you like.”

“I can. So long as we put our masks on.”
 

“Is that yes?”

She nodded, strangely solemn.

*****

Everything was easy with Tom, and there lay the danger. She could never let him find out who she really was.
 

If only she’d spoken the truth from the first. She wouldn’t have needed to run from him then. Speaking to him at all was incredibly foolish, but something about him always drove her to new heights of stupidity: hiding in the shadows like a pair of secret lovers and now agreeing to dance with him. The merest slip of the tongue would destroy her reputation forever.
 

And yet it felt wonderful, tripping beside him onto the dance floor. She felt as light as a balloon, even without any of the infamous punch. The candlelight struck glints of gold in Tom’s light brown hair. In his evening clothes, he seemed to move with unusual grace. And he had abandoned that woman—the one she had hated on sight—only to be with her! It ought to be sung out loud.
 

Just not by her. She was a deplorable singer. For the first time, she wished she were not.
 

“Why are you smiling?” he whispered.

“Because you are going to have to go back to Miss Morris—”
 

“Mrs. Morris,” he interrupted. “She’s a widow.”

Momentarily disconcerted, she began again. “You are going to have to go back to her and I can’t even think what she will do to you. I won’t be able to stop laughing. Coming after me was the craziest thing.”

She didn’t ask him why he had done it. She could see the answer, sparkling in his eyes and it made the entire world alive and glittering. If she let herself think, she would know only despair, but now was not the time for thinking. Keeping her hand in his, Tom turned her to face him and moved his free hand to rest at her waist.