Page 34 of How to Wed a Courtesan

‘It’s a marvel.’ She turned from him and walked towards the whorls of blue and green set over the yellow background of the polished pine. ‘Oh, but it will be ruined once the dancing begins.’

‘As it is supposed to be.’ He held out his hand to her. ‘Dance with me.’

Her lips parted in protest as she looked once more to the chalked art.

‘We’ll be very careful,’ he promised.

Not that it mattered, of course. Once everyone joined them the colours would be smeared together. But he would not lose this opportunity to dance with Lottie before the ton and make it known how he felt about her.

They took their positions for the cotillion and, as anticipated, all eyes were fixed on Evander and Lottie.

‘It’s been half an age since I’ve danced,’ she admitted, when the music brought them together.

‘Yet you are still as graceful now as you were the first time I danced with you,’ Evander replied.

And she was, her steps light, intentionally delicate over the artwork, so only her toes moved across the chalk and left the smallest of scuffs in the design.

As other couples moved around them the chalk smeared, as expected. No one took the care that Lottie did.

‘The first time we danced,’ she said wistfully. ‘That was a lifetime ago, wasn’t it?’

Evander took her hands in the dance and led her to the left. ‘That was when I was my happiest.’

He hadn’t acknowledged such a truth until that very moment. But it was true, when he was with Lottie, he was happier than he’d ever been. Nothing else had brought him similar joy since. Not travelling, nor food, nor even wealth.

She skipped away from him, as per the steps of the cotillion, her feet moving lightly enough that they almost did not mar the chalk, and he found himself grinning. While she claimed to be a different woman now, there were still traces of the girl she once was, even if she didn’t see it.

But he did.

‘Do you still enjoy painting watercolours?’ he asked, when the music brought them together again, recalling how spots of paint had always found their way to her gowns, especially her long sleeves. He ran his thumb over her wrist in memory.

She chuckled, obviously understanding. ‘I do, but I’ve become much more careful in what I wear when I paint now.’

All too soon the music drew to a close and they were forced to bow and curtsey to one another. Formality would draw them apart for the better part of the night now, but Evander was loath to leave her side. Not when he had waited so long for this moment.

‘Thank you for the dance,’ Lottie said. ‘And the memories.’

‘Miss Rossington.’ Kentworth appeared beside them and offered a bow. ‘May I have this dance?’

Evander gritted his teeth and only partially masked his irritation at the Marquess’s interruption. It would not be the last, Evander knew. Lottie had always attracted attention. But when she was younger she hadn’t noticed.

She was well aware of her ability now.

Without any right to lay claim to her, as he would like, Evander relinquished Lottie into the waiting hand of Kentworth and departed the dance floor.

Charles found Evander in the crowd not long after. The Duke’s eyes followed Lottie as she moved across the dance floor, her steps still as careful as they were graceful, despite the chalk having been already scuffed beyond repair by others.

‘You look well,’ Evander said, complimenting his brother-in-law.

‘You’re going to hurt her,’ Charles said. ‘You do realise that.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Evander turned to his sister’s husband.

The Duke frowned at him. ‘Society will never accept her, no matter how much you wish they would. You know the people of our set. They are as unforgiving as they are cruel.’

‘Bollocks,’ Evander said under his breath. ‘You know as well as I do that most of these people can be bought.’

‘Not all.’ Charles pulled his attention from Lottie and settled his bright blue eyes pointedly on Evander. ‘And the ones who cannot are the most brutal, the ones with the most influence.’