Page 67 of To Follow her Heart

Bonnie fumbled with the paper, almost dropping it in her excitement, and then beamed as she read the words. “Wear a disguise in public,” she said, looking thrilled with the idea.

“Oh, Lord,” Matilda murmured. “What kind of disguise?”

“I don’t know,” Bonnie said, delighted. “But I shall come up with something marvellous, just see if I don’t!”

“Can I have a go?”

They all turned to Ruth in surprise.

“We usually only do two at a time,” Kitty said, and then shrugged. “But rules are made to be broken.” She grinned at Ruth and held the hat out for her. “On you go, then.”

Ruth flushed, proving she really did go a remarkable shade as scarlet stained her pale skin. There was no fuss or dramatics with Ruth though, and she simply reached in, drew a slip of paper, and read it aloud.

“Say something utterly outrageous to a handsome man,” she said, her dark eyebrows going up. “Oh,” she said, flushing an even deeper shade. “Oh.”

“That’s a… tricky one,” Prue said, frowning a little.

“Well, there we are, then,” Matilda said, clapping her hands together with a light-hearted tone she wasn’t feeling, but anxious in case Kitty decided a fourth go would be a good idea. She had enough to worry about. “Don’t feel you have to do them all tonight,” she said, focusing on Bonnie and doing her utmost to stamp on her own misgivings. “You have weeks to complete them, remember. Now, come along, we’d best go down.”

Clapping her hands like a stern governess, she herded the ladies out.

***

St Clair looked about the ballroom and sighed. It was filled to the rafters, the sound of music, laughter, and animated conversation swelling on the heated air. He sipped at his champagne, trying to resist the urge to tug at his cravat. He didn’t want to be here.

Usually, he enjoyed such events. He didn’t crave constant entertainment the way he had as a young man, but convivial company and dancing and a fine summer’s night were nothing to turn your nose up at. He used to be far easier to please, he thought with a sigh.

Despite his best intentions, his gaze was drawn across the room to where Harriet was dancing with his brother. She was laughing, happy and carefree in a way she never was with him. Though he knew there was nothing of a romantic nature between them, he had to fight an irrational surge of jealousy. It’s not fair, said a childish voice in his head that made him want to throw things and pitch a fit worthy of a two-year-old. Resolutely, he turned his attention elsewhere, and then smiled as Kitty and Luke approached him.

“Mrs Baxter,” he said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips. “May I say how lovely you look this evening?”

It was true. She was glowing with happiness, gazing at her husband with such adoration that he could not help but envy Luke.

“You may,” she replied, laughing. “You can dance with me too, if you like.”

“Kitty!” Luke exclaimed, a little mortified. “You did not just ask the Earl of St Clair to dance?”

“What?” she said, all innocence though mischief glinted in her dark eyes. “You know I need to speak with him in private. A waltz is the best solution.”

“Hmph,” Luke replied, not looking entirely sanguine with the idea, as he quirked an eyebrow at Jasper.

Jasper was instantly alert, wondering if she’d spoken with Harriet, did she have news? “It would delight me to oblige, Mrs Baxter,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “If your husband will allow it?”

Luke waved them away with a sigh and Kitty took Jasper’s hand, casting an impish look at her husband before she left.

“Mrs Baxter!” she exclaimed. “I can’t get over how wonderful that sounds.”

“You won’t have long to get used to it,” Jasper said, guiding her onto the floor. “Not from what Luke told me. You’ll be a countess soon enough.”

Kitty shrugged. “Mrs Baxter is all I ever wanted, but whatever comes with Luke, comes with Luke. We’ll make it work.”

“I believe that,” Jasper said, smiling as the orchestra played the opening bars.

He led her into the dance and had to bite his tongue to stop himself demanding to know what Harriet had said to her. At last she looked up at him, her dark eyes full of sympathy.

“I’ve not much to tell you,” she said, and Jasper’s hopes crashed to the floor. “Except that she’s not as indifferent to you as you might believe.”

Jasper snorted at that. “I never said she was indifferent. She hates me.”