Lady Louisa stood in the fairly empty hall for just a few moments. No one had noticed her exiting the room. She was sure if she had been the one to open the other door and enter the ballroom all eyes would fall on her.
Why would he not care that entering the ballroom after she had left from the same door would cause suspicion by any of the matrons in the room? Those ladies never missed a thing. Perhaps men did not realize such things.
Lady Louisa straightened her skirts and touched her hair to make sure it was still perfectly in place as Bess had arranged it. She had never experienced anything like that in her life and rather felt like she was waking from a dream.
Never had a gentleman shown any interest in the plain wallflower that was Lady Louisa. Perhaps if she had attended a masquerade ball sooner in life, she would have found this more daring side of herself.
Taking steadying breaths, she made her way down the hall and back towards the sound of voices and music in the magnificent ballroom. She was already feeling the butterflies of anticipation at meeting the man again.
He would be easy to spot. He was likely to be the only one in such a full mask. Though death masks with their long, pointed noses were a popular choice for men, even if someone wore the same one as he did, she would still be able to easily spot that tall frame and square chin.
She entered the room and surveyed it for just a second. She wanted to make sure she could see her aunt and cousins and stay far away from them for the dance. She finally laid eyes on the large array of peacock feathers.
However, her attention was drawn to the table of punch almost immediately. There he was standing, waiting for her arrival. She couldn’t help but notice several people watching him and whispering. Had her entrance and exit from the room been noticed?
She hesitated to approach him, though her body protested the inaction. It was visibly obvious that people were taking notice of him. Then she watched as an elderly gentleman walked up to him and spoke in a quick, quiet tone.
Lady Louisa recognized the man at once as Mr.
Vaughan. Then the masked man put a reassuring hand on Mr. Vaughan’s shoulder and seemed to laugh off his words. Lady Louisa was beginning to see a familiarity between the two that made her stomach turn.
With each passing second, the puzzle pieces were coming together. She had seen that tall frame before, heard that deep luxurious voice. What dispelled any doubt, was when the gentleman turned to speak to a man introduced to him by Mr. Vaughan. He had long hair that seemed to shine black like ebony in the light, tied back with a simple ribbon.
She was sure. The mysterious man she had just spent the last half hour flirting with, was none other than the Duke of Rowland. She couldn’t believe herself! How had she not seen it before? His gait, his mannerisms… She ought to have recognized him!
She started to panic and back out of the room. In the process, she accidently backed into someone. A loud yelp resounded that caught the attention of those around them. Lady Louisa turned and apologized profusely to the young lady that she had stepped on.
Turning back around, she saw the Duke too had noticed the act, and when her eyes reached his face, he smiled in satisfaction. She shook her head in dread.
Instantly the smile that had spread on his face faltered. He took a few steps towards her, seeming to know that she was about to run.
Run she did. She turned on her heels and as quickly as she could she removed herself from the room. It was not an easy task to accomplish for a lady with so many skirts. She was sure that the Duke would overtake her. She would not look back, however.
She couldn’t bear to let the Duke know who she actually was. He would be so appalled to know. She was sure she should have felt shocked at the knowledge as well.
Instead, she was sure her heart was breaking with each step that she took. This had been the first and only time in her life she could honestly say that she felt the excitement of budding romance and now she was going to run from it.
She was almost at the front door when she heard the pursuing steps behind her. She couldn’t stop, however. Luckily a man was at the door and opened it for her.
Only once did she hear the Duke call out, “Wait!” before she was out in the clear air of the night.
She didn’t stop there either. She had assured Mr. Johnson she would take the carriage home with her aunt, not wanting to make him wait with the cart all night. Now she was regretting that decision.
She stepped quickly down the stone steps and turned sharply right to hide behind the line of bushes on the side. She had just made it behind the rose shrubs when a figure burst out from the doors.
The Duke of Rowland removed his mask to see unobstructedly into the night. He took a few steps down the stairs and looked over to the stables of waiting carriages. Perhaps he would see her vehicle go by and stop her.
He could see his own breath in the chill of the night as it came in and out in short bursts. Evidently, the lady had realized who he was when she entered the ballroom. The recognition was spelled all over her face. Why had that made her run?
For the first time in his life, he had met someone that brought such a turmoil of emotions and simultaneously she was the only one to run away from him.
He waited on the steps a few moments longer sure that she couldn’t have gone too far. Inevitably she would appear at any moment. But it never happened.
“Rowland,” a deep husky voice called from behind him. Rowland turned to see his uncle in the doorway. “First you disappear for almost an hour. Then right in the middle of Lady Ludlow’s words, you bolt from the ballroom. What is going on?”
“I saw someone,” Rowland responded still half dazed by it all.
“Someone? What do you mean someone?”
“Not just someone, Uncle James. The someone. I believe I have found her!” Rowland said gripping his uncle by both shoulders.
“You are acting quite mad, tonight,” Mr. Vaughan said, concerned by the outburst.
“I’m trying to tell you, Uncle. I have found her! The girl I am destined to marry.”
“Well, then where is she?”
“She left.”
“Left?”
“Yes. She ran.”
“Why would she run?” Mr. Vaughan asked skeptically.
“I don’t know,” Rowland said in a voice that trailed off.
“Well, what is her name. Perhaps she got scared or had to leave. We can certainly call on her on the morrow,” Mr. Vaughan said, happily seeing this lovesick look in his nephew's eyes.
“I don’t know,” Rowland repeated. He turned to his uncle and looked him straight on. “She never told me her name.”
“You are talking nonsense, nephew. Come inside. There is a hall full of eligible ladies more than willing to run towards you, not away.”
Mr. Vaughan shook his head at his nephew’s confusing actions. With an arm around Rowland's shoulders, he urged him to return to the house.
“She was the one, I am sure of it,” Rowland whispered before donning his mask back on and returning inside with his uncle.
Lady Louisa waited hidden behind the shrubbery until she was sure that the Duke was gone. She had heard every word of that conversation. Undoubtedly the man was mistaken, she thought as she removed her hand that had been covering her mouth. She had feared that her own breath could give her hiding spot away. Timidly, she stepped out from behind the bushes, checking to see that she was indeed alone at the front of the house.
With little word or fanfare, she began the walk back to her residence. In the beginning, she turned several times upon hearing sounds. She so feared that the Duke might reappear and discover her true identity.
Soon she turned a bend blocking her view from the house, and in the still darkness, she concentrated hard on the ground before her. There was little moonlight to guide her.
Luckily she had already made this walk several times when she came to learn at the side of Mrs. Vance. Even still, there was the need to remove her mask which obscured her own view a bit.
She puzzled as she walked briskly in the chilled air: how didn’t she realize it was the Duke from the moment she had slipped into the office? It was so obvious now that she knew his identity.
More puzzling was the fact that he had confused her with a beautiful enchantress and not the plain lady that he greatly disliked. She reminded herself that she had exceedingly disliked him as well.
How that had changed when she spoke with him with no pre-knowledge of his character. In fact, she had quite fallen for him at that moment. It was a fleeting emotion, she tried to remind herself. Nothing more than a mistake.
She also didn’t need to be reminded that her sole purpose of coming to the country was to make amends with her aunts. Though she had not been successful in this task, she strongly doubted that informing the Duke that she was the woman he had just vowed to wed would bode well with either Lady Hendrickson or Miss Elisabeth.
For that reason alone, she was determined to keep her identity this night a secret from the Duke. Certainly, the emotion would be fleeting for him as well. No doubt he had already found interest in another upon returning to the party.
No, there would be no reason to inform the Duke that she was the woman in the green dress when it would only cause more strife and turmoil between her family and her aunt’s. Instead, she would return to Mentheith House and pretend like the encounter never occurred.
She would swear Bess and Mr. Johnson to silence. They would never speak of her absence from the house this night if she asked them not to. She would continue the plan she had made before the disaster with the Duke had ever occurred. Within a week’s time, she would return to London and leave every memory of this place behind her.