Page 19 of A Single Thread of Moonlight

I hesitated. Would I really conspire to harm an innocent man, in order to revenge myself against the woman who had taken everything from me?

Yes, yes, I would. I would steel myself against any softer feeling, I would do what I needed to do to pull Helena’s perfect life apart, stitch by stitch if I had to. Preventing her family from marrying into royalty was only the beginning. When I was through with her, Helena would be ruined. I owed it to my father.

Something of my resolve must have showed in my face.

“You’ll do it,” Nicholas said quietly.

I nodded. “Yes.” He didn’t need to know the reasons why. Let him think it was for the money.

“Good.” If he felt any surprise, he didn’t show it. “Then we will have to get you ready for the house party.”

My stomach dropped. It felt like I was falling from a great height at a great speed, as if the ground had been snatched from under me. The house party. Two weeks. I already knew what was coming.

“At Holland Hall,” I croaked.

“That’s right.”

I closed my eyes.

It seemed that I was going home.

CHAPTER NINE

“Is something the matter?” Nicholas asked.

I shook my head, recovering my voice. “Not at all.”

What could I say? I could hardly tell him the truth. Could I really go back there? I wanted to, so desperately that the thought of it made my chest ache. But how could I possibly hope to avoid discovery if I spent two weeks at my home with Helena? Fear and excitement churned inside me. It was entirely possible that I was about to cast up the warm lemonade all over Nicholas Wynter’s highly polished shoes.

Fortunately for me, he was oblivious to my inner turmoil.

“The key thing is for you to capture Stefan’s attention tonight,” he said. He cast a critical eye over me. “You should have no trouble.” If it was meant to be a compliment it didn’t sound like one. “Your entrance went off better than even I could have planned.”

“You’re welcome,” I muttered. “So, I capture his attention tonight. Do you have any idea of how?”

He smiled then, something dangerous lighting his eyes. “Oh, yes. I’m going to flirt with you as outrageously as possible.”

“That will work, will it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“It will with Stefan.” There was a grim note in his voice.

I sniffed. Men were such ridiculous creatures.

“And then?” I asked.

“We make sure everyone notices you. I will dance with you – that should do the trick.”

Again, that arrogance.

“And then?”

“And then you will flirt with him. As outrageously as possible.”

I thought this over for a moment. I wasn’t so sure that would work – not with a man like the prince, so sought after. Still, this was his plan, not mine. “Fine,” I said, not wanting to delay now that the decision had been made. “Let’s get on with it.” I shrugged his jacket from my shoulders and held it out to him.

Without another word, Nicholas pulled his jacket on and we slipped back inside the ballroom.

The heat hit me like a brick wall. There seemed to be even more people in here now, dancing giddily and talking loudly to one another so that they could be heard over the orchestra, who were still playing with great enthusiasm. I felt a wave of claustrophobia. So many bodies pressed into this space, and everyone looking about them with glittering, hungry eyes.