Page 36 of A Game of Scandal

The song came to an end, and my dance partner escorted me to the edge of the dance floor, bowing and saying the right, polite things that they all said.

Goodness, I was bored. And hot. And frustrated. Itching to get away from everything, suffocated by the whole foolish business but forced to smile through it like a well-behaved young lady.

I would only have a moment of respite, I knew. I used it to fantasize about fleeing through the front door.

“Perhaps I could have this dance?” a voice said from behind me, and time slowed as I turned to find myself confronted by the sight of Edward Laing.

Everything stilled, for an instant, as his eyes met mine. The music dropped away, and something like fear crawled in my throat.

“I’m sorry.” My voice was wondrously calm as my heart threatened to hammer clean out of my chest. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

He smiled, the same charming smile I’d seen at the Penny. He looked more handsome in his evening suit, as put together and polished as always, but sharper with it. The lights from the ballroom gilded his hair, his gaze was focused on me, honed as a knife edge. In contrast, his movements were easy, relaxed. It was the combination that left me off-balance.

“Forgive me,” he said. “I feel as though we already know one another.” He paused here, long enough for panic to rear up inside me, but then he carried on. “I’ve heard so much about Lord Vane’s clever sister, Lady Felicity. I’m Edward Laing.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I managed, watching him as closely as I dared for any flicker of recognition. There was none, but then he might be a good actor.

“So?” He raised an eyebrow, held out his hand. “Is it too forward of me to ask you to dance after such a brief introduction?”

“Not at all,” I replied, knowing that it was much less suspicious to accept his invitation. “I’d be happy to.”

A lie. An utter lie. I wasn’t happy at all. I wondered what he was doing here, wondered if Izzy, who hadn’t arrived yet, knew that he was at this gathering. Had he been invited? He seemed utterly at ease, as comfortable in these surroundings as he’d been in the gaming den. An accepted member of society, despite his lack of personal history. Where precisely had he sprung up from?

When his fingers wrapped around mine, his other hand went to my waist, and his movements were smooth and sure. I tried not to flinch and found myself looking fixedly over his shoulder. I must not panic. That would achieve nothing.

“I wonder if there’s something interesting happening behind me?” he asked in a teasing voice as the music swelled and he guided me around the floor. “Perhaps a more handsome suitor?” He darted a glance over his shoulder, following the path of my gaze.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was … thinking.”

“Ah,” he said sympathetically. “Not much time for that at events like these. I suppose they’ve all been talking you to death over the usual topics.”

“What are the usual topics?”

“Oh, the weather, the entirety of their social calendars, the latest gossip on the royal family, their horses…”

As this was exactly what every man I’d met tonight had talked about, I couldn’t suppress a sound of amusement.

He grinned. “You know, I would swear that you and I had met before,” he said softly.

Any levity fled at that. “I’m rarely out in society,” I said, trying for a careless shrug. “Perhaps I have a common face.”

“Oh, come now,” Laing chided. “That is fishing for a compliment, Lady Felicity. You must know that you’re anything but common. You’re quite lovely. Indeed, you are … unique.”

“I suppose I’ve never been good at fitting in,” I said after a beat.

The music came to an end. Laing pulled me into one last turn, and bowed over my hand. When he straightened, I removed my fingers from his as quickly as I could.

“Why would you want to fit in with the rest of them?” he asked. His voice was pitched low and he leaned forward, stepping into my space and making the moment somehow intimate. “When you could be extraordinary?”

“I…” I began, but thankfully we were interrupted by another man who came over, slapping Laing on the shoulder.

“There you are, old fellow!” he boomed. “Got a friend or two who would like to talk to you about this canal scheme – come and have a hand of cards.”

“Of course, Carlton. I’d be happy to,” Laing agreed cheerfully. “Thank you for the dance, Lady Felicity. I hope we shall repeat the event soon.” Lingering over these last words, his eyes moved across my face, and I had the strange feeling he was cataloguing my features.

He left without a backwards glance, but even when he disappeared into the crowd, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still watching, waiting to see what I did next.

As my next partner approached, I excused myself with more haste than grace, murmuring something about retiring for a moment. Noting that my mother was fully occupied, I slipped through the crowd in the direction of the ladies’ retiring room, but – making sure no one was looking my way – I took a sharp turn, heading instead for the doors that led out to the garden. The need to get away was an itch crawling across my skin and I could ignore it no longer.