Page 56 of Adeline

His shoulders stiffened, and the smile drained from his face. Would Adeline be angry? She could not think he had aught to do with the coincidence of their matching garb.

The gentleman behind Jasper cleared his throat, properly indicating that he was slowing down the line.

He need greet Adeline, and then he could escape to a quiet corner of the ballroom to think through the predicament he’d been forced into.

“Miss Adeline, it is lovely to see you again and a very merry birthday to you.” He took her offered hand and bowed over it, not trusting himself to bring his lips to her gloved fingers. “Thank you for the invitation.”

There. He’d met social requirements and could now sulk off, perhaps hide himself behind one of the potted ferns lining the fabric-draped walls.

“You look dashing this evening, my lord.” Her deep, sultry voice held him captive. “I must say, the ladies will be falling all over themselves for an introduction to the darkly handsome and captivating Lord Ailesbury. I can only imagine what they’d wager for one dance.”

“It is only you, Miss Adeline, I wish to dance with this eve,” he countered. Where in the bloody hell had that come from? Certainly, he’d been thinking it, but to say it out loud was highly improper. “What I mean to say, Miss Adeline, is I do hope you will save a place on your dance card for me.”

She held her wrist high, rotating the card to give Jasper a better view. “I have saved every spot for you, my lord.” Her brow rose in question. She was obviously enjoying their scandalous banter—and his unease. “In fact, as it is my special evening, I will take you up on one of those dances now.”

Without another word, she stepped from the line and set her hand in the crook of his elbow. He covered it with his own palm as if they had walked thusly a million times before.

A wave of her hand, and the musicians struck a new chord before settling into a rhythmic melody Jasper had heard his aunt hum from time to time.

A waltz, deemed indecent and scandalous only a few years prior, was now favored in many London ballrooms, or so he’d read in the London Daily Gazette his solicitor sent him every few weeks.

As they entered the dance floor, other pairs moved to join them, as Jasper pulled Adeline into his embrace and stared into her hazel eyes.

She was the beauty to his beast.

The elegant, refined maiden to his dastardly, dark scoundrel.

And he wanted all of her, though the reality of it was he might only have this one dance.

“You look ravishing, Miss Adeline,” Jasper leaned in close to whisper. A shiver coursed through her entire body, so strong he felt it. “I must say, you are certainly the belle of the ball.”

Her face flushed a deep scarlet, and Jasper chuckled lightly, pushing from his mind everything but that precise moment.

“I do believe my tailor and your modiste must have a fondness for one another.”

“Would you blame them if they did?” she asked, her enchanting smile returning as they increased their steps in time with the music. “Besides, I must admit, I was hesitant to don such a gown; however, I can see the color was selected because it suited you, my lord.”

“And what will others think about our coordinated attire?”

“Should we concern ourselves with what others think?” she countered.

“I am only thinking of you, Adeline.” He could not stop himself from uttering her given name, though it was the height of impropriety, especially surrounded by a roomful of people who would likely—and savagely—take hold of the morsel of gossip and spread it far and wide. “There are many worthy men in attendance this night, come to celebrate your special day. It would be greedy of me to keep you all to myself or cause gossip where none is warranted.”

A spark of disappointment flared in her eyes, but she covered it quickly by affecting yet another inviting upturn of her lips. “A little gossip never killed anyone. You should know that, Jasper.”

They twirled around the floor. Jasper was utterly lost in the moment with her, so enthralled he nearly collided with another couple as the music halted all too soon.

It was time he returned her to her family—and her line of suitors.

To his chagrin, she steered him away from her brother and mother where they’d completed their duties as the host family and were now conversing amongst one another.

“You are an accomplished dancer, Lord Ailesbury.”

“For nothing but a country squire?” He kept a respectable distance between them as he followed her lead around the fringes of the dance floor. “I will admit, I have not often danced with anyone besides my Aunt Alice and my housekeeper.”

“Well, your aunt certainly taught you well.”

A man stepped into their path, a tentative smile transforming his serious demeanor as he grew closer. Jasper had the urge to growl and walk straight through the man, continuing his conversation with Adeline; however, she slowed her pace to greet her guest.