Page 67 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

“Come to my rooms tonight, little lamb,” he told her softly. “Tonight, when everybody else has gone to their rooms. Do not make me ask again.”

“You are not asking as much as you are ordering!” she protested.

He smiled at that. “Am I, really?”

He took a step back, maintaining the appropriate distance between them once more before the other guests could take notice and start gossiping. It took a great effort, but he turned around and walked away from her.

He had not gone very far when he heard a soft voice call out from behind him.

“I hope you do not regret what you are about to do.”

It was Daniel.

His friend smiled coldly at him as he clasped his hands behind his back. Colin caught the flash of something in his eyes, but then it was gone before he could even decipher what it meant.

“Things are not what they look like sometimes,” Daniel cautioned him in a soft voice. “And some things, like fate, are not to be tested.”

“I did not think you were so sentimental,” Colin scoffed.

Daniel merely shrugged in reply and walked away from him.

For his part, Colin had lost all appetite for the ball. He would much rather run up to his rooms right across Alice’s and await her arrival that evening.

Whether she would come or not was another question.

CHAPTER 27

The rest of the ball passed by in a whirl.

Colin did not approach Alice again, although he continued to watch her from the side. She could feel his heated gaze on her the whole night. When she glanced back at him, his lips would tilt up in an almost imperceptible smile.

It was just like he was the hunter, and she, his hapless prey. Wherever she turned, she would always find herself being drawn to him.

It was maddening. It was thrilling.

Eventually, the revelries dwindled, and the guests began to make their way back to their rooms one by one. Alice, Phoebe, and their friends had been among the last to leave—her sister because she was having too much fun with their friends, and Alice because she was still nervous about what lay before her.

Thankfully, Ethan only danced once with her as was proper. He claimed that he did not care much for dancing, even joking slightly that he much preferred to talk to young ladies away from the loud music, although she did catch him dancing with Phoebe once.

Her sister, who had always been the picture of a graceful young debutante, appeared flustered for once, and Alice was worried that Ethan might have said something slightly inappropriate for her to react so. She would have to ask Phoebe about it tomorrow.

For now, she was getting ready for bed, and her heart was pounding so loudly that she feared it was going to beat right out of her chest.

“It is done, M’Lady.”

She watched as the maid set aside the silver-backed brush she had used on Alice’s hair. She stepped away slightly and asked if there was anything else she needed.

Alice shook her head. “That is all for tonight. You may leave.”

“I shall be back in the morning, M’Lady.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Alice faked a delicate yawn behind her hand as she walked to the canopied bed. She lay on the cool covers, staring up at the canopy for a while as she listened to the maid open and close the door behind her. Moments later, the footfalls in the hallway faded until she could no longer hear them.

Almost as soon as quiet descended on the hallway, she threw the covers back and sat up. Everyone should have gone to bed now. If she went to Colin’s room, would anybody notice?

Alice fell back on the bed and waited for a little while longer, just to be sure.

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