Page 3 of The Trouble with Anna

“Well, you know I like to do things properly,” said Charlotte. “Besides, you so rarely come up to Mayne. We owe our neighbors a little entertainment.”

“Yes, alittleentertainment. Suffolk hasn’t seen a ball like this in half a century.”

Charlotte went pink. “Oh, Julian, how kind of you to say so!”

His mouth quirked. “That was a complaint, brat, not a compliment. I should take the costs out of your allowance.”

“That would be less kind. Besides, my allowance wouldn’t begin to cover it.” The music changed and Charlotte brightened. “It’s the waltz! I must run, but I need to ask a particular favor. Dance with Lady Anna tonight?”

“The one who scowls mightily but will never say a word?”

Charlotte showed him a mighty scowl of her own. “No, I mean my dearfriendLady Anna, who is actually quite a firebrand if you get to know her. Did I tell you she’s running Chatham’s racing stud practically all by herself now?”

“Ah, she’s horse mad. In that case, I’m all impatience.”

“Don’t be beastly!” Charlotte said, but she was already rushing off. “Just one dance! You’ll adore her, if only you get to know her!”

Julian shrugged. He was quite sure he wouldn’t adore Charlotte’s little friend, but he’d do his duty and dance with her.

It wasn’t as if he had high expectations for the night anyway.

Was sneaking away allowed at a ball?

Anna crossed the ballroom, heading for the far corner and the little stairs the servants used, which led to Charlotte’s room, where she planned to toss off her slippers and flop on the bed until it was time to go home. She’d promised toattendthe ball, but surely she could attend from a nest of cozy coverlets, perhaps with a good book in hand? Charlotte was certain to have something naughty tucked under the mattress.

You’re a coward!her conscience muttered darkly.

I’m a genius!she shot back, looking over her shoulder as the door to the staircase swung closed behind her.Charlotte doesn’t need me and—

Anna smacked hard into what seemed to be a solid wall of white linen. Impossibly well-muscled white linen that sent the oddest thrill shivering over her skin and carried the irresistible scent of—

Strong hands clamped down on her upper arms. “Lady Anna?”

Anna’s gaze swept up, way up. Over a warm, wide chest, up a strong column of neck and over the sharp curve of a jaw, up again past the dip of a rather stern mouth until she finally encountered a pair of bronze eyes, remarkably keen and clear.

Lord Ramsay.

Oh god.

Her mouth opened and closed like a dying trout.

Ramsay frowned. “Where are you going?”

“I—I—I…”

But as hard as Anna tried, she couldn’t form a proper sentence. Just one small word, over and over again.

“I see.” His mouth quirked. “Off to steal the silver, are you?”

Anna’s brain froze and her tongue doubled in size. Silence stretched out between them, long enough to strangle her.

“Shall I help?” he prompted. “When someone asks a question, it’s customary to answer.”

Heat seared across her cheeks. “Charlotte’s room,” she gasped. “I wanted a moment of peace.”

For a moment, his expression softened. “I see. It’s Bedlam out there, isn’t it?”

Anna wanted to answer. She wanted, one time, to say something easy like,God, yes! There are so many people and they’re all talking such nonsense!Perhaps he’d respond; perhaps they’d strikeup a conversation and talk glorious nonsense together. But she could barely look at him, let alone speak.

---