Page 92 of The Trouble with Anna

It was after midnight! Long past time for everyone to go home! Yet all of London seemed determined to stay and drink their fill of her.

Everyone except Julian.

The ballroom was awash in her racing colors, a dizzying swirl of scarlet and white. Women wore scarlet ribbons in their hair or tied jaunty scarlet-and-white bows around their necks. Lady Cardiff had dashed home and come back, triumphant, dressed “à la Anna” in an eye-popping scarlet-and-white-striped ball gown she’d had made up five years ago and—“Blessedly!” snorted Dame FitzHerbert—never quite found the courage to wear. Quite a number of the men had scarlet cheeks from the sting of their wounded pride, or perhaps their wounded pocketbooks. And then therewas Julian’s enormous banner, which now hung drunkenly over the ballroom doors.

Even when Anna closed her eyes, the banner blazed at her. Julian’s words blazed too.Ride like hell, my lady. I’ve come to watch you win.

Anna felt her stomach flip. Wherewasthe dratted man? She muttered darkly and pushed up on her tiptoes, searching over the crowd. How dare he wave banners and boom out what sounded like public declarations, and then disappear? Every time she caught a glimpse of him and tried to jostle her way over, someone grabbed her, or distracted him, or—

“Marby!” Anna latched on to his wrist. “Where’s Julian?”

“What? Julian? I don’t know!” Marby yelled over the noise, with a harassed look over his shoulder “Have you seen Charlotte?”

“By the punch! I’ll wave her over.”

Marby gave a strangled yelp. “Don’t you dare! Each time she sees me she leaps on my back and cries, ‘Away, Archer, off we go!’ I amnota ruddy horse and I’vetoldher so!”

Anna laughed. “How wretched for you! Send Julian to me if you see him?”

Marby nodded and slunk away into the crowd.

Anna caught sight of the Dowager in the far corner of the ballroom and plowed her way over. The Dowager was holding forth with the matrons, wearing Mr. Frith’s mangled top hat at a rakish angle like a prize of war. Anna could just make out what she was saying.

“A new orangerie is a shocking expense. Why, the ironwork alone! I may be a chaperone, but I’m a horticulturalist too, you know, and—” The Dowager caught sight of Anna and beamed. “Darling! You weresplendid. We’ve all madeheapsof money!”

“Have you seen Julian?”

“Not in ages.”

“If he comes by, please tell him to find me?”

The Dowager nodded, and Anna waded back into the crowd, crosser by the moment.

Someone whacked her hard on the back and yelled, “Ripping good sport!”

Half the world had congratulated her, but not Julian. The other half of the world had lectured her, but not him. Surely he was tempted to seek her out? Surely no one could wave a banner at her and skulk off into silence?

On the racecourse, Marby and Hartley had pulled her onto their shoulders and she’d scanned the crowd for Julian, only to watch his phaeton roll off back to London. When she’d arrived at the Dowager’s house, she’d spotted him over the crowd and gone bright as a torch. But he had simply bowed from the far side of the ballroom andstayed there.

It was strange! It was unconscionable! It was impossible to breathe with all these wretchedpeopleeverywhere.

Anna stalked over to Charlotte at the refreshments table. “That’s it! If one more person pokes me, I swear I will grab the nearest bottle of champagne and—”

“And do what?” Julian’s voice was like the rough scrape of a cat’s tongue along her spine.

Anna whirled toward him.

Julian.

At last.

“Imagine being the toast of London and loathing every minute of it.” Charlotte tossed her arm over Anna’s shoulders. “Whatever shall we do with her?”

Julian gave a quiet laugh. “I have ideas.”

Anna’s stomach flared in response. She knit her eyebrows together and tried to unflare it. She was confused! She was harassed!No inconvenient belly flares would confuse the matter. Where had hebeenall night?

“Is everything arranged, then?” Charlotte asked brightly.

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