Page 2 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
"Are you ready?" Lily asked.
"I certainly hope so," she answered biting her lip.
"Live a little, Helena. What is the worst that could happen?"
She could be discovered by her brother and locked away in her room for the rest of her life. She didn't say anything but took her friend's arm.
"Let us indeed live for the evening, Diana," she said with a smile.
"Let us indeed," Lily cried, leading them to the door and knocking.
Standing outside the door, Cecilia's heart pounded an unsteady rhythm yet she squared her shoulder so her nerves would not show and when they went in, he had to remind herself of Lily's warning not to stare. That had not stopped her initial reaction to seeing so much bare flesh in one place.
She had thought her outfit scandalous because her legs were exposed but there were bosoms of all sizes exposed as well as thighs. Loud, discordant music was playing and guests weresocializing in no order. It was chaos, organized and beautiful and she couldn't help but admire how the air was more relaxed than anything she had ever seen.
She noted it wasn't just Englishmen present. She heard notes of French and Italian in the room as well as languages she couldn't even recognize.
She spied a few hands straying up thighs and the more she looked, she noted that there were couples kissing or doing other scandalous things in full view of the room and no one looked bothered in the least. Her cheeks were inflamed at the sight of unabashed affection.
The air was heady with something she couldn't place that warmed her blood in a way she had never felt and she almost seemed to sway on her feet.
"Did I not tell you you would hardly stand out for being scandalous?" Lily asked with a smile, handing her a cup. "I think we are odd because we are the most covered."
She sniffed its contents before taking a sip because she had not even noticed when the girl moved to procure it. It was wine, she was glad to identify, but sweetened with subtle notes of spice. As she swallowed, it warmed a path to her belly and eased the tension she had not noticed she was holding on to.
She sipped slower with realization.
It was a drink to lower inhibitions, and while she hoped to participate in the festivities, she did not want to make a mistake she would regret forever.
"You should be careful drinking that," Lily warned. "It is stronger than it tastes. I do not want to have to explain to your brother how you got intoxicated at the Newtons’ ball when everyone knows they water down their wine."
She nodded and swayed to the music.
"Are you ready to begin ticking off your list?" she asked again.
"I think so." Cecilia answered even if she did not know where to start.
Lily had encouraged her to make a list of all the things she had been saying she wanted to experience before she finally resigned herself to her fate.
For someone who was famous for helping girls make good decisions in picking husbands, her friend was full of scandalous ideas. Her friend had developed the reputation when she had used her knowledge on the scandals or bad habits of the gentlemen in the Ton to help Lady Greta escape marriage to Lord Arnold, who had a drinking habit.
The list sat like a weight underneath her corset and reminded her of all the naughty things she had written down.
While she had been taught to expect that her husband would teach her all that she needed to, she doubted if Magnus was allowed to pick she would experience anything remotely close to what she had read in the books she had purchased in secret.
They had been detailed on what happened between men and women who desired each other and described how it felt, so much so that she had warmed while reading them. So far with all the men her brother had attempted to secure matches with, she had felt nothing more than resounding numbness.
The item on her list she wanted to tick off that evening was sharing a kiss with a stranger, and while she had perused the room, she had not seen anyone she would want to share a kiss with.
How does one even decide what stranger she should kiss?
"Have you seen anyone you're attracted to?" Lily asked.
"Not yet," she answered.
"Let us dance first. You might meet a gentleman there and if you're lucky, he will be handsome behind his mask."
She didn't get a say in the decision before she was pulled to the makeshift dance floor. She laughed and spun unabashedly with her friend and soon they met gentlemen. But while the conversation flowed freely, there was no attraction.
