Page 78 of The Heiress in Disguise
“No, Charlotte,” their mother said. “Antoine is right. You’re not yet sixteen years old. You shouldn’t be a part of this. It’s the right choice for you to remain at home, although I know how you like excitement. You and I will stay here and get settled into our new home, as your brother says, and we will hope that he is successful in liberating Angelique from her terrible situation. That’s the best we can do.”
Charlotte dropped into a chair and folded her arms. “You want to go too, Mother,” she said. “I know you do.”
“I do, yes. But I also want this plan of your brother’s to work, and that’s more important. We must admit to ourselves that he’s been here working on this much longer than we have. If he says he knows what needs to be done next, I can hardly imagine that I might know better when I’ve only just arrived here.
We’ll give him tonight to achieve his plan. If it doesn’t work, perhaps the three of us will come to some other arrangement, for nothing can be more important than getting her away and into the arms of people who love her. But for now, we’ll do as your brother says. We’ll remain at home.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Antoine said. He could have ordered his mother to stay at home, but it was better that she was doing so voluntarily.
“I’m glad you’ve been willing to go along with my plan—I firmly believe that I’m doing the right thing, and that I’ll be able to save Angelique tonight. But promise me that no matter what you hear from next door, the two of you will stay inside. I don’t think it will help anything to have you come running over to involve yourselves. Even if there’s a commotion, stay inside.”
“We will,” his mother said. “But please help her, Antoine. That girl means the world to me, and I should have done more for her than I did when her parents died. I’d like to see if it isn’t too late for us to make that right.”
“I think it will be all right,” Antoine said again, although he didn’t feel sure of that at all. The only thing he really had was hope—hope that his plan would work, hope that Lady Grace would come through, and hope that Lord Leicester’s papers would reveal enough information to turn the tide against him and allow Antoine to rescue Angelique from her family’s clutches.
If tonight didn’t go the way he wanted it to, he wasn’t sure what was left for him to try.
Chapter 36
Antoine wore a white mask to the ball—one that he had never appeared in before. Tonight was not a night for the same old mystery about the elusive man in the black mask. He needed to be someone else that night… someone who wouldn’t be remarked upon, and that mask had already garnered far too much attention.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten one of the drawbacks of anonymity. He approached the front door and two footmen stepped in front of him and blocked his path.
“May we see your invitation, My Lord?” one of them asked.
He frowned. “I haven’t brought it with me,” he said. “Rest assured, I did receive one.”
“Then perhaps you could return to your home and fetch it for us,” the other footman suggested. “We are under strict instructions to look at each guest’s invitation before allowing them in, so we really can’t let you attend the party until you show it to us.”
“But why on Earth not?” he asked. “I don’t wish my identity to be known at a masquerade, and that’s precisely what showing an invitation would do. Reveal who I really am. I don’t think I ought to be required to show it to you.”
“I’m afraid it’s not up to us. These are the orders we were given, and we must obey,” the first footman said. “The lord and lady of the house feel it important that everyone’s identity is known. We’re to provide a list at the end of the evening detailing who was here, so there won’t be any uncertainty about it. No one will know who you are behind that mask, but the hosts don’t want uninvited guests sneaking into this party. You must show an invitation.”
That was going to be a problem, Antoine thought. He did possess an invitation, but it was addressed to the Earl of Cambridge, and George had already appeared publicly as the earl many times.
Of course, Antoine was wearing a mask, so no one would see his face, but it would be obvious to anyone who was paying attention that he and George were two different men. Antoine was taller than George, and younger—his hair was still dark, whereas George’s had lost its color. If he tried to claim now that he was the Earl of Cambridge, he wouldn’t be believed. He might not make it through the front door.
He almost panicked. Was his plan going to fall apart before it had had a chance to work?
And then he heard a familiar voice behind him. “You’ve forgotten our invitation, haven’t you? How foolhardy of you.”
He closed his eyes. “Mother.”
He might have known that it had to be an act. Of course she had been misleading him—of course she would never give up so easily on her desire to fly to Angelique’s side. Her love for Angelique had been very real. It was for his mother’s sake that he had originally begun to investigate the question of what had happened to her. It was for his own sake that he persisted, for his feelings toward her had grown powerful.
But it had started with his mother, to be sure, and Antoine should have suspected that there was something not quite right about it when she had given in so quickly to his request that she stay home. She had always meant to follow him, and now he couldn’t send her back without calling unwanted attention to himself.
Very clever, Mother.
She pushed her way forward. “Begging your pardon,” she said to the footman. “I am the Marchioness of Exeter. As you can see, I’m not wearing a mask, so I can’t have misled you about my identity. Not that I have any reason to do so.
My family and I only arrived in town today, which is why I don’t have an invitation to show you. My son here must have forgotten his own letter inviting us to attend tonight. It’s the reason we came to London, of course, so we aren’t willing to be turned away. You’ll have to let us in. Since you have our name and knowthat we are who we say we are, I don’t see that there can be any problem about it.”
“I’m not sure, My Lady,” the doorman said. “We were strictly instructed not to let anyone in without an invitation.”
“If you don’t allow me inside, I shall take it as a personal slight against myself and my family,” Antoine’s mother said. “We are very old friends of Lord Leicester. We are a powerful family. You don’t want us as your enemies.
That is, not if you wish you keep your position in this house. Now, you have my name. You may go and speak to your master about it if you wish, I suppose, though I don’t think he’ll be very happy with you for holding me up. But in the meantime, youwillpermit my son and I to enter this house.”
