Page 36 of Cinderella's Charade With the Duke
‘Thank you, Your Grace. I am astonished by what Lady Buchanan and Mademoiselle Dashiell have accomplished. I feel like a princess.’ Miss Potts smiled, wide and full, and her beauty expanded further, threatening to reach out and touch him. Another surge of lust rushed through his limbs, making his entire body flush with a need he had not allowed himself to feel in…evidently far too long a time: desire.
His mind cast about for something to say to distract himself. ‘I agree. You will be the talk of the ball this evening. Shall we?’ he said, gesturing to the ballroom below.
Her eyes widened. ‘Now?’
He chuckled. There was the Miss Potts he knew. ‘Shall there be a better time?’
She paused, considering his words. ‘I suppose not, Your Grace.’
‘Remember, while you should address me as Your Grace as governess, you should address me as William as my betrothed when we are alone and others listen in.’ He winked. ‘And I will address you as Penelope.’
‘Of course, I forgot…’ She paused and tried out his given name. ‘William,’ she said slowly as if she’d never said thesyllables in such a way before. His name from her now-rouged lips sounded sacred and he liked it more than he wished to admit.
He stepped forward and caught the gaze of the head musician to signal a pause, so he could be announced, and he turned back to Miss Potts to explain what was to come. ‘He will announce me. Then I will step out and say a few words of greeting and introduce you to everyone. You will then emerge from behind here, smile, greet the applause with a slight curtsy and accept my arm. I will guide you down the stairs and the swarm of thetonwill begin.’
Her eyes widened. ‘And what will I say to everyone?’
‘Tell them who you are the way we practised. They will be so entranced by your beauty they most likely will not remember a word of what you have said. Oh, and be mindful with that fan of yours,’ he teased, glancing down at the matching wine-and-cream-coloured fan dangling from her gloved wrist. He winked at her and she laughed, which put them both at ease as the music came to a stop and a quiet fell over the crowd.
Chapter Fourteen
Hattie couldn’t breathe. Her heart thundered against the crushing silence below.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce William Sutherland, Duke of Wimberley.’
Applause filled the air as His Grace stepped out on to the landing and, after almost a minute, the clapping finally abated. He was talking, but Hattie couldn’t process the words.Focus. Focus. The crowd laughed and she realised he must have said something to lighten the mood, which reminded her to breathe.
‘Do not forget you are Lady Penelope Denning,’ Daphne whispered in her ear. ‘Chin up, chest out, shoulders back and remember you are the most beautiful woman in the room and betrothed to a duke.No onecan rival your beauty, charm, or power at this moment. Let them fawn over you and allow yourself to soak it all in. It is not every day one becomes a pretend future duchess, is it? And do not accept a word of harshness or judgement from anyone. Look down at them and move on, if needed.’ She clutched one of Hattie’s hands and squeezed it.
Hattie smiled and nodded. Then she heard the Duke say her name—well, Lady Penelope’s name. All the blood rushed from her head to her feet, but she remembered Lady Buchanan’swords.No onecan rival your beauty, charm, or power at this moment. Hattie lifted her chin, pulled back her shoulders, put out her chest and stepped forward one beautiful shoe at a time as though she was Cinderella herself until she was next to the Duke.
A collective intake of breath fell over the crowd below and then a silence followed.
Hattie held her smile and let her gaze drift over the sea of beautiful ladies and gentlemen who gaped up in surprise at her. Her pulse raced along, but she focused on the amazing transformation of the room to distract herself. It was far more pleasing than anything she had read in any book and it was real. She was no longer the girl in the orphanage praying for a different life, she had one…for a moment at least.
Savour it,she imagined Ophelia whispering in her ear.You are glorious, Hat. Allow yourself to enjoy it.
And so she would. She smiled once more and turned to His Grace, bowing slightly. Applause broke through the silence and she released a breath. When His Grace smiled at her and gestured for her to step forward, she smiled back and did so to more applause and a few unexpected cheers.
Her toes and fingertips tingled. She had never been in such a crowd or been the centre of such attentions. Was this what he was used to? It was hard to imagine such a world, but here she was thrust into the centre of it. To her surprise, she had been initially accepted, so the first part of their ruse was complete. His Grace offered his arm to her once more and she slid her gloved hand around his forearm. The sheer warmth and strength emanating from him steeled through her and steadied her as they took the first stair step together.
‘Well done. They adore you already, Lady Penelope,’ he whispered as they continued down step after step.
‘My heart may explode from my chest,’ she said with a bit of a giggle. She took her time, letting her slippered toes and heels anchor safely on each carpeted stair to avoid a trip or fall.
‘I could not ask for anyone more beautiful or kind to be my betrothed this evening,’ he murmured close to her ear. ‘Thank you.’
A delicious shiver went through her as the warmth of his breath edged along her cheek and the soft lobe of her ear. She glanced at him. His gaze of sincerity and the intensity of his words shifted something deep within her. The long dormant desire for more awakened in her, like a new bud wishing to open under the warmth of its first sun.
They descended from the last step and settled on the hardwood of the ballroom floor. Her reply died on her lips as His Grace lifted her arm and led her out to the opposite side of the floor. She pressed her lips together as they moved to the very spot they had practised from earlier in the week as the opening strings began to play. This was their dance and their moment to prove to everyone that their farce was real. There was no escaping the hundreds of pairs of eyes upon them.
‘Penelope,’ he breathed, pressing a kiss to her gloved hand.
‘William,’ she replied, the ‘m’ hanging precariously in the air as she gazed into his blue eyes.
Then they stepped back from each other, bowed and began the dance as the first couple. Soon after, other couples, those of highest rank first, fell in place around them. Hattie moved with ease between her partners—all of the men were poised and graceful in their measured movements—and soon she was smiling and laughing, as she was handed from one nobleman to another until they had woven through the entire set and ended up with each other once more.
‘I am pleased to see you enjoying yourself, my lady,’ William stated.
