Page 49 of One Night of Surrender
Oh, she was terribly stupid.He was going to propose again.Furthermore, he’d conveyed his intentions rather clearly to anyone with a thimbleful more of knowledge and experience than Isabelle.Which was the entire ballroom of nearly a thousand people.
Isabelle was in the corner once more.The freedom she so dearly treasured was at risk.And this time, she found she…didn’t care.What’s more, she didn’t particularly want to be independent if it meant she wasn’t with Val.
She peered at the dowager in suspicion, thinking she and Viola were perhaps two of the most calculating people she’d ever encountered.“Did you bring me here so that I would feel as though I couldn’t refuse him?”
The dowager’s eyes sparked with anger.“Do you love my grandson?”She spoke quietly, but the urgency in her tone was unmistakable.“Do not prevaricate with me.”
Giddiness bubbled in Isabelle’s chest, and she tried very hard not to smile at the dowager, who would surely find it vulgar.“Yes.”
“Then none of this matters.Tomorrow, he will propose, you will accept, and that is that.”She took a deep breath and resettled her features into a mask of serenity.“Now, enjoy yourself, dear.Have a glass of punch, though it’s disappointingly bland.One would think they would correct that.”
They stayed another two hours, during which many people came to be introduced to Isabelle.Their curiosity was obvious, as was an underlying current of envy from some of the women, particularly a few mothers whose primary objective was marrying off their daughter or daughters.Or so the dowager had explained.It was a dizzying evening, and not because of the waltz.Isabelle couldn’t hope to remember all the names or anecdotes or silly rules she’d learned.And yet, she would try.
After all, her future depended on it.
CHAPTER 15
After trying to distract himself at the Wicked Duke, first with ale, then with billiards, then with cards in the private salon, Val abandoned the evening and went home.The town house was quiet now that Barkley and his family were gone, but for the first time, it felt…lonely.
He’d left the tavern because it now reminded him of Isabelle at every turn.And now, apparently, he couldn’t even relax at home because she haunted him here.
She will be with you always, you dolt.
He’d stripped down to his shirtsleeves and picked up the length of muslin, which he’d tucked under his pillow the past two nights like some sort of lovesick lad.Closing his eyes, he inhaled Isabelle’s scent, praying that very soon, she’d be with him in the flesh.
What if she refused him again?It was one thing to acknowledge that he loved her desperately, that he always had, but what if she didn’t love him in return?
How will you know until you tell her so, you dolt?
Val opened his eyes and scowled.“Stop that.”
“Who are you talking to, Your Grace?”His valet, Ross, had quietly entered the chamber and picked up his discarded coat and waistcoat.
“No one.”
Inclining his head, Ross asked if he’d like anything before bed.
“No, thank you, Ross.”
A knock on his chamber door drew them both to turn their heads.Ross went and answered the summons, then turned toward Val.“You’ve a visitor.”
“At this hour?”
“Apparently so,” Ross said evenly.“A…lady.”
Val was at the door in a trice, opening it wide to reveal his butler.“Who is it, Sadler?”
“Mrs.Cortland, Your Grace.”
Pushing past both retainers, Val started toward the stairs.Had something happened?Ice shot through his veins.
“She’s in the library,” Sadler called after him.
Val bounded down the stairs, his stockinged feet skidding across the marble at the base as he vaulted toward the library.The door was open, and as he raced across the threshold, she pivoted from the hearth where she stood warming her hands in front of the fire.
“It’s rather cold tonight,” she said.
He rushed forward, scanning her for injury.“Are you all right?”
