Page 45 of Suddenly a (The St. Clairs 5)

“So soon?”

“I need to finish something at work. Of all those here, I know you understand more than most.”

“Why did you come when you had so much to do? You only danced once and had supper.”

His gaze held hers. “Because I wanted to see you.”

She couldn’t speak. She could only stare into those magnetic emerald eyes.

“I must go out of town for a few days,” he revealed. “I will see you when I return.”

“All right,” she said softly.

He raised her hand and kissed it. “Goodnight, Lady Mia.”

She watched him leave the ballroom, her heart pounding against her ribs.

“What was that all about?”

She turned and saw Aunt Fanny, her face red with anger.

“I told you to avoid that man.”

“That man is Mr. St. Clair,” she said stiffly. “He is a guest as everyone in this ballroom is.”

Aunt Fanny sniffed. “I’m sure Rutherford only invited him because his family and the St. Clairs have been close for so many years. It’s a shame he feels forced to do so. As for you, I hope we can contain the damage done tonight.”

“What damage? I danced once with him.”

“You also dined with him. I saw you laughing. Others did, as well.”

“Aunt Fanny, we were sitting with a duke and two earls and their wives. Mr. St. Clair was treated as an equal by them. I think you are imagining things.”

“We should leave,” her aunt said.

“Why?”

“Because you won’t be dancing anymore tonight.”

“Why not?”

Aunt Fanny frowned. “You think you know everything. Well, I suppose you’ll have to learn on your own. You’ll see.” She walked away.

Mia glanced at her dance card. She still had three gentlemen to dance with. She would not leave now and abandon them.

They abandoned her, however.

When the time came for the next dance, her partner did not show up to claim her. She didn’t remember what he looked like. He was only a name on her card. She stood on the sidelines, feeling awkward and ill at ease. The dance finally ended and she hoped Lord Bath, the next name on her programme, might arrive. Suddenly, she spotted him. Or thought he might be Lord Bath. She recognized the man headed toward her, remembering that she’d spoken with him earlier in the evening and that he’d asked for a dance. Relief swept through her.

Until she made eye contact with him. He glanced at her briefly before he sailed past her. In his eyes, she saw condemnation. She wondered if her aunt was right and she was being given a not so subtle sign that mingling with a duke’s bastard was unacceptable. Moving back to stand by the wall, she lurked behind a tall, potted plant, watching the couples swirl about the ballroom floor. Hurt filled her. Not for herself.

For Hudson St. Clair.

He must have suffered being harshly judged by thetonevery day of his life due to the circumstances of his birth. She found herself growing angry at elitists who would belittle a good man for no fault of his own.

When the last dance of the night began and no one came to claim her, she went and found Aunt Fanny, who wore a sympathetic look on her face. Her uncle joined them and they left the Rutherfords’ residence.

Silence filled the carriage as they rode home.

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