"No, you won't, when he could have likely bribed your seamstress or posted a man near your house to race the particulars to him. But it hardly matters, Cousin. Certainly not worth firing a loyal-"
"Disloyal."
"-servant."
"I suppose, though it has quite ruined the masquerade for me, when the delightful point of it was not to be recognized. It's just any old ball, now."
He chuckled. "I thought you loved balls?"
"I do, that's why I'm only grumbling, not snarling."
"Good point," he said drily.
She grinned up at him. She was glad he'd come to the ball. With his mask, no one was going to guess that he was only seventeen or find out that the Duke of Wrighton was in attendance.
"As for my father," she said, "while he most certainly does hate to dance, he loves pleasing my mother more, and she enjoys dancing. What about you? Well, you must. You've had six partners in a row before I could get you on the floor m'self, and I had to almost run to grab you before you were asking someone else!"
"I do indeed like it, but it's not so much the dancing as the-touching."
She chuckled. "A light touch on the waist excites you, does it?"
She knew she'd just made him blush under his half mask, which covered his cheeks but not his mouth. Sometimes she spoke without thinking first-well, most times she did that-but she hadn't meant to embarrass her cousin, who had probably never had a chance to interact with a young woman his age other than relatives because his parents kept him so cloistered. A seventeen-year-old might well be quite touchy, too, about his relations with the opposite sex, and she should have known better than to tease about his sexual prowess or his lack thereof.
So she jumped back in with "Don't answer! I put my foot in my mouth quite often, as you well know. Instead, tell me what you think of your first foray into the world of debutantes? Is it what you expected? Or perhaps it's difficult to form an opinion when everyone is hiding their faces?"
"Personalities aren't hidden, nor are their delightful-gowns."
Jack burst out laughing. What an amusing way to refer to shapely feminine bodies! She knew he wasn't embarrassed anymore because he'd said it in an exaggeratedly prudish tone.
"Has anyone piqued your interest yet?"
"Indeed. I'm already in love, with her, and her, oh, and her, too."
He'd just pointed to three different debutantes, one dancing, the other two giggling as they gazed in his direction. Jack rolled her eyes. She might even have thought he was teasing if it were anyone other than Brandon.
So all she said was "You sound like our cousin Jaime. She fancies herself in love with a different man every few months. Please tell me you know the difference between infatuation and love, the abiding sort, the knock-you-on-your-arse sort."
"D'you? Or are you so determined not to find it this year that it could smack you on the head and you'd ignore it?"
///
"Well, since that wasn't a serious question, I can say I know bloody well that attraction ain't it, because I was utterly attracted to Bastard while I hated every bone in his damned body."
"Then rest assured that I also know the difference, Jack, so I'll let you have your leg back now."
She laughed. "You're usually so serious. When did you start pulling legs?"
"Since I discovered how gullible my sister is. She's still carrying on about Judy's marrying a ghost!"
Chapter Five
WHEN THE DANCE ENDED, Brandon quickly returned Jacqueline to her parents before he hurried off to find another partner. Jacqueline didn't mind since she'd intended to join them herself. Her father, for the first time standing with his wife instead of on the sidelines, made an exceptional shield, and Jack wanted that shield for a moment, so she inserted herself between them.
Since her decision to join her parents so deviated from her request that her father not frighten off her beaus before she got to know them, James immediately asked, "Who has annoyed you?"
"They appear to know exactly who I am tonight," Jack complained, then grinned. "And now they know exactly who you are, despite your mask, because they saw me enter with Mother, and now you're standing with her when you haven't done that at any of the other parties we attended. They always ask if you're present, you know. And I always lie and assure them that you aren't. Shall we see how brave they are now?"
"If you want a respite, m'dear, we can adjourn to the terrace," Georgina suggested.