Free Once in a Blue Moon by Penelope Williamson Page B

She waited, in spite of herself, for his compliment.
    Instead he leaned toward her and sniffed at the air. "What is that smell?"
    "What?"
    "Almonds." He dipped his head toward her neck. "Almonds and honey."
    Her hands flew up to cover her cheeks. "Oh, blast. It's that odious paste I put on my face. Do I stink?"
    "On the contrary, Miss Letty. You smell quite edible." Somehow her arm had become linked through his, and he was leading her down the hall toward the white marble staircase. "Although I must confess when I saw you falling out the window earlier, I thought you were a mummer hired to give us entertainment after supper. But tell me, why do you smear almonds and honey on your face—unless it's to attract bees? Aren't you afraid of getting stung?"
    There seemed to be a current beneath his words, a deeper meaning she couldn't fathom. He sounded almost angry. "I was trying to rid myself of these wretched freckles," she said.
    He pulled her to a stop on one of the steps. Cupping her chin, he tilted her face up. He rubbed his thumb along the length of her cheekbone, stroking, back and forth. "They're still there," he said, his voice low and soft.
    She felt his touch all the way down to her toes. Somewhere in another world the band was playing a quadrille; somewhere in another world people were laughing and talking. But in her world there was only the incredible sensation of his silk-gloved thumb caressing her skin.
    "Leave them be, Miss Letty. Perfection is boring."
    She became lost in the deep wells of darkness that were his eyes. In that moment, if he had asked, she would have given him her heart wrapped with a silver bow. Even if he only meant to break it.
    His hand fell from her face. He took her arm, turning her. Together they looked down the stairs to the great hall below, where Henry Tiltwell stood with his hands fisted at his sides and a look of fury on his face.
    "He wasn't invited," Lady Letty said. "But he came anyway. Cheeky devil. The Trelawnys have always been cheeky devils."
    She flicked open her snuffbox with a crooked finger and took a pinch of Queen Charlotte's mixture. Tonight she carried one of her favorite boxes, of silver plate with a large piece of cut glass on the lid that twinkled like a ruby.
    Jessalyn waited until her grandmother had sneezed into a handkerchief. "Why not?" she asked. "Why wasn't he invited?"
    "What a sad crush. We had better park ourselves," Lady Letty announced, "before all the best seats are taken."
    Because of the festive occasion, Lady Letty had donned a voluminous white cap decorated with love knots and trailing lappets. In her stiff black bombazine skirts she looked like a coal scuttle under full sail. She set a direct course for one of the few chairs that lined the wall, Jessalyn following in her wake.
    "Why wouldn't Mr. Tiltwell invite his own nephew to his party?" Jessalyn said as soon as her grandmother was settled.
    "There was a breach between the two families, oh, years ago. But the reasons for the feud are a story too scandalous for your tender ears." Lady Letty frowned and cupped a hand to her own ear. "What's that they're playing, eh? It had better not be a waltz. I shan't let you dance one of those scandalous waltzes."
    Jessalyn sighed, but she knew better than to press. For all that she loved to gossip, Gram could be as closemouthed as a clam with lockjaw when she put her mind to it. And as for dancing, well, someone had to ask her first.
    Jessalyn flapped her fan in front of her face. The air smelled and felt like a hothouse in July, with so many perfumes and hundreds of beeswax candles burning in the chandeliers. Talk and laughter and the clicking of snuffboxes nearly drowned out the strains of a minuet. Vast pier glasses, set between lofty windows, reflected back the sheen of satin and silk and the sparkle of jewels. The room seemed all mirrors and silvered walls.
    That Trelawny man, who hadn't been invited, leaned against a fluted pillar, a thumb hooked on his