Free A Bride Unveiled by Jillian Hunter Page A

didn’t understand a thing through the blood that rushed to his head.
    He stared at Violet and only a moment passed before he recognized her. He would have known her in the hall if it hadn’t been for his mask and the dark shadows and the decade that had changed her. He stared at her and felt himself as challenged by her presence as he had the day she had first confronted him in the churchyard. He knew he was expected to make some polite response. But she was beautiful, and he was soaking in the sight of her after too many years.
    Sir Godfrey had bragged of her charm. This could not be the first time a man had faltered when introduced to her. It was better to say nothing and appear awkward than to give her away. She would be shamed if Kit revealed that she had befriended him once upon a time when he was a beast and she was a lovely girl.
    Now he was a larger beast and she was a lovelier woman. Some things never changed. Could he still convince her that he was worth her company?
    “Master Fenton?” a voice said, and he ignored it.
    Did Violet recognize him? No wonder he’d been attracted to her in the hall. No wonder they could talk to each other like old friends.
    “Fenton?” the voice repeated.
    There was so much to say, and yet discretion forbade that Kit say anything at all. Violet was the prize that one of his students had pursued and won. Godfrey, of all persons. A petty man whose only charity was himself. How in the hell had that happened? She had to be marrying him for his money. But that didn’t seem like the Violet whom Kit had known.
    The warmth and wicked remembrance that glowed in her dark eyes acknowledged their secret pact from childhood. He turned, irritated at the voice that finally intruded on his thoughts. Sir Godfrey was getting on his nerves.
    “Master Fenton,” Godfrey said, “may I again present to you my enchanting fiancée, Miss Violet Knowlton. Master Fenton is my instructor, Violet. In fact, he will go down the dance with you while I accompany Lady Heyville. She is one of our best customers, you will recall.”
    Kit turned back to Violet, inclining his head. “It is my pleasure,” he said meaningfully.
    “No,” she said, her voice strong. “It is mine.”
    “An honor then,” he said.
    Then they looked each other in the eye, and the blood that had rushed between Kit’s temples hit him in the center of his heart. And he was grateful that there were other people standing around them, because he might have said or done something unpardonable otherwise.
    “Be on guard, Master Fenton,” Sir Godfrey said with a pleasant smile as he walked away. “She dances like a dream.”
    Kit stared spellbound at Violet.
    Of course she did. She was a dream. He’d dreamed about her so often that it wasn’t surprising he felt as if he’d known her when he saw her in the hall with the toy sword. Violet had been the chink in his armor before, and maybe she still was. She had always looked a little lost to him, as if she were a deposed princess in need of a protector. But talk about the damned leading the damned.
    She might have been brave to venture into the churchyard, or more likely she’d been driven by a desire for friends. But now that Kit was old enough to ponder the past, he realized she had put herself in a vulnerable position.
    Hell . She was still vulnerable. Who had been taking care of her all these years? It was a good thing he hadn’t been as dangerous then as he’d pretended he was. Now was another matter.
    He smiled, knowing she’d be offended if she could hear his thoughts. He had managed to offend her tonight without even trying. His lonely girl. Why else had she made friends with a pauper? Lonely or not, she was who he dreamed about when he felt most alone.
    She had been his morning star, and he had found her in the dark again.
    She shook her head, her eyes lowering as Godfrey disappeared. “I should have known it was you,” she said, releasing a rueful sigh. “I never could