The Rest Falls Away Read Free Page B

replied, “but wait I shall.”
    Just then the chill returned to the back of her neck, and Victoria felt the weight of someone watching. Watching her .
    Pulling her hand from Rockley’s grip, she spun abruptly to look, skimming her gaze over the crowds and pausing at a small cluster of people across the room.
    â€œVictoria?” She dimly heard the surprise in Lady Winifred’s voice, echoed by a low rumble from Rockley: “Miss Grantworth? Is everything all right?”
    There. He was there…
    A dozen or so of the peerage stood under the downward curve of the staircase Victoria had descended, half-shadowed in the candlelight, faces bent toward one another, talking, laughing, gesturing.
    She saw him. He was watching her even as he bent to talk to the slim blond woman next to him. Tall and dark, he exuded power with the mere inclination of his head as he smiled down at his companion. She beamed up at him, openly delighted with his attention, and smoothed her hand along his forearm—helpless and ignorant of the danger she faced.
    Just as ignorant as Victoria would have been only weeks ago.
    â€œYes, yes,” she forced herself to say brightly as she returned her attention to Rockley and then Lady Winifred. “I thought for a moment I had seen my mother beckoning to me.” A limp excuse, but since she had offered the apology, courtesy demanded it would be accepted. “Please pardon my distraction, Lord Rockley.” She suddenly realized he was holding her hand again. “It has been my greatest pleasure to meet you. I will look forward to our dance later this evening.”
    He gave her a melting smile and a short bow. “I will be awaiting the event with great impatience.”
    At that moment, Victoria felt rather than saw the tall, dark-haired man and his companion moving from their position under the staircase. The back of her bare neck was cold, and her fingers began to tingle. The couple was walking toward the doors that led to the terrace, the slim blond woman looking up at him with a soft, glowing smile. If they went outside…
    Victoria started across the room, weaving quickly through the crush, slipping past people who wanted to stop and talk.
    â€œPardon me,” she said when a particularly formidable-looking matron attempted to block her path. “I must catch my…my aunt before she retires for the evening.”
    Because he towered above the rest of the partygoers, Victoria was able to track her quarry’s movements as the couple wended toward the French doors. They were most certainly planning to step outside to catch a breath of air.
    Victoria slipped out onto the terrace, hoping her mother hadn’t noticed the beeline she’d made across the ballroom. It would be rather difficult to explain deserting her own debut to wander on the terrace.
    But it would be even worse for that tiny blonde if Victoria did not intervene.
    Hurrying on silent feet, she clung to the shadows of the noisy, well-lit house as she scurried across the brick terrace. Listening for the murmur of voices, she paused near a statue of Aphrodite, peering around its cold stone base to see if she could spot the man and his intended victim. She had to hurry; he wouldn’t waste any time for fear of being discovered.
    Then she remembered, and slipped a hand under her silky, flowing skirts to tug free the wooden stake she’d tucked into her garter. Gripping it the way Eustacia had taught her, Victoria left the protective shadow cast by the statue and hurried along the main path, listening intently.
    And then she heard a throaty murmur, followed by a husky laugh. Turning to the right, she moved silently toward them and at last came to the end of the path. The couple stood under the canopy of a branch heavy with lilac blooms. The blond woman was looking up at the man, all innocence and delight as he smiled down at her. Even though it was not directed at her, Victoria felt the