Chapter Twenty-Three
Lady Isabella stood tensely, watching him approach. She was dressed in rich cream and deep, flowing red. Pearl and ruby earrings hung from her earlobes. A sybaritic outfit, if she hadn’t been so pale, so tense.
“Evening, Gussie,” Nicholas said. “Lucas. Lady Isabella.”
The musicians struck the opening notes to a new dance as he bowed over Lady Isabella’s gloved hand. A waltz.
“May I have this dance?” he asked her.
Lady Isabella seemed to grow even tenser, even paler. She swallowed. Her eyes meeting his were . . . what? Scared, he realized. She thinks I’m still angry.
He smiled to reassure her and repeated the question. “May I have this dance?”
Isabella hesitated. He watched her inhale a shallow breath, watched her swallow again. She nodded.
Nicholas held out his
