The Devil Rogue (39 page)

“You’ve receiv
ed
quite a bit of attention from Lord Blackridge,
this past week
,
” her father said.

They were sitting in a cool, shaded spot in the gardens
.
The late afternoon sun, having made its way past the noon hour, still hung high in the summer sky
.
The last few days had been especially hot, and it felt good to sit outdoors, refreshed by the light breeze.

“Do you think, perhaps, you’ll forgive him?” he asked.

Sighing, An
gela said, “
I’ve already done so
.
If only I could see him
again
in order to tell him.”

“I’ve invited him and his mother to your ball
,”
her father said with a smile
.
“
I’m sure he will be there
.
His mother is a striking woman
.
Unfortunately, I was unable to make her formal acquaintance that day
.
Is it true she is widowed?”

Angela chuckled at her father’s obvious interest in the lovely Lady Blackridge
.
“Yes, she
is
,
indeed
,
a widow.
”

5

Villarreal / The Devil Rogue
                                     

Chapter
2
3

ANGELA’S NERVES HAD
her stomach twisted like sailor’s knots as she waited to be announced
.
The ball was a grand affair, with every lamp, candle
,
and sconce in the entire building, it seemed, lit to create a dazzling, fiery brilliance
.
She was to enter on her father’s arm, descend the wide, carpeted staircase, and then proceed with him to the receiving line
.
As the guest of honor, it was her duty to greet the guests who were curious enough to be the first ones to arrive.

The heat
generated
from all those illuminating flames,
and
the increasing crowd of elegantly dressed people
already had her feeling light-headed and overly warm
.
The criminally tight corset she was forced to wear in order to get her gown fastened didn’t help, either.

Her go
wn was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen
.
It was white satin, with hundreds of tiny pearls sewn into the bodice and at the hem
.
The skirt was supported by thick, frothy petticoats forming an elegant bell
.
The heart-shaped neckline dipped low to a point between her breasts, and dropped slightly off her slender shoulders
. T
he fitted sleeves were made of the finest lace, draping down into a ‘v’ over the backs of her hands.

Angela resisted the urge to pat her hair and check the diamond
-
studded tiara to see if it was still in place
.
It matched the sparkling diamond necklace encircling her throat and the diamond earrings dripping from her earlobes
.
The set
had been
a gift from her father
.
He’d presented it to her with the promise to replace the tiara with a real jeweled crown when they returned to
Moldova
.
There would be a ceremony held to officially crown her as princess, he’d explained.

“Are you ready, my dear?” her father asked.

“Yes, I believe I am,” Angela lied
.
She was more nervous than any other time in her life
.
This was sure to be a much different experience than the last time she’d attended a ball.

They moved together, Angela’s hand resting
with delicate grace
on her father’s forearm, toward the top of the stairs
.
D
ukes, duchesses, dignitaries, ambassadors, and other important guests would
join
the king and his daughter in the receiving line.

Her father was to be introduced first, then Angela, with her new name and title
.
She’d happily agreed when her father
had
asked if she would like to formally change her name to his
.
It was no loss to her to
be
no lon
ger known as Angela Hopkins.

The announcer pounded his heavy staff on the floor
several times
, eliciting a breathless silence as all eyes turned upward
.
In a clear, far-ranging voice, he said, “Presenting His Majesty, Matvei Vasilii Mikhail Fedorovich, King of Moldova, and his daughter, H
er Royal Highness, Angela Maria Yevdokia Fedorovich, Princess of Moldova
.

“My goodness, such a mouthful,” Angela whispered to the side so only her father could hear her
.
It elicited a croak of low laughter from him.

“Behave, young lady,” he murmured with
amusement
.

Pasting
a regal smile
o
n her face, Angela moved down the steps with such majestic poise, one would have thought she’d been raised as a princess from infancy
.
She made it to the bottom without so much as an errant flutter of her gown
.
No embarrassing head-over-heels tumble down the stairs as she’d feared
.
She exhaled an inaudible sigh of relief, and then
walked
with her father to the front of the line.

The sea of people parted as though commanded by a higher power, whispered comments drifting her way as they passed
.

“
Can you believe it
?
She’s really a princess!
”

“
I heard she’s had ov
er a hundred offers of marriage!
”

“
I always knew there was something special about
the girl
.”

“
Do you think that devil, Blackridge, will be thrown into prison for his reprehensible treatment of her?
”

That last comment startled Angela
so much it threw her off balance for an instant
.
Her father brought his other hand over the one she rested on his arm, preventing her from stopping.

“Don’t listen to them, my dear,” he said quietly
.
“There are always going to be ignorant people in this world who are apt to say ignorant things.”

“Of course you’re right, and I never took stock in anything said about myself, but it pains me to hear such things about Ian.”

“Don’t fret about it
.
Lord Blackridge is a grown man and surely used to the gossips
.
If you’ll recall, he already had a reputation long before this day.”

Angela laughed softly
.
“
Yes, he did at that.”

As she greeted each person, some of them familiar to her, Angela kept hoping the next one would be Ian
.
She covertly scanned the surrounding area for any sign of his presence, but had yet to spot him
.
Was he coming
?
The deep disappointment she felt tarnished the excitement of th
e night’s event.

Everyone was incredibly respectful, with a few embarrassingly obsequious encounters, adding a bit of humor to the whole situation
.
One woman in particular, a Lady Feathering, who had been one of the matrons to turn her back on Angela at that last disastrous ball, curtsied so low Angela thought she might scrape her nose on the floor.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Angela heard strains of music coming from the ballroom, indicating the orchestra was tuning up and preparing to play
.
Her duty in the receiving line at an end, she moved with her father to dance the first waltz with him.

Since the ball was in her honor, they were to start off the first dance alone, to be joined later by other couples
.
Angela felt
exposed
as she and her father took their position in the middle of the dance floor
.
She could hear the low hum of many different conversations in progress around the room, but for the most part, attention was focused on them.

“Breathe, Angela,” her father said, squeezing her hand
.
“This is your moment
. “R
elish it.”

“I’m trying, but this is all so overwhelming, like a dream,” Angela confessed.

The music began, and they made several smooth turns
before other couples joined them
.
No
longer
feeling so conspicuous, Angela relaxed a little
.
Her eyes searched for Ian from
every angle of the room as the dance took them in a circuit around the dance floor.

Smiling down at her, her father said, “He will be here.”

Angela danced with several other partners, growing more and more agitated with the passage of time
.
She was being escorted off the dance floor by the kindly Lord Applegate, an aging earl with a sharp sense of humor
, and a harmless weakness for a pretty face, when
Mr. Wardley appeared.

“May I have the next dance, Miss H
–
I’m terribly sorry
!
” Wardley bowed. “
Your highness
,
I would be honored if you’ll allow me this next dance.
”

“I believe I have the next dance with her highness
.
”

Angela sucked in a
sharp
breath upon hearing
Ian’s
deep
voice
. He was
the one man she most wanted to see
.
Her heart
lurched in an
out-of-synch beat when he
’d
spoke
n
, staking his claim on her
.
He was even more handsome than she remembered
. W
hen their gazes met, Angela saw something in his eyes, something
that
seemed to illuminate him
.
He was the same, yet different
.
She couldn’t quite pin it down, but it caused her to tingle all over with a sizzle of anticipation
. O
f what, she didn’t know.

He took her hand, placing a gentle kiss on the back of it
.
“May I?” he asked, looking up at her
from his bent position
.

“Yes,” Angela said breathlessly.

Ian guided her to the area of the floor where other couples had already begun dancing a waltz
.
The unfortunate Wardley stood watching them, once again left with his mouth hanging open.

“It’s good to see you again, princess
.
Can I call you that, now that you really are a princess?”
He gave her
a heart-stopping smile
.

“You may call me anything you like, my lord,” Angela said in a low, husky voice
.
She could feel the heat radiating off his body, her breasts just inches away from the
muscled expanse
of his chest
.
They were already too close to be proper, but she didn’t care
.
All she cared about was that she was in his arms, floating on a cushion of air
, moving as one
to the beautiful melody.

“
Have you so soon forgotten my name?” he teased
charmingly
.

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten it
.
Perhaps I’ll say it, if asked in just the right way.”
She was referring to the last time he
’
d requested she say his name
, or rather passionately commanded it
.
The way his eyes darkened told her he knew what she
alluded
to.

Out of the corner of her eye,
Angela
could see they’d attracted an interested audience
.
Neither one of them made any effort to hide the current of emotions flowing between them,
or
the desire they felt for one another
.

“
I need a moment alone with you, Angela,” he said in a low voice
.
“I wish to explain my actions to you, and if what I’ve done is still something you can’t forgive, I promise I’ll not bother you again.”

“I’ve no need of an explanation, for I
—
”

“Please
.
I beg of you.”

“I forgive you.”

“You – you forgive me?”

“I already understand why you did what you did
.
It no longer matters how I came to be with you, except that I – except that I love you.”

“My God, Angela,
”
Ian sai
d in a voice thick with emotion, “
I think I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you facing off
Eberly
in that attic, though I didn’t
know it at the time.”

“Oh, Ian!”

And in the most shocking display anyone had ever witnessed before or since that night, Ian dipped his head and kissed her right there
in the middle of
the dance floor
.
Breaking apart, their lips still only a breath away, he said, “I’m about to do something that will either turn out remarkably well, considering the circumstances, or
be
so miserabl
y
disastrous I might
be forced
to flee the country.”