Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (28 page)

“It is very nice to meet you, Your Grace,” Cassie curtsied low.

“Let that be the only time you curtsy to me.
 
Now we are friends and shall greet each other as such.”
 
Dru went up to Cassie and hugged her warmly.
 
Astonishment coursed through Cassie at the way these women treated her.
 
It was not what she had expected at all.
 

“Dru, I think you’ve shocked her,” Tessa teased.

“I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t mean to.”

“I just never expected member of the
ton
to be so nice and welcoming, most especially a duchess,” Cassie replied honestly.

“Oh, my dear, most of them aren’t.
 
What you see here is very unique.
 
You see, we are the ones that are talked about by other members of the
ton
,” Drucilla said.
 
“One day we will explain it to you, but for now, you should be filling up your dance card and enjoying yourself.”
 

“May I have your attention,” the butler bellowed from the top of the stairs.

“Mikala will be having a fit,” Dru said when she looked towards the staircase.

“May I present His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.”
 
Thunderous applause erupted.
 

“That’s the Prince?” Cassie asked.

“Yes,” Dru replied.

“I just never expected…”

“Quite,” Dru agreed.
 
“Well, Mikala’s party will now be a resounding success, and those that didn’t come that were invited shall be wishing they had.”

Cassie observed how people treated the Prince.
 
Some rushed over to try to garner his attention, while others tried to avoid him.
 
She felt a burning tingling on her neck and quickly turned to find no one there.
 
Was someone watching her, or was it simply her imagination?

She turned back around in time to see the Prince making his way towards the group of women she stood with.

Chapter 15

“Drucilla, you must introduce me to your friend,” the Prince said once he approached their group and after all the women had respectfully curtsied.

“Of course,” she replied with an insincere smile plastered on her face.
 
“Your Highness, this is Cassie Graham.
 
Her father is Sir Graham, the inventor.”

“Yes, yes,” he waved the last bit away.
 
“Cassie.
 
Is it short for Cassandra?”

“If only that were true, Your Highness.
 
My mother loved astronomy.
 
My name is Cassiopeia.”

“Ah, a mixture of mythology and stars.
 
Well, Cassiopeia, would you join me for a dance?”

“I haven’t danced in a very long time, Your Highness.
 
I would not want to embarrass you or myself.”

“If we begin with a waltz, then all you must do is follow my lead.
 
A waltz if you please,” he called out, took Cassie’s hand, and led her to the dance floor.
 
Where people had once stood milling about and talking, there now lay a vast openness reminding Cassie of the ocean.
 
As the first strains of the music began, the Prince whispered in her ear, “They are just curious about who caught my eye.
 
Just do as I do.”

Cassie looked at him and received a wink.
 
Flustered, she flubbed slightly at first then found she quite enjoyed dancing.
 
Perhaps not with the Prince Regent as much as she would with someone else.
 
She would greatly enjoy dancing with Mack, being taken into his arms and held close while they floated about the room.
 

“And who has put a look like that on your face, my dear Cassiopeia?”

Cassie blushed as she met the Prince’s gaze.
 
Other couples had finally begun to join them on the dance floor, so now they were not being gawked at quite so much.

“Come now.
 
You have piqued my curiosity.
 
Who is this young man that you are imagining sweeping you around the dance floor in his arms?”

“Director McKenzie,” she muttered.

Prinny let loose a hearty laugh.
 
“The Scottish Bastard.
 
Oh, my dear, that is just wonderful.”
 
He continued to swirl her about the floor.
 
“Let’s see if we can’t make him jealous?”

“No, Your Highness, please don’t.
 
He cannot stand me, and truthfully I find him quite irritating most of the time I am around him.”

“Why, this is even better.
 
I am going to have some fun with Mack.”

“He will just take it out on me,” Cassie said, shaking her head sadly.
 
“He’ll accuse me of seducing you.”

“Little does he know that you need not do anything to seduce a man, young woman.
 
You are a beauty beyond measure.
 
He is going to be damn lucky if someone else doesn’t leave here with you on their arm.
 
Mack has become too staid.
 
He is good for our country, but he has forgotten how to live.
 
You can show him that.”

“I don’t know that I want to, Your Highness.”

“You, my dear, are going to lead him on a merry chase indeed, whether you intend to or not.
 
Now, let us show these other couples how to truly dance a waltz.”

***

“You look angry, big brother.”

“Bugger off,” Mack said.

“Prinny is…”

“Dancing with Cassie.
 
All of London can see what he is doing.
 
Too closely, if you ask me.”

“Mack, are you jealous?”

“Her father should be stepping in and stopping this.
 
She is an innocent dancing with the most lecherous man in London.”

“You best watch what you say if you want to keep your neck in one piece.
 
What has gotten into you?”

“Nothing,” Mack said, pushing off the wall.
 
He headed towards the garden, refusing to watch Cassie make a spectacle of herself; however, he found himself standing so he still had a view of the dancing go on.
 
After Prinny finished dancing with her, man after man took her in their arms and led her in one dance after another.
 
Some of them she stumbled through the moves at first, but she would just laugh her way through.
 
The men would laugh with her, and they would continue on.

A servant walked by with a tray of glasses and Mack hailed him to a stop.
 
“See if you can find me some whisky.”

“Yes, sir.”
 
The man returned a short time later with a glass of whisky.
 
“Here, sir.”

“For your trouble,” Mack pulled out a coin and passed it to the man.

“Thank you, sir.
 
Let me know should you need anything else.”

“Aye,” Mack said as he tossed back the contents of the glass.
 
“Another one,” he held out the glass to the man.
 
The servant took the glass and disappeared.
 
When he reappeared, everything was repeated, including Mack holding out his glass for more.
 

“I brought the bottle this time, sir,” the servant said, knowing that if he neglected his other duties anymore tonight, Riggs would sack him.

“Good man.
 
This is for your trouble,” Mack said and gave the man more coins.

“Thank you, sir.”

Mack stood, intently watching Cassie and the men that swarmed her.
 
Married and single alike vied for a chance to talk to her, get her to laugh, or take her out onto the dance floor.
 
Dammit, didn’t they know she belonged to him?
he thought.
 
That brought him up short.
 
Did he want her?
 
He lusted after her, that was certain.

“What are you doing out here?” His sister-in-law’s husky voice intruded on his thoughts.

“Watching,” he said before taking a sip of the whisky.
 
“And you?”

“I needed some fresh air.”
 
Mack took another drink.
 
“Are you drinking whisky?”

“It isn’t water,” Mack jauntily replied.

“Stuart McKenzie, are you drunk?”

“Far from it.”

“Good, and it had better stay that way.
 
Now, why are you out here watching and not in there watching?”

“Out here I don’t have to mask my thoughts at someone making a fool of themselves.”

“And who would that be?
 
Prinny?
 
I cannot believe he actually came.
 
Quite irritating.
 
He has made Miss Graham quite popular this evening.”

“Hmph.”

“Ah, so that is how the wind blows.
 
She is quite a beauty.”

“When she’s not wearing those brown dresses that most servants wouldn’t be caught dead in.”

“You’re concerned with how she dresses?”

“Not at all.”

“Hmmm.”

“Don’t go believin’ you know what I’m thinkin’, sister dear.”

“Now, Mack, would I ever do that?”

Mack guffawed as a reply.

“Stuart McKenzie, I take offense in that.”

“You can do whatever you wish, sister dear, but the fact still remains that you too often put that cute little nose of yours where it doesn’t belong.”

“This is all I will say on the subject of you and Cassie.
 
If you are so concerned about her, why don’t you do something about it?
 
Quit standing on the outside looking in.
 
Think of yourself and your happiness for a change instead of everyone else’s.
 
You have spent too much time cooped up in that office of yours trying to impress people enough that they forget your background and accept you into their welcoming bosom. Well, Mack, I’m here to tell you, as an expert, no matter what you do or what title you hold, you will never be welcome.
 
You might as well come to terms with that right now.
 
If you don’t believe me, ask Dru.
 
My advice is to find someone to make you happy.
 
When you do, make her your whole world, otherwise you are going to end up growing old alone.
 
Do you really want that?”

“If you will excuse me, I see someone I must speak to.”

“Coward,” he heard Mikala call just loud enough that only he could hear.

Mack had seen his prey sneak out of the ballroom.
 
More than likely to refresh herself.
 
He watched her disappear up the stairs.
 
Mack patiently waited, tucked away in a hidden alcove beneath the stairs.
 
Almost a quarter of an hour passed before she came back down.
 
Mack deftly moved from his hidden position, took her hand, and pulled her into a room, firmly shutting the door behind them.

***

Cassie looked around the room in appreciation.
 
A massive desk stood sentinel on one end, a fireplace on the other, and bookshelves everywhere else.
 
Regardless of the beauty and richness of the room, Cassie was irritated that Mack had ramrodded her in here.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded of her abductor.

“I needed to speak with you.”

“And it could not have been done out there?”
 
She waved in the general direction of the ballroom.
 
“Mikala will be looking for me.”

“Mikala is playing hostess and will not even realize you are missing for a while longer.”

“Still, I should be out there.
 
I
am
the guest of honor,” she threw in his face.

“And how do you think everyone out there would react when they find out the guest of honor is none other than C. E. Jones?”

Cassie paused for only a moment.
 
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Director.”

“No?” he asked, moving towards her like a jungle cat would its prey.
 
“Tell me why you attend all those rallies and meetings?”
 
Silence.
 
“Why did an editorial appear in
The Times
regarding the government’s lack of care of soldiers’ widows and orphans shortly after you met Lady Thompson?”

“Coincidence,” she shrugged, refusing to look away from him.

“Is it also coincidence that your mother’s maiden name was Jones?
 
Or that your earnings from the pieces you write go into an account at the Bank of England under the name C. E. Jones-Graham?”

“Since you seem to already know everything, what do you want me to do?
 
Do you want me to throw you a lavish party so you can preen in front of all your friends that you have figured out the latest great London mystery?”