“Gavin—”

“Good night, Alexandra.”

She watched him turn away from her, tears welling in her eyes. “Gavin—” He paused, not turning back, but clearly focused on her next words. “Be careful. Please.”

And, with that, she turned and pushed the window open wide once more, enough for her to sit on the edge and swing herself out into the flower bed below. He made no move to help her exit and she landed off balance in the moist, soft soil, one knee sinking into the fresh dirt.

She didn’t care about her ruined gown, or her filthy slippers, or the tears that were threatening to pour down her face. All she cared about was getting back home and finding someone who would believe her.

eighteen

She did not have to go far.

Once back in the Worthington House gardens, she retraced her steps to the balcony of the music room. She crossed the darkened space as though in a trance, not knowing to whom to go or what to say. She opened the door to step into the hallway filled with guests who had left the ballroom for quieter conversations or a moment’s rest, and Vivi and Ella spilled into the doorway, barely catching themselves from falling at her feet. The two had obviously been standing with their backs against the door, waiting for her to return.

If Alex hadn’t been so shocked by her encounter with Gavin, she would have burst into laughter.

Vivi righted herself first, whispering harshly, “Thank goodness! We’ve been worried to death!”

“And curious to death,” Ella added.

Vivi looked at Ella oddly. “That’s not even a phrase.” Returning her attention to Alex, she continued, “We were just wondering whether we should call in the cavalry.”

Ella drawled, “By that, she means her father.”

“As angry as he would have been that we let Alex storm off into the night,” Vivi pointed out, “I think ‘cavalry’ is a perfectly acceptable description.”

The two looked up at Alex and spoke in unison, “What happened?”

And, with that, as she looked into the curious, concerned eyes of her best friends in the world, Alex did what she’d wanted to do since leaving Blackmoor on the balcony earlier in the evening. She burst into tears.

Ella and Vivi shared a quick anxious look before rushing forward and herding Alex back into the music room and closing the door firmly behind them.

“Are you all right? What happened?” Vivi asked urgently, guiding Alex to sit on a small tufted stool while Ella lit some nearby candles.

“I think we’ve established that she’s not all right, Vivi,” Ella piped in, crouching down beside her tearful friend. “Alex? Are you hurt? Has Blackmoor done something to deserve a thrashing?”

Alex sniffed and responded with a watery smile. “Yes. Would you go deliver it?”

Ella smiled back. “Well, I’m happy to see that you can still find humor in this situation. I would go try for you, you know it. But he is rather significantly larger than I.”

“Yes, he is. But mainly he’s just insufferable.” Looking at her friends, Alex continued with pleading in her voice, “I don’t want to go back to the ball. I want to go to my bedchamber and drown myself in my pathetic sorrow.”

“Well, considering the condition of this dress, I don’t think you would be able to return to the ball even if you wanted to. What on earth did you do to yourself? You’re covered in dirt. And your slippers are ruined,” Ella pointed out.

Vivi chimed in, “You look like you’ve fallen in a flower bed.”

Alex looked down at her skirts with sadness, pulling them up to inspect her slippers. With a sigh, she spoke, her voice tiny, “I did fall in a flower bed.”

“This sounds like a fascinating story,” Ella teased, “but let’s wait until we’re abovestairs to tell it, shall we?”

“Indeed.” Vivi whirled into motion, ever the problem solver. “Ella, you sneak Alex up and I shall take care of everything.”

“How?” Alex asked. “My mother will be livid that I left the ball so early.”

Vivi turned a regal look on Alex. “Never you mind. Have I not taught you yet that I never fail?” She kissed her sad friend on both cheeks and continued as she cracked the door to leave, “I shall see you soon.”

And, with that, Vivi left the room, off to convince everyone in Alex’s life that it was perfectly normal for her to have disappeared during a ball hosted in her own home.

Ella took her task very seriously and, within moments, the two girls were in Alex’s bedchamber. Ella had helped Alex strip down to her chemise so that the offending gown could be hidden from view prior to the extreme cleaning it was going to require. As for the slippers, Ella shoved them deep into the recesses of Alex’s wardrobe, hoping that no one would come looking for them. Turning back to her friend, who had already crawled under the coverlet looking sad, Ella kicked off her own slippers and threw herself across the end of the bed.

She landed just as the door to the bedroom opened and Vivi entered, a smug smile on her face, announcing, “Problem solved. No one will come looking for you, Lady Alexandra, until the morning.”

“You’re a miracle worker!” Alex said with a shocked look on her face. “How did you manage that?”

“Easily enough. I enlisted Freddie’s help in telling everyone that you’d felt sick just before your scheduled dance, and that he’d passed you off to us. That, combined with a quick chat with Kit, explaining that you hadn’t wanted to upset or worry your mother, did the trick.” Vivi’s slippers joined Ella’s in a pile on the floor just before she climbed onto the bed next to Alex. “Stanhope wants you to send him a note tomorrow to assure him that you are fine and, quote, ‘that Blackmoor isn’t a rogue who deserves to be called out.’”