Page 69 of The Duke's Rules Of Engagement
She was a small, dark-skinned woman, her headdress of enormous and colorful plumes increasing her height by half. Never once losing her balance or seeming the slightest bit concerned that she might fall, she twirled and danced, her spangled gold and silver dress swinging around her. The blue light followed her up and up as she seemed to ascend into the heavens.
Finally, she reached the top, the blue stream of light faded away into darkness, and the crowd burst into enthusiastic cheers, Matthew and his friends included. But then they all were instantly silenced again as fireworks exploded into the sky in a series ofbooms and an array of dazzling colors, and the rope-dancer danced and twirled, and even tumbled in somersaults, back down the rope. Moments later it was finished, the rope-dancer disappearing into the dark bushes and the dark sky now filled with smoke.
As the lamplighters did their work, the world twinkled into focus again, revealing people scattering in all directions and a pair of Eton men approaching. “Crestmont! Winthrop! Coleton! And Jameson, too! It has been a long time!”
Matthew stood in conversation with them, the six of them reminiscing about the good old days back when they were all youthful scamps, while he surreptitiously searched around the crowd for Harriet. Not for Jo, he told himself—Harriet.
It was after midnight, and he hadn’t talked to Harriet alone. At this point, he doubted he’d have the chance.
He was grateful for it.
No.
No, goddamn it. He wasnotgrateful. Now he’d have to find another way to propose to Miss Cherrington. It would be a damned inconvenience.
Try as he might, he still couldn’t muster much disappointment about it.
Then, in the direction of the fireworks tower, he saw a lone feminine figure turning in a slow circle.
He knew instantly that it was Jo. And she was alone.
Filled with sudden concern, he excused himself from his group and hurried toward her, calling, “Miss Porter?”
She whipped around, hand to her chest. “Oh, Your Grace. I think I’ve misplaced my party. We were watching the show and the crowd was so thick, and I just assumed they were all there, but when the lights came back on”—she closed her gloved hands into fists in front of her then snapped them open—“poof! They had disappeared.”
“I’ll help you to find them.”
“Do you think if I remain in this spot, they’ll come back for me?”
“It’s possible,” Matthew said. “Let’s wait here for a few moments and see.”
Having finished their conversation with their old schoolmates, his friends approached. “Good evening, Miss Porter,” Cole said with a bow.
It was only then that he remembered that Cole and Jo had already met at the Dickersons’ soiree.
“Lord Coleton,” Jo said politely. “It is nice to see you again.”
“Have you met my friends?” When Jo said she hadn’t, Cole introduced Winthrop and Jameson, while Matthew stood beside her without saying a word. Even if she hadn’t previously been introduced to his other two friends, Matthew had spoken of them often, and he could tell she was enjoying placing the faces with their names, though she didn’t give any hint of the confidences they’d shared.
He’d known he could trust her.
Jameson nudged him and whispered in his ear, “Your matchmaker?”
Matthew gave a slight nod, then turned his attention outside their group. He felt strange, as if disconnected from his body, with his friends and Jo in the same setting. The fire that always burned between him and Jo was there, an underlying simmer he was attempting to keep tamped down. He couldn’t look at her—if he looked at her for more than a second or two, his friends would know. They weren’t stupid. And what he felt for Jo was so hot, it could singe anyone who came too close.
“What is wrong with you, man?” Jameson asked him after they’d exchanged pleasantries for a few moments. “We’ve been talking about the weather and you haven’t interrupted with any clever predictions. What happened, cat got your tongue?”
He narrowed his eyes at Jameson in a warning look. “Miss Porter has been separated from her party. I’ve been hunting for them in the crowd.”
“Well, no need to be so covert about it, Crest,” Cole said. “We’ll help.”
“Of course we will,” Winthrop said. “Who is in your party?”
“My friend, Miss Appleby—” Jo began.
“Ah,” Cole said, “I didn’t know Miss Appleby was here!”
When Jameson arched a brow at him, Cole grinned, keeping his level of wolfishness toned down only because of the woman in their midst. “I danced with her at my sister’s soiree,” Cole explained, then drawled, “Lovely creature.”
