Chapter 19

How could I refuse?

I took the last step and laid my hand in his. He drew me near as the band began to play a waltz. Not the ragtime music I expected, but I wasn't going to complain while he held me close for a slow dance.

"You look beautiful," he whispered. His gaze shone, turning the grey of his eyes to shot silver.

"You're very fine yourself," I said. He was exquisite in his tails, but I imagined it was bad form to call a man beautiful.

We moved out on to the parquet floor. While it gleamed for the moment, it would be dull and scuffed by thousands of footsteps by dawn. Overhead, enormous chandeliers glinted, as though Seth had plucked several moons from the heavens and hung them from the ceiling. One wall contained French doors at regular intervals, leading to the patio and gardens beyond. In between each set of doors and mounted on the wall were crossed swords, from delicate fencing foils to brutish Scottish claymores. Steel caught the overhead light, and fire ran along razor e