Dancing On Air by Nicole Hurley-Moore Read Free Book Online Page B

and was about to say something when she saw Tinder standing by the edge of the stage. She gave Lisette a meaningful look but said nothing.’
    Lisette looked over her shoulder. ‘Yes?’
    ‘Break a leg,’ Tinder said with a grin.
    Lisette and Sally walked side-by-side for a moment in silence — a silence that was too hard for Sally to bear.
    ‘So, chatting with the owner now?’ Sally said as they walked down the darkened corridors.
    ‘It’s the first time that I have ever really spoken to him.’ Lisette said.
    ‘So please tell me that you are going to marry him.’
    ‘Why on earth would I do that?’
    ‘To escape your aunt, but more importantly...to spite Bessie of course,’ Sally said with a laugh.
    ‘I think Bessie is too caught up with her new romance to give me a second thought.’
    ‘Yes, I have to agree she’s being frightful. Do you know who this mysterious beau of hers could be?’
    Lisette thought she might know who it was, and she hoped to God in heaven that she was wrong. ‘I’m not sure. I suppose Bessie will tell us eventually.’
    ‘I don’t care who it is. I just wish she would stop talking about him,’ Sally said as she linked her arm through Lisette’s. ‘So, do you want to get Alice and head to Uncle Hans’ for a little soup? I swear my stomach has been rumbling for hours.’
    ‘All right, I just have to change and fetch my shawl,’ Lisette said as they turned down the hallway that led to the dressing room.
    Sally let out a heavy sigh.
    ‘Whatever is the matter?’ Lisette asked.
    ‘You’ll see,’ Sally said as they stopped outside the dressing room door. Then, with another exaggerated sigh, she pushed open the door. Bessie was sitting down with a dozen of the ballet girls gathered around her.
    ‘Oh Bessie, it’s the most beautiful bracelet I’ve ever seen,’ one girl said.
    ‘It is, isn’t it?’ Bessie replied, but it was more of a statement than a question. ‘And it matches the earbobs he gave me!’ At that, Bessie turned her head to show off one of the little gold and garnet earrings that glittered from her lobe.
    ‘Can I try it on?’ Fanny asked.
    ‘No! Of course not, you goose,’ Bessie snapped. ‘Oh Lisette, come here... Look what I have!’
    Lisette walked forward with a growing feeling of dread settling in her stomach. She had hoped that Bessie’s new lover was not the handsome lord with the cruel words but the bracelet seemed to confirm her worst fears. Bessie was being lavished with flowers, jewels and intimate, secret dinners, and midnight meetings. Only a gentleman of independent means could possibly afford such extravagance. Lisette looked at the Etruscan Revival crossover bangle that sat on Bessie’s slender wrist. Two blood-red garnets twinkled under the gaslight.
    ‘It’s lovely, Bessie,’ she said. ‘It truly is.’
    Bessie smiled triumphantly.
    ‘Will you tell us the name of your gentleman?’ Lisette asked.
    ‘No, it is a secret. He does not want our affairs running through the rumour mill. All that I can tell you is that he is a gentleman and I have never been so happy.’
    ‘I am glad that you are happy but...just be careful,’ Lisette said. She stared at Bessie and hoped that she would heed her warning. But even as the word left her lips, she thought they sounded useless and hollow. Bessie was content and, being showered with gifts, her gentleman hardly seemed a danger to her. But Lisette kept hearing her aunt’s words spin in her head: Vincent, you won’t break this one, will you? If Bessie’s admirer was Lord de Vale then surely she was in some sort of danger.
    ‘Oh la! I never thought I would see the day that the perfect Lisette Devoré was jealous of me! I have nothing to fear and I will not allow you to spoil anything. He loves me, he is besotted by me and you have nothing.’
    ‘No, I just do not want you to do anything you may regret,’ Lisette replied.
    ‘Regret what, Lisette? Will I regret his attention, his