The Masquerade by Brenda Joyce Read Free Book Online

and he would be occupied tonight. As Anna had suggested, surely he was courting some lady. What made her dream, even for a moment, that he might notice her?
    Two gentlemen were striding past her, one obviously dressed as a musketeer, the other as a colorful macaroni. They both glanced at her and Georgie as they passed, only to join the group now surrounding Anna. The tension in Lizzie rose, becoming quite unbearable. Why was she doing this? She was actually, in a desperate and hopeless way, thinking to compete for Tyrell’s attention! She strained to glimpse him but did not see him anywhere in the front hall.
    “Lizzie,” Georgie said with warning, “do not back out now!”
    It was as if her sister had read her mind, for she was almost ready to do just that. But her desperation won. She wanted a glimpse of Tyrell de Warenne, and she wanted a chance to undo their previous encounter. She prayed for courage when her knees felt oddly weak.
    Georgie took Lizzie by her hand rather decisively, pulling her forward. She hurried through the hall with her sister, past Anna’s group of eager suitors. The macaroni seemed to turn as she passed. In the reception room, huge columns held up the high ceiling, from which numerous, magnificent crystal chandeliers hung. The floor was a streaked marble, and a hundred guests mingled as they made their way into the ballroom.
    Mama appeared beside her and Georgie. “That macaroni tried to speak with you and you cut him, Lizzie!”
    Lizzie blinked. Had that really happened?
    Georgie squeezed her hand. “Look, Anna is already surrounded with beaux. Isn’t that nice, Mama?”
    Mama turned and suddenly she put aside her eyemask, her gaze widening. “Ooh! Isn’t that Cliff de Warenne?”
    Lizzie turned. Four men, including the two officers, surrounded Anna, all trying to talk to her at once. But just outside their group stood a man who was not in costume, looking partly bored and partly amused—no easy task. With his wildly streaked tawny hair and remarkable blue eyes, he was clearly the youngest of the earl’s sons. Rumor had it that he was an unconscionable rake, but Lizzie refused to form her opinion on rumor alone. He was also an adventurer—Lizzie knew he had been in the West Indies this past year or so. Like all the de Warennes, he was good-looking to a fault. Now he turned his back on the group and sauntered away. Lizzie decided that he was very bored, indeed.
    “I have never seen such rude and unforgivable behavior!” Mama cried, looking outraged.
    “Mama, Cliff de Warenne is not for our Anna,” Lizzie said quietly, quickly scanning the room.
    Mama faced her with more outrage. “And why not, missy?”
    Lizzie sighed. “We are not in their circle,” she tried gently.
    “He is the youngest. He will hardly marry from the first ranks!”
    “He is a de Warenne. He will inherit a fortune and will marry, I think, exactly as he chooses,” Lizzie said.
    Mama huffed.
    “I have heard he is a ne’er-do-well, and I would not want my Anna associated with such a man,” Papa stated.
    “If he calls—and I know he will, I saw the way he was regarding our Anna—you will most certainly be pleased with such an association,” Mama declared.
    Georgie and Lizzie exchanged glances and slippedaway from their parents, now in the throes of a good argument. “He is handsome,” Lizzie admitted with a smile.
    “But not for any of us,” Georgie agreed, also smiling. Then her smile receded. “Sometimes I worry about Mama, Lizzie. She is under so much strain, with three daughters of marriageable age and no real funds to speak of. If only Anna would marry, I think some of the pressure would be instantly lifted.”
    “Mama might suffer from boredom if she did not have us to launch into society,” Lizzie said seriously. “What would she do then?”
    Georgie frowned. “She was in the dining salon the other day, sitting in a chair, looking quite pale and fanning herself as if she could not