Page 104 of A Cinderella to Redeem the Earl

At least Long had not escaped his net. He had arranged for his man of business to drop a word or two in several gossips’ ears and they had done the rest. He just wished he didn’t feel sorry for Long. Or regret that Pamela would never forgive him.

Dammit all.

He smiled at a lady dressed as a shepherdess, leaving the floor with a gentleman dressed as Pan. ‘Ready for the unmasking?’ he asked.

She giggled.

Pleased that no harm would come to Pamela, Damian felt suddenly lighter and happier as he strode for the dais.

Everyone was chattering and laughing excitedly as they waited to remove their masks.

Something made him glance over towards the double door. A sort of stir among the crowd. To his horror he saw that Pamela had not left.

She was standing alongside Pip. It took a moment to realise that the reason she had not departed was because Pip had hold of her arm.

The clock struck twelve.

Pip looked over at him, expectantly.

Devil take it, he had not told his friend he had changed his mind. Had not thought to. He shook his head.

He saw comprehension dawn on his friend’s face and his grip on Pamela’s arm relax.

She looked from Pip to him and back. Her eyes widened.

He made a shooing motion with his hand and saw her move toward the door.

He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Let reason prevail. Let all our revellers be revealed,’ he called out as expected. He removed his mask.

Around the room people untied the strings of their disguises, laughing and exclaiming as the people around them were revealed.

Footmen moved among the guests with trays and drinks.

‘A toast, ladies and gentlemen. To King and Country.’

‘The King,’ everyone said.

‘To our host,’ someone called out.

‘Dart,’ chorused around the room.

A commotion beside the doors caught his attention. He stared in shock. Pamela was standing in the entrance, her mask gone, held in the hand of a drunken reveller dressed as Henry the VIII, if he wasn’t mistaken. The man was trying to snatch a kiss. As he pulled her close, her wig came off and her chestnut hair cascaded around her shoulders.

‘Unhand me,’ Pamela said.

‘Oh, my goodness,’ a woman said in the sudden silence. ‘Pamela Lamb, is that really you? But I thought you were...’ Everyone looked from Pamela to Damian.

Damian’s heart went cold like ice and his stomach fell away.

A buzz of shock rippled through the room. He could see her mother collapsed against her stepfather with shock.

By the time he made it across the room, Pamela was gone.

Dear God. What had he done?

Exactly what he had set out to do.

Although thetonhad been thoroughly titillated by the scandal at his ball, two days later, Damian was still dealing with the aftermath of what in his mind he could only think of as a debacle.