Page 24 of Scandalous Nights With the Earl

‘But I promise I shall track you down there before midnight when the masks are removed.’

She shook her head.

‘The Duggans never insist on that. In fact, they normally discourage any revealing whatsoever and everyone goes home as the character they arrived as.’

‘An interesting concept.’

‘You sound as though you disagree with it.’

‘I should think anyone with half a brain should be able to decipher the identity of most people there.’

‘I imagined that, too, but it is much harder than you might think. A feigned stoop, a pair of gloves, a voice altered in timbre… There are so many ways to become someone else entirely.’

Such words piqued his interest. ‘How would you imagine I could become…incognito?’

She frowned as she considered the question. ‘You are always in black, so a brighter colour might do it to begin with.’

‘And then…

‘Falter a little as you walk. Shorten your steps. Look as though you do not quite fit in.’

He began to laugh again.

‘Powder your hair and put it up in a tight queue. Wear an ill-fitting jacket and boots that look scuffed. Find a mask that covers most of your face, and when you speak, do it in a whisper.’

‘A complete overhaul, then. Nothing left of me?’

‘That’s the goal.’

‘Should I drink?’

‘Only the non-alcoholic punch and very sparingly.’

‘And what of dancing?’

‘Plead a headache if anyone asks you.’

‘Why?’

‘I have seen your notable style and so have others.’

‘Terrible?’

‘The worst. Avoid anyone you are usually seen with…’

She stopped as she said this and began to giggle, a light amusement that turned into laughter, her eyes welling with tears which she wiped away on her sleeve. After a minute of this she took three deep breaths and faced him squarely.

‘On second thoughts I believe nothing you could do to hide would be of any use. People will know you because they will be looking for you. It is the great curse of your position here and of your prolonged absence from an estate and a title that is steeped in gossip.’

‘Well, I think you are wrong, Mrs St Claire. I believe I should be good at hiding in plain sight.’

‘You do?’

‘I have just spent years in the Americas being more people than can be counted on two hands and never once being caught out.’

‘Were you a spy there?’

‘Of course not.’