Chapter 5: Page 2

She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. "But

you need not filch any of those, Sir Robin. They are

yours to have when you will."

"Perhaps, but there are other prizes of even rarer

value." He nodded toward the terrace and began to walk

in that direction. "A dance, for instance?"

"You would steal a dance?"

He glanced toward her with a smile of such tender

reverence that it set her heart aflutter. "Ah, there's

the rub. Like so many of life's most precious riches, it

would lose all its worth unless given freely."

There was something different in his manner that touched

her. Could she be feeling the stirrings of true love, at

last?

She clutched his arm a little tighter. "If you set such

great store by it, then I would be honored to grant what

you ask."

They took their places among the other dancers, waiting

for the orchestra to strike up the next tune. "Take

care, my dear. There are treasures you possess that you

must not surrender simply because someone else desires

them."

The air filled with music, and a spritely country dance

swept them up before Selphie could ask what he meant. But

each time his hand closed over hers, each time their

bodies brushed in the most innocent contact, each time

she glanced up to find his gaze caressing her, a quiver

of delicious elation beyond anything poets had tried to

capture with words ran through her.

After several dances, Selphie and her partner revived

themselves with champagne and assorted delicacies from

the buffet. Then they danced again. By turns

flirtatious, gallant and tender, Robin Hood seemed

intent upon stealing her heart.

Only when she recalled the haunted look in Lord

Kinneas's eyes did Selphie feel a pang of remorse. But

wait? Did she glimpse something sweetly familiar, yet

deliciously novel, in the masked eyes of her dancing

partner?

Could it be there was more to Robin Hood — and Lord

Kinneas — than met the eye?

Had someone sprinkled stardust over him and Selphie and

this whole enchanted night? For the first time since his

earliest childhood, Lord Kinneas felt ready to believe

in magic.

His mask and costume gave him a safe bastion from behind

which to mount his romantic conquest. A counterfeit

persona liberated him to speak the words he had hoarded

in his heart for so long. Selphie's ardent responses

emboldened him to risk everything on this desperate

gamble to win her.

The way she held his arm, the way she smiled, the subtle

caress in her voice when she spoke to him, all convinced

Irvine she could love him. All she'd needed was a chance

to see him with fresh eyes.

"Another dance?" he nodded toward the terrace.