Wow, it's been forever and a day since I posted, hasn't it?


Felicity tried to sit still, but she kept fidgeting in the carriage. She normally didn't like going to parties, but masquerade balls were different. Where else could you be you and someone else. But she was nervous at the same time, a thousand questions ran through her head. Would any of the other women attending have costumes similar to hers? Or would they see her gown as nothing but a simple frock; too out of touch with the always changing London fashion?

Felicity had shown Alice her dress and Alice had promised it was perfect, but would the other women think so? Perhaps Alice just trying to be nice? The thought of being a societal outcast made her fraught with worry.

"Henry, you'll be sure to dance with me when we get in?" Felicity clutched her dance card. She ignored the fact that it already had her cousin's name on it.

"Yes, and point out your friend…." Henry fumbled with her name, which Felicity thought was odd. He had spoken to Alice earlier that day and used her name.

"Alice," she finally supplied, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yes. Alice," Henry murmured. "I'll dance with her, too- if she's not had many takers."

"Of course, you'll probably have to fight for a spot on her dance card," Felicity informed him, "Since Alice has always been very popular."

Henry seemed impressed. "At all the parties?"

Felicity shrugged "No, just at all the parties I've been too."

"Well, she's never been to this ball before." Henry sounded affronted at the thought that Alice may not get the chance to dance with him. The carriage came to a halt and Felicity peeked outside. The moment was here,they had arrived.

Taking Henry's arm, Felicity stepped out of the carriage and shivered in the bitterly cold February air. The large house beckoned to her with promises of warmth, music and gaiety. They quickly went in. The lively dance music made Felicity smile. She had always loved dancing. Felicity scanned the floor for Alice. She found her friend but Henry held his hand out and Felicity took it as another song started. She could find her friend after this dance. Suddenly, a man stopped her and Henry.

In the middle of a step, she was rudely jerked to a stop. She looked to see a man standing beside Henry. He spoke something low to Henry, which Felicity couldn't hear.

He spoke again and Felicity realized he was speaking French. She translated quickly in her head. He was asking to cut in. Her temper flared at the thought of the rude intrusion masked by gentlemanly formality.

"J'aimerais danser. Merci beaucoup." Felicity's tone was as sweet as the punch she'd rather be drinking then dancing with this Neanderthal. She didn't really have a choice. He'd already pulled her away from Henry and unless she wanted make a scene and risk not dancing with anyone else tonight, she needed to dance with this man-at least once. From the jerk of his head he clearly hadn't expected a response in French. But before she could claim victory, her mysterious dance partner led her out onto the other side of the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Henry approach Alice and the group of girls she was chatting with.

"I was not expecting you to understand French." Her dance partner said in English, he spoke English well enough, although he had an accent. "I am glad you did." He complimented, although it sounded more backhand then authentic.

"You have an accent," Felicity pointed it out. "Upper crust or base born?

"Parisian,"

Felicity gave a short mirthless laugh, reminiscent of her Aunt Fanny. "Of course."

Because he had the mask, Felicity couldn't tell much of what he looked like; curly hair, but the light made it almost impossible to tell if it was blonde or brown. He had blue eyes that reminded Felicity of the river at home. She loved to go to the gazebo on its banks and read.

"Well, mademoiselle, your French accent is nearly perfect."

"My father was a colonel in the army, he used to travel quite a bit and insisted that I learn some of the language if we were going to be traveling to a foreign country." Felicity explained. "We can speak French, if you're more comfortable with it. Or we could speak Spanish, German or Portuguese." There was a pause "Or how about Gaelic?"

There was a pause. "English will be fine, thank you," the man said, relieved as he switched back to English.

"You grew up in Paris, am I correct?" Felicity asked.

"I was born here in London, but spent most of my childhood in Paris."

Any further possible conversation kept getting broken up by dance steps that separated them, but when they were able to talk, conversation actually flowed and Felicity was somewhat disappointed when the song ended. "Kind sir, be it that I have given you the pleasure of an unsolicited dance, would it be too forward of me to inquire after your name?"

"Do you not know who am, or do you take pleasure in dancing with strange men?" The man asked, his eyes glittering with barely concealed humor that seemed to mock her.

"I take no pleasure in dancing with strange men…even if they are rude enough to cut in and steal someone else's pleasure of my company." Felicity shot back with measured demureness that barely concealed her temper.

"Are you accusing me of being a thief?"

"The thought had not crossed my mind until now, but if you're admitting to being one." Felicity shot back with veiled contempt. Was this man so obtuse that he could not see how arrogant of a fool that he was? She wondered. Or perhaps, she thought with dismay, maybe he didn't care.

He laughed aloud. "You have fire in your belly. I admire that." Felicity thought she heard admiration in his tone, but with the noise level of the room it was hard to tell.

"Well, if you are looking for a meek wallflower, I suggest that you look somewhere else other then in this direction." Kill him with kindness, she reminded herself. Kill him with kindness.

"Would it soothe your ruffled feathers to learn that your company is entertainment?"

Felicity scoffed and stepped away from him as she spotted her best friend. He stepped forward to speak again, but Felicity didn't give him a chance. "Your comment has not done much to soothe my 'ruffled feathers' as you put it." Felicity said shortly, she turned around as the music ended.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes, my dance card is full, and it no longer has your name on it. Although it's not likely that it had your name on it to begin with." Felicity said. She turned and left him there, not caring that she bumped into another man as she walked away.

"Felicity!" Alice waved Felicity over and Felicity smiled as she saw her best friend.

"I cannot believe that you were dancing with Lord Grey! He never asks anyone to dance!" Alice began to gush when Felicity got within earshot. While she was certain she'd heard his name before, it meant very little to Felicity. It hadn't been on the society page she'd read the day before.

Felicity raised her chin in a defiant, unladylike manner. "While he is a respectable dancer, his manners leave much to be desired. I would much rather dance with the devil himself then to take his hand on the dance floor again," Felicity spoke in a cold tone that left no argument.

The other ladies in Alice's group gasped in shock as though Felicity had used a vulgar term. "But it's so difficult to get a dance with him!" One of them objected in Lord Grey's defense.

"Then you should have danced with him, there was ample opportunity to cut in," Felicity replied in snide frustration.

"How unladylike!" Another woman chimed in her disapproval.

Something about the second woman speaking reminded Felicity that she was in London, and away from home. She could hear her father's voice in her head cautioning her temper. And she realized that it would not benefit her status to be ostracized from London Society. If she had to be her Aunt Elanor for one night to save her family's name so be it. "But why would I want to dance with someone whose manners were so uncouth?"

"Lord Grey is one of the most eligible bachelors in all of London!" The first woman stated with confused disbelief at Felicity's ignorance.

"Thank heavens, then," Felicity laughed with faux gayness, "that I don't live in London."

Alice gave a nervous twitter and pulled Felicity away from the group. "Let's go talk over here," she suggested in a tone that would have left Colonel Brandon impressed. Silently, they walked the entire perimeter of the ball room twice before Alice was asked to dance. Felicity watched her friend get whisked away, only to find another dance partner just a few moments later.

The hours passed quickly to Felicity's dismay, although Felicity decided that she had never had such fun in London- despite one dance partner deciding to use her feet as a substitute for the dance floor.

Grimacing to herself, she walked towards the refreshment table. She was only partway across the room when a voice made her turn.

"May I have this dance?" She hadn't danced with this gentleman yet but had noticed him on the dance floor and admired his skills.

"I must get something to drink, otherwise I'll faint straight away." Felicity told him. "However, after I have recovered my strength I will be happy to allow you space on my dance card, Lord….." She trailed off.

"Lord Wilkes." The man said, he bowed and spoke again. "I could not call myself a gentleman, nor a Lord if I allowed a Lady to faint in my presence. I look forward to our dance."

"As do I." Felicity gave a brief curtsy and they separated. She went into the next room to get some punch and she sipped it to cool down. She peered into the dance hall and could see Henry and Alice dancing.

She turned as she heard another man speaking to her.

"Come dance with me." It was obvious that the man who was now speaking to her had been drinking and she shrank back. She hated to be around those who couldn't hold their alcohol. Papa had always made those who were drinking leave her alone.

"I have already promised my next dance with another." Felicity informed him, sucking in a nervous breath. She looked around for an was none.

"He's not here now, join me on the dance floor."The man reached out and took her arm. Felicity jerked away.

"No!"

The man gripped her tightly and jerked her towards the ball room. She screamed in fright, causing several couples to look her way. Her glass fell to the floor, shattering and spilling its contents.

"The lady said no." Now free of his grasp, Felicity wasn't sure if she should be thankful or mad that it was Lord Grey, even though he had stepped up to her defense.

The drunken man turned away from her and grabbed Lord Grey. There was a scuffle and Felicity was pulled backwards by Henry who joined in, and the man was physically escorted from the room. The commotion faded away as Henry and Lord Grey moved towards the exit.

"Felicity, are you all right?" Alice asked, she touched Felicity's arm and Felicity threw her arms around her friend.

"Better now that he's away from me." Felicity said. "I can not believe such behavior! Papa has been right to keep the soldiers who were drinking away from me."

"Let's go over here." Alice guided Felicity away from the crowd.

Felicity sat as soon as she was next to a chair. Alice pushed a cup of punch into Felicity's hand. Felicity took a sip and felt Alice patting her shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

Felicity looked up as Lord Grey walked up. His mask had knocked askew and he fixed it. Felicity noticed that his shirt was untucked and his hair was mussed, She could now see that it was blonde. He fixed his shirt and hair before speaking again. The blue eyes Felicity had noticed earlier were steel blue now, and his jaw was tight. "That man you were dancing with has been made to leave, he will not come back to harass you again."

"I wasn't dancing with him." Felicity corrected shortly. "But I thank you for helping my cousin to take care of him."

"You're welcome," Lord Grey said. "Lady Felicity."

Even with the stress of the situation, it surprised Felicity that Lord Grey knew who she was. Her surprise must have shown, for Lord Grey spoke again.

"Although you don't familiarize yourself with whom you're dance partners, I make it my business to know."

"Even if you must steal away another man's dance partner to get a dance, Lord Grey?" Felicity asked. "I notice that you haven't danced since the end of the promenade."

"I've been too busy rescuing damsels in distress, from overly intoxicated would-be suitors." Lord Grey said.

"Jealous?" Felicity asked.

"You are only at this ball to find a rich husband." Lord Grey scoffed as he turned.

Felicity couldn't help but laugh at Lord Grey's accusation. She leaned close to Alice, and with no attempt to lower her voice spoke; "because it is a universally acknowledged truth that a single young woman of good breeding must be in need of a rich husband. How else could she function?" Felicity's question was rhetorical.

Lord Grey scoffed, turned around and left.

"Because money is the only thing that will make a marriage work." Felicity was happily surprised at Alice's words. Alice had always been spoiled. She, like Felicity was the only daughter of a wealthy man but Alice's parents were not like Felicity's. Alice had been raised by nannies.

Felicity and Alice linked arms and Alice spoke. "Let's don't let that horrible man affect the rest of the ball, let's find dance partners again."

Felicity nodded in agreement. Henry didn't look ready to leave and she enjoyed dancing. The friends turned back to the dance floor before Felicity was approached by Lord Wilkes.

"If you feel up to it, I would like to collect the dance you promised me."

"I would love to." Felicity said, she pushed the thought of Lord Grey and of the drunken man out of her mind as she and Lord Wilkes stepped out into the dance floor.


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