VERSAILLES || h.s.

XXVI

Harry swivelled his head around, grateful for a distraction from the incessant pestering from the girl before him. Her hand fell from his chest and she crossed her arms, her dark eyes narrowing at the unwelcome interruption to her attempted seduction of the Viscount. She knew not who the girl in red was, but that did little to ease her desire to smack her in the head with a silver tray nonetheless. The Lord Styles' green eyes peered through his gold mask as he observed the other woman before him. He licked his plump lips involuntarily.

Odete chewed the inside of her cheek. She noticed that he had not a clue it was her behind the mysterious black mask. Her plan had worked thus far, then.
"My Lady," he greeted, his raspy voice coursing through Odete like honey. "The Viscount Breckenridge. I do not believe I have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance."
The Lady Beauchamp felt panic burst in the pit of her stomach and ripple through her body, but she maintained her composure. A sly smirk pulled at her pink lips. "Please. Introductions are senseless, My Lord," she purred. Her sultry tone surprised her, but it instantly captured the Viscount's attention as he, too, smirked. The lady behind him rolled her eyes and marched off, abandoning her night's prospect of a conquest.

"Senseless, you say? How so?" Harry asked, leaning on his cane. His eyes travelled down Odete's figure, lingering at her bosom.
"A gentleman such as yourself does not attend a masquerade to remember names," she said airily.
"Neither, I presume, do you, My Lady," Harry quipped back. Odete smiled coquettishly.
"Your presumptions are correct," she replied. It was almost an out-of-body experience for the Beauchamp girl. Never before had she acted as the seductress; she felt herself enjoying the role more than she cared to admit.
"My Lady, might you grant me the honour of having this dance?" Harry suggested, handing his cane to a passing footman. He offered Odete the crook of his elbow.

She glanced at it, slightly apprehensive. He did not know who she was, yet he offered her a dance. But it was no matter, truly. What had she to worry about? She had danced with other nameless lords before. It was simply her paranoia eating at her nerves.
Odete smiled and graciously accepted his arm, allowing the Viscount to lead her to the centre of the ballroom. The waltz started up once more as they settled into their starting positions, and the pair swirled around the grand room ethereally. In the dim light, Odete's dress flowed like embers from a fire, and the rubies on her mask flickered like comets in the midnight sky.

The Viscount's black velvet overcoat consumed the candlelight, and the golden flowers sewn into the fabric glittered amongst the darkness. His golden shoes clicked to the rhythm of the strings, and his chartreuse eyes watched the woman before him intently, hidden behind the weighty, winged mask. Her eyes were, too, trained on him. They appeared so familiar, but her mask shielded the light from reaching her eyes.

The pair lost count of how many waltzes they danced through, and time faded into memory as they swirled, never once uttering a word to one another. The music was all that spoke. Soon, guests in the grand hall began to stumble out drunkenly, giggling like children. Ladies clutched the arms of lords and brazen youths whispered crude things to one another, marvelling at their freedom as they laughed and jested, blindly barreling into rooms with people they barely knew. The crowd in the hall thinned and thinned, until there was only a handful of aristocrats who remained, most of which lay unconscious on the scattered divans.

Odete bit her lip. It was time to test Harry.
"My Lord, shall we leave? I do believe the evening has drawn to a close," she said, shifting on her heels. Her feet had been hurting for some time. Harry glanced around.
"Very well." He offered her his arm and she slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow. A servant scurried towards him holding his cane, placing it before the lord. The Viscount took it and led her through the doors and into the hallway, where they spotted a young couple kissing passionately against an intricately carved pillar. Odete cleared her throat and averted her gaze.