As she struggled to take it all in, Nicholas suddenly appeared at her side. In the flickering orange glow of the flames, his grim visage was as sinister as his reputation.
“Good evening, Mira,” he said, a thin smile curving his mouth. “Welcome to Upper Bidwell’s Midsummer festival.”
His dark allure was potent, and a sizzling thrill shot through her when he spoke. She struggled for a polite smile. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Nicholas’s gaze slid down to her chest, and his smile widened a fraction. “I see you are wearing my gift.”
“Always,” she replied, feeling the blush warming her cheeks.
“And this,” Nicholas reached out to run a finger along the curve of Olivia’s locket. Mira held her breath, watching with dread for some sign of recognition on Nicholas’s face. “I have not noticed you wearing this before. It is pretty. Is it special to you?”
Mira’s legs went weak with relief. Nicholas did not recognize Olivia’s locket. He acted as though he had never seen it before. Someone else must have left it at Dowerdu, someone who wanted her to find both it and her shawl. Someone who wanted her to doubt him. She smiled. “It is very special to me. It belonged to a friend.”
Before he could inquire further, Mira rushed to change the subject. She waved her hand to indicate the frenetic merrymaking all around. “This is not quite what I expected. Until tonight, the townspeople seemed so, well, reserved.”
Nicholas chuckled. “But this is a special night.”
He leaned down to whisper in her ear, the rhythm of his voice and the caress of his breath stealing Mira’s last coherent thought. “It is Midsummer’s Eve, Mira, the night when the doorway to the magical world swings open and the pixies and faeries cavort with men. It is the night when fortunes are made, both good and ill, when the face of love may be divined, and when all manner of sin may be committed with impunity.” He brushed the curve of her ear with his lips and Mira’s eyes fluttered closed. “Tell me, Mira-mine, what sort of sin will you indulge tonight?”
Before Mira could summon the will to answer, a young man with wild eyes and a garland of herbs around his neck careened into her, sending her stumbling to the side. Nicholas’s hand shot out to steady her, and the young man laughed as he righted himself before disappearing into the dark.
As Mira turned to face Nicholas, however, another group of merrymakers crowded around them, forcing them apart, and before she could gain her bearings she had lost sight of Nicholas entirely. A line of people moved past her, laughing men and women, all holding hands as they executed some strange dance. As the last dancer passed, he grabbed up Mira’s hand and pulled her after them.
She was swept along in the wake of the dancers as they made a circuit around the stone circle, weaving in and out of the massive stone pillars as though they were dancing around some sinister maypole. As the group completed the circle, Mira managed to break free.
She steadied herself and began searching the crowd for Nicholas. She saw Lord and Lady Marleston, both flushed with excitement and clasping hands like young lovers, and Lord and Lady Bosworth, locked in a scandalous embrace as they joined the dancing in the center of the stone circle. Mira even caught a glimpse of timid Lady Phoebe, lurking in the shadow of one of the standing stones, being swept into the arms of a stranger, a man built like a blacksmith. All around her, the members of the Blackwell house party were surrendering to the wanton madness of the Midsummer festivities.
All except Bella, who hung back near the carriages, a secretive smile tilting her lips, an aura of tightly concentrated energy radiating from her small form.
Turning in a circle to better search the crowd, Mira suddenly found her field of vision completely occupied by a broad male chest clothed in the most exquisite white brocade waistcoat, a perfectly knotted cravat spilling over the top. A hollow feeling settling into her chest, Mira slowly tipped her head back to look directly into the face of Lord Sebastian Ellerby, Earl Blackwell.
Blackwell’s features were as composed as usual, only the faint twist of a smile and a glint of jaded amusement in his eyes giving any hint of expression.