by Abigail Agar
Maybe the men look different in America, she thought, liking the idea more than she felt she should. Maybe he will be unlike anyone I have ever seen before.
“His name is Thomas Jones,” the lady continued to whisper to her. “I do not know if he has a title or not because he is not from England. He is from America. Can you believe that? He has come all the way from the other side of the world just to hold this ball.”
“I see.” Much as Victoria did not think that was the case, she did not want to say that. She did not want to damage this girl’s enthusiasm when she was clearly having such a good time. “That is fascinating. All the way from America ...”
“I would love to dance with him tonight. Do you think that he will ask everyone?”
Victoria nodded curtly, wanting to put this conversation to an end rapidly. Now that she had found out who this man was in the room, all she wanted to do was watch him, and she did not know why. Her lack of response did not stop the young lady from talking, but Victoria could barely listen any longer. She tuned the words out and zoned in on only him.
Eventually, he seemed to sense her eyes upon him because as Thomas Jones turned, his eyes immediately connected with Victoria’s. His mask was so minimal that she could see almost all of his face underneath it. A jolt of some kind raced through her body making her shiver lightly, but she could not work out what it was. It should have been panic, but she could not describe it as such. Her heart fluttered, picking up the pace; there was a dry sensation at the back of her throat, and her stomach felt like there were butterflies flapping around inside of it. She gripped onto her midriff to try and stop them, but it made no difference.
What is going on? she thought as she tried to drag her eyes away from his. But they were stuck; she could not move however much she wanted to. What is happening with me?
When Victoria first thought that this man would be unlike anyone that she had ever laid eyes on, she was not prepared for how that would really feel. Not only did this man not quite fit into this English suit, he did not fit into the traditional look of a gentleman either. His skin was not pale and white, and he had a slightly tanned look as if he had been kissed by the American sun. Victoria had always been led to believe that it was not good to have spent a lot of time in the sunshine, that it would make her look more like someone without money, but Thomas somehow managed to make it look wonderful. With his dark, long hair, his deep brown eyes, and his high cheekbones, he looked incredible. He was so handsome that Victoria was frozen to the spot.
“Is he smiling at you?” the lady hissed, reminding Victoria that there were other people in the room. “Oh my goodness, I think Thomas Jones has noticed you. He might ask you to dance.” There was a brief pause where Victoria could only hear the lady’s excitable breaths, but still she did not pull her eyes away. Victoria could not fight the force holding them in place while she looked only at him. “If he does, will you recommend that he asks me afterwards? My name is Lady Lucy Smith.”
Victoria started to understand why this girl looked so attractive. The Smith family were so wealthy that they even had connections to the royal family. According to her father, he had met the King once, but Victoria had never paid much attention to that story because she did not know how much of it was true. She did not think that her father would lie, but it had always seemed a little unbelievable. Maybe that was something she needed to ask him again.
“I ... I do not think that I can,” Victoria admitted. “I do not think I can dance with him.”
As she sensed that maybe he was going to step towards her, she retreated backwards. Lady Lucy stared at her, probably with a confused expression under that mask, but that did not stop Victoria from moving. Things had gone so wrong so quickly, and already she felt like she had become the centre of attention which was exactly where she did not want to be.
I must remember the life that my family wants to lay out for me, Victoria reminded herself as she retreated. They want to get me a home in the countryside where I can live by myself. I will be able to exist just as I wish to; it will be just wonderful. I cannot ruin that by making eye contact with this mysterious American man ...
For a moment, she tried to imagine how the main character in her story would handle this situation; she tried to take her writing one step further and to actually imagine herself as someone else, but that thought quickly fell apart when she realised that she was creating a romance based on a situation just like this one. Her heroine would leap at the chance to spend time with the hero because he made her feel some very unexpected things ... such as a racing heart and butterflies in her tummy.
Victoria scanned left and right as she searched for an escape route. While she processed what was going on inside of her, she needed some time alone. She could not wait here and watch while Thomas Jones took some large strides that seemed to head in her direction. She could try to convince herself that he was crossing the room to speak to someone else, but there was a part of her that knew the truth. He had seen her from across the room, maybe he had even noticed how she was reacting to him, and now he wanted to talk to her. She could hope that Lucy would grab him first, her or another lady that desperately wanted his attention, but there was a chance that would not happen. If he was determined to spend time with her, then nothing could stop him. He seemed the sort of man who did whatever he wanted, no matter what social normalities were.
Eventually, her back hit the wall, and she could retreat no further. Nor could she spot an easy way out from the room because it appeared that the crowds had thickened. All she could do was wait for the moment for him to reach her. As her anxiety intensified, she tried her hardest to calm herself. She breathed deeper and straightened out her expression as best she could.
All I need to do is be polite. I do not need to be rude, and I do not need to dance with him either, she told herself as the gap closed even tighter. Do not embarrass my father further, but do not give this American man any hint that anything shall happen either.
His hand outstretched as he neared her; he wanted to take her fingers in his palm, and much as everything inside Victoria’s body wanted to pull away, she could not. She had to allow him to touch her for fear of being seen as rude. What she was not prepared for was how the touch of his skin would make her feel ...
Chapter Five
As soon as Thomas laid eyes on the lady in the beautiful dark blue dress, he felt something inside of him shift. When preparing this ball to introduce himself into English society, which was much stiffer and filled with all sorts of baffling unwritten rules that he did not yet understand, his expectations were high. He could not wait to spend time with some English gentlemen and to get to know some of the eligible ladies that the city of London held ... but up until the point that he had spotted this mysterious woman, he had found it something of a letdown. The ladies did not appeal to him, the men did not trust him, and he was starting to think that life in England would not be as he expected at all.
But then, just as he was extracting himself from a very dull conversation with a lady who thought it appropriate to discuss her father’s self-made fortune in the shipping industry, he felt a fizzle inside his stomach. If there was one thing that Thomas was proud of, it was his intuition, and it had proven right yet again. As he turned, he spotted a stunning woman who seemed to have something different about her ... something that intrigued him more than anyone else so far.
At that moment, he had no choice. He absolutely had to speak with her.
Ignoring all the other people in the room, Thomas used his long legs to cross the room quickly. Maybe it was not right to be so focused on only one person when he was hosting, but Thomas had grown a little weary of English social etiquette. In his home American town, he was known for taking what he wanted and never accepting no as an answer. It was a comfortable life really where he always knew where he stood. Maybe it was a shame that circumstances had sent him halfway across the world on this crazy adventure. It was just lucky that he had a fami
ly inheritance in England which left him with lots of property up and down the country. That gave him the choices he needed.
He broke into a grin as he neared this mysterious lady and held out his hand to take hers. She looked uncertain as she gave her hand over to him, but he suspected that was because she liked him. She might not yet realise it herself, but he believed that was the case. Thomas recognised her facial expression well; he had seen it many a time. It seemed that he had been blessed with some very good looks. Soon, once they started talking, she would recognise it too.
As Thomas took her hand and leaned down to kiss it, he kept his eyes raised to see her reaction. He was pleased to see her eyes open wide in shock as his lips brushed against her skin because it confirmed what he already thought.
“Good evening, it is lovely to have you here,” he drawled in his thick American accent. “My name is Thomas Jones, and I am your host for the evening. May I please know your name?”
“I am Victoria,” came the reply. “Lady Victoria Turner.”
As the other ladies introduced themselves to him, they did so in a way that showed pride in their family name. Clearly, names and titles meant a lot in London, perhaps due to the tight-knit but competitive nature of the upper classes. Not to Thomas, though, he did not yet know anyone. He did not want to either; he would rather know people for who they were rather than what family they were born into. He could not see how a name would tell him anything of significance.
“Lady Victoria Turner,” he replied approvingly. “What a beautiful name.”
An adorable redness crept up Victoria’s cheeks which made Thomas smile inwardly. He had made the right decision coming to talk to this woman; she was certainly set apart from everyone else in the room. She did not fit in with the rest of the room at all.
“Thank you very much,” she replied quietly. “As is yours, Sir.”
“So, Lady Victoria, if I may address you as such, “please tell me more about yourself.”
Victoria froze at the question. She did not know what sort of thing she was supposed to say. Maybe it was better when everyone knew something about one another because there was always something to start up a conversation; business, people in common, family members ... with Thomas she had nothing. “What would you like to know?” she eventually whispered.
“I do not wish to know all about your father,” he replied firmly, with a cheeky looking smile that travelled all the way up to his eyes. “I have heard from many ladies tonight what business their father is in and how much money they make, whatever.”
“And that is not where your interest lies?” Victoria felt genuinely stunned. That was usually the main focus of finding a partner, working out what both parties could gain from the arrangement. It was certainly a convenience thing rather than anything else. “You do not need all the facts first?”
“Oh, my goodness no.” Thomas rolled his eyes, which was a gesture that Victoria had never seen before, certainly not in public. She almost let out a little giggle with shock. “It is terribly boring. I would much rather learn what someone’s passion is, or what they are like inside.”
This immediately made Victoria think of her writing which was something that she loved to do very much, but that was her secret passion. It was not something that she had even told her parents, and she did not think it wise to start telling this stranger about it. Even if his deep dark eyes were piercing into her soul, possibly seeing things of her that she did not usually reveal.
“Well then, maybe you are not talking to the right person,” she told him quietly, leaning in a little closer as she spoke. “I do not think that I am very interesting at all.”
Thomas shook his head, still smiling. “I completely disagree with you, Lady Victoria. I believe that you are the most interesting person that I have met all night.”
The flattery tickled Victoria; she could feel it washing all over her. It was very hard for her to remember that this man might have simply been a charmer, someone who would say what he thought the other person wanted to hear. Maybe he could tell that as the youngest of three girls she often went ignored and that because of that she felt insecure. Eleanor was always the smart one, and Charlotte the most beautiful. As far as she was aware, Victoria was not the most anything. Perhaps he was merely trying to be nice and attentive in playing the host.
The lovely exotic accent also made it harder not to trust the words. The way that Thomas spoke was so inviting, Victoria almost wanted to fall for him right in the middle of this ballroom.
“Do you come from a big family?” Thomas asked her, doing his best to dig deeper.
“I have two older sisters, but now I am on my own.” Without even meaning to, Victoria was being much too honest. “They are both married and have families of their own.”
“I see.” Thomas nodded and stared at Victoria’s face as if he found her utterly intriguing despite the fact that he was not saying anything of note. “And are they happy with their husbands?”
Victoria pulled away from him in shocked horror. This was not the sort of thing that was ever discussed in public. Despite the fact that marriage was a thing of convenience, that did not mean people talked about their lack of emotional happiness. Especially not in such a public place.
“Pardon me?” she responded with some severity. “That is not the sort of thing that I am willing to discuss ...”
“I did not mean to offend,” Thomas insisted while touching her forearm, making Victoria shiver once more. There was something intoxicating about the feel of his skin on hers. It made her head spiral and feel a little out of control. “I just do not understand the rules of engagement here quite so much. They seem strange compared to how things are in America.”
“What are things like in America?” Victoria could not help herself. She wanted to know more about a different culture, especially when it did not seem to be so stilted.
“They are just different. People do not worry so much about money.” Thomas’s tone was a little stiffer now. He knew that he was the one to bring it up, but he did not want to talk about America or the past. “Suffice to say it is more about the feelings than the benefit.”
It was what Victoria had imagined a lot, a world where titles and money meant a lot less, certainly when it came to rules and love. To her, the idea sounded wonderful. The thought that there were attitudes like that out in the world made her feel a little speechless. She parted her lips slightly, wanting to say something, but no words came.
“I do wonder why things are not like that here,” Thomas mused, speaking for her. “It seems very strange to me.”
“I suppose it can be if people wish it to be,” Victoria answered, knowing that was probably not the truth. If a lady’s father did not agree to a union, then it would not happen. “Maybe.”
Thomas looked at Victoria with a glint in his eye. He could see that she was now finally starting to open up to him, which meant that internally she was recognising her feelings for him. Now was the moment for him to capture her completely by asking her to dance. From what he had been told, he would cause whispers if he danced with her more than twice upon first meeting – which he did not mind so much, but he did not want to affect Victoria negatively – and he could use that short time to figure out how real their potential chemistry could be. Touching one another and staring into each other’s eyes while moving to music was one of the most romantic things in the world. In Thomas’s experience, that was when feelings would really start to show themselves.
It was just lucky that he knew how to move like an English gentleman.
“Would you like to dance with me?” he asked with a smile and an outstretched hand.
Victoria glanced down at his hand, loving the fact that he wanted to dance with her, which just reflected the impression that she had had on him, but the thoughts of her real potential future circled her mind. Just because she had found Thomas easy to speak to, and she had felt a little connection with him, did not change things.
&n
bsp; “I cannot,” she whispered. “I am sorry, but I cannot.”
Thomas bristled, set on edge by this. It was not something that he was used to at all. He had never felt the sting of rejection before, and it did not sit well with him. The other ladies here were almost clawing at the chance to spend time and dance with him. He knew that Victoria was different, but he did not expect this.
“You are saying no?” he uttered in shock. “You are turning me down?”
Tears swam behind Victoria’s eyes; she felt far more awful than she thought that she would, but that did not change anything. “I am sorry,” she continued. “But I am. I have to say no.”
Chapter Six
Victoria and Thomas stared at each other for a few moments, both swimming in their own emotions. Thomas felt speechless; he did not know how to even form words now. There was a little bit of humiliation swimming around inside of him as he drank in his first ever rejection, but that emotion was not the strongest one. He was sad; he wanted to dance with Lady Victoria more than anyone else in the room, and it hurt him that she did not feel the same way. He could tell that she felt something for him, but she was holding back, and he could not work out why.
Victoria felt torn, Thomas was the first man that she had ever actually wanted to dance with, but she could not. Not when she had another goal that was far more important. The irony of the situation was horrible. Seeing the hurt on his face was almost enough to make her waver on her firm decision, though, so she decided that the safest thing to do was make an escape.
“I am sorry; I shall leave now,” she gushed as she moved sideways away from him. “I do not wish to take up any more of your time. I know that you have a lot of people that you ... you need to speak to tonight, being the host after all ...” She could feel herself talking for the sake of it but could not seem to stop. “I will let you be ...”
