Read Once Upon a Masquerade for Free Online Page A

her face, her earlier tenseness all but gone. “Can I assume you aren’t included in this wondrous group?”
    “You may.” Idly, he wondered… Did his social status matter to her? He wasn’t a blue blood, and many didn’t socialize with him because of it. Taking a drink of his champagne, he decided to find out. “I’m what’s known as a bouncer, an arriviste, someone who’s only recently amassed his fortune. Needless to say, I’m only reluctantly invited when absolutely required. My bloodlines are much too sullied.”
    She pushed her plate away, giving no outward sign of upset. “A pity.”
    “Indeed,” he muttered, her reaction warming him through. “Shall we stroll through this splendid home?”
    “What a good idea.” She drained the last of her glass. Wobbling as she rose from her seat, she plucked the feather duster from the floor.
    He tucked her arm in his and led her from the jungle into a corridor lined with doors. Her hand felt good nestled securely in the crook of his arm. Her hips swaying with each step, her skirts brushed against his pant leg.
    “If you don’t mind my asking, how did you amass a fortune?” She looked up into his face, her eyes innocent and beguiling.
    His lips quirked upward. Few in society cared, unless there was a profit to be made. “Shipping. When I was a boy, my father used almost all the money he had to buy our first vessel. He named her The Fair Maiden , and she needed a lot of repairs. The two of us worked on her for several months before she was ready to sail.”
    “Remarkable. Working with your father on something so important must have been very satisfying.” A flash of sadness shadowed her features, but as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.
    “Are you all right?”
    She nodded. “My father and I don’t always see things in the same light.”
    “Ah, that’s the way of fathers and children, isn’t it?” He rested his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. “My father and I didn’t always agree either. There were moments when I didn’t want to put in the effort, but that’s where fathers are wise. In time, our work together came to mean a great deal to me. Our family grew the business from a one-vessel operation into one of the largest merchant companies in the country.”
    She peeked into a small room equipped for sewing. “Hence the pirate costume?” she asked, a smile playing about her shapely lips and a teasing glint in her eye.
    He guided her inside, toward a frame attached to a sturdy stand. “Actually, I was a ship’s captain for my family’s company for the last several years. Not as a pirate, mind you, more as an ambassador of sorts, establishing new sailing routes and port contacts. Have you ever sailed?”
    “Oh, well, no.” She scanned around the room, several loose tresses dangling along her neck to brush her shoulders. “But it does sound adventurous. Do you miss it?”
    “Very much.” His fingers itched to touch those strands, to feel their softness beneath his fingertips. “Standing on a well-scrubbed deck, smelling the salty air, and looking out at the endless rolling sea… There’s nothing quite like it.”
    Her hand grazed along the back of a chair as she moved ahead to the needlepoint on the stand. “Why did you give it up?” As Miss Bailey studied the stitches before her, the image of Adele flashed before his eyes. Months had gone by and still her decision to cast him aside stung. Instead of ruining their evening discussing his past, he evaded Miss Bailey’s question. “I plan to set sail again once my new ship is complete. Although if my mother had her way, I’d stop working for good. She’s never liked my occupation. She says she can’t bear my long absences, claiming her right as an old woman to enjoy her only son’s company until she’s no longer with us.” He rested his hand over his heart in mock pain.
    Miss Bailey straightened. “Is she ill or very old?”
    “No, simply determined.” They sauntered back