Emma Lane Read Online Free

This world was filled with smiling, happy people out to play. Look how Sarah danced with great skill. He did not know the movements of the dance. Well, maybe that country dance some peasants had taught his troops one boring day when they were at rest.
    He should go home, back to the country. His father needed him to help manage the estates. He had been patient these long years with his only son’s desire to fight for his country. His parents were getting on in years and deserved his attention. He should go home. Yet he walked as if drawn by magic toward the smiling incomparable with the golden hair.

    Sarah dipped and swayed in time to the music, trying to keep the smile from her face. James was too funny in that full set of armor. The visor kept falling in front of his face, and others had to lead him back into the steps. There was much giggling and pushing, but James was determined to play the role out.
    Clank.
    There it went again, and James wandered off the square leaving his partner standing waiting in the dance. Laughter again as the four-square of dancers paused to catch him up and get him settled again. Sarah giggled herself. James was as amiable a man as they came, but not as bright as he could be. She was relieved when the music signaled the end of the set. She curtsied to her partner who bowed and clanked his visor shut again.
    She felt a touch on her arm and turned around to smile into the face of a complete stranger. He was tall with a deeply tanned, weathered face and glittering eyes, the colour hidden in the flickering candle light from above. The mask he wore gave him a sinister look exacerbated by his luxurious dark hair which was worn too long for fashion. It framed his face and highlighted a square, firm jawline. The slight smile he sent to her revealed white teeth in stark contrast to his tanned skin. She felt a chill run up the back of her neck. Did he masquerade as a poet — or a pirate?
    The stranger held out his arm to her, and for some reason she could not comprehend, she took it. He led her away from her friends and through the crowd toward a set of French doors at the end of the ball room. They stood open, and she could see various couples strolling in the garden beyond.
    “Do you mean to kidnap me, Dark Domino?” she asked looking up into his face. “Should I be fearful?” She was only half teasing.
    “Do not be afraid. It’s cool in the garden. I thought we could get some fresh air.”
    He talked in a low voice, but gruff as if he had a cold. She listened intently, but could not identify the man. Yet he seemed so familiar. Surely he was one of her friends, intent on teasing her by making her guess his identity. Then she would play the game as well.
    “Then lead on, Dark Domino. I will follow where you take me.”
    She smiled gaily as they left the ballroom and entered the semi-darkness of the garden. The fragrance of late season roses drifted by them; candle-lit lanterns hung here and there, marking the pathways. Abruptly the stranger swung them into an unlit pathway and pulled her toward a white bench set against a lush vine twirled around an arbor. A fountain gurgled nearby. He pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and swept the bench clean.
    “My lady,” he said and bowed her onto the bench. She sat and looked up at him still standing before her. Tension tingled her senses; she was not really afraid, but the excitement of being in the semi-darkness with a strange man was beginning to disturb her.
    “It is almost midnight, sir. Should we not reveal our identities a minute or two early?”
    “Yes, we can do that. But first…”
    He pulled her up and into his arms. His head came down, his hand cupped the back of her head, and his lips found hers. His other arm came around her waist and pulled her close. As their lips touched, he released his breath in a long sigh and held her tenderly, not moving. Sarah Louise was too surprised to move. She did not feel afraid or offended. She