The Sutcliffe ball.

"I am not dancing with him, mother," Alice said firmly.

"Why not?" Lady Woodbury asked, dragging her daughter into the crowded ballroom.

"His very presence makes me uncomfortable," she replied.

Lady Woodbury nodded her understanding, she was never one to force her daughter.

"Just endeavour to be polite should he come upon you. You know he's important for your father's new investment, do you not?"

"Yes, mother," Alice agreed quickly. She knew that while her father wasn't exactly in dire straits, the success of this business venture would certainly help them.

"I shall go seek out my friends," she told her mother.

"See that you do," her mother smiled.

"You look lovely, Alice!" Sarah grinned at her.

"Yes, this colour suits you," Vanessa murmured, assessing Alice's dress.

"It does, doesn't it?" she smirked, doing a little twirl in front of them.

"As humble as ever," Sarah said drily.

"Where's Rosa?" Vanessa asked, looking this way and that.

"Lord Fortescue must have convinced her that they could find alternative means of entertainment," Alice rolled her eyes.

As happy as she was for them, her friend and her husband were disgustingly in love with each other.

Vanessa nodded with great feeling while Sarah laughed.

"I hear Ralph's to attend," Vanessa murmured.

Alice almost groaned out her displeasure.

"It's a good thing he's attending, it's high time he found himself a wife," Sarah was saying.

"Any woman would be lucky to have him," Alice said dutifully, lying through her teeth.

"He is a gentleman," Vanessa nodded and Alice almost scoffed at that.

If only she could tell Vanessa that he was anything but that.

But she couldn't...

She'd discovered what a scoundrel Ralph was, but she couldn't tell her friends. It would break Rosalyn's heart to hear that her brother was a womaniser and more.

Alice had tried to give him the benefit of doubt, she really had. But he'd given her no explanation, hence proving that he was guilty.

The worst part was that he pretended to be a gentleman in front of the ton.

He was as bad as Ralston, if not more.

Alice had played along these last few years. She certainly couldn't openly showcase her hostility towards him without an explanation. In fact, she suspected they'd overdone it for not long ago, her friends had thought that they were romantically inclined towards each other.

Ha, as if.

She was pulled out of her mental ramblings when Vanessa pinched her.

She was really doing that a lot these days.

Alice turned around to find him standing behind her.

It wasn't the him that she'd been waiting for her entire life, although she'd stopped waiting for any him. But it was the him that made her skin prickle with unease.

"Good evening, my lady. I knew that the vision in blue had to be you even from the far end of the room," he said, bowing over Alice's hand.

"You're too kind, sir," she curtseyed.

"Kindness has nothing to do with what I feel for you, Lady Alice," he smiled and Alice had to make a conscious effort to not squirm.

"Would you like to take a turn about the ballroom with me?" He asked, already offering his arm.

She couldn't very well say no.

So she said, "I would be delighted to."

She turned to find Sarah and Vanessa looking at her with a concerned expressions. She blinked once, hoping they'd understand the reassurance.

It isn't so bad, she tried telling herself as he went about telling her about his various escapades. It was abundantly clear that he was trying to impress her and failing miserably.

She nodded and smiled at the appropriate intervals. It will be over soon, she kept telling herself.

But every now and then, he'd look down at her with an odd sort of intensity. She wasn't a green girl, she understood what his heated gaze meant.

He wanted her.

But he definitely wasn't the first man to look at her that way and he wasn't going to be the last. Alice had a made a career out of dodging these untoward advances.

Ralston has taught her well, she thought bitterly.

And yet there was something about his oily glance that made her feel trapped. Alice hadn't felt trapped even when Ralston had been trying to rape her. She'd known she'd escape.

Ralph was in bad humour when he entered the ballroom. He was in no mood to attend a goddamned ball.

He'd reached what seemed like a deadened on the George Bates case. But he was a mere baronet with high connections which was enough to raise Ralph's suspicions. Either way, Ralph was not going to give up on this case until he found concrete proof of his innocence.

That was exactly why Ralph was here. He knew Bates would be here. The man never dismissed any chances to climb the social ladder.

He scanned the crowd, trying to find him.

And he spotted Alice.

Ah.

She was standing next to someone but the man was hidden behind a group of people.

He walked towards the group, taking time to look at Alice.

She looked breathtaking, as she usually did, he thought grudgingly.

She wore this Chantilly blue confection that left her shoulders bare and exposed the tops of her breasts. He approved, of course. But he certainly didn't approve of the other men ogling her.

She laughed, the tinkling sound reaching his ears despite the noise around them. It caused a now familiar tightening of his muscles.

He was in the middle of cursing her for doing this to him when the group parted, revealing the man she was standing with.

Bloody hell.

George Bates of all people.

Of course Lady Alice Woodbury would choose to shower her attention on a man who was probably a traitor to the crown.

He strode up to them rigidly.

"Good evening, Alice," he smiled at her familiarly just to get a reaction out of her.

"Oh hullo, Ralph. I must say I'm quite surprised to see you here," she replied smoothly and he saw Bates stiffen beside her.

Oh.

"Ah, Bates. Jolly good to see you here," Ralph turned to the man.

"Indeed, my lord," he bowed, but not before Ralph saw the annoyance on his face.

"Would you mind if I took the Lady off your hands for a while? My Lady?" he turned to Alice, not waiting for Bates to reply.

Alice smiled at him, her fake smile and put her hand on his arm.