threw up his hands. “Geez, Lily, it’s a ball not a hanging.” As he pulled on his gloves and adjusted the fingers, he said, “You used to love going to balls back home, all your letters said so.” Content with the fit of his gloves he glanced up at her expectantly.
“Well yes, I did love them in Paris, William. I knew everyone there.” Lily had been very popular with the nobility of Paris. Her looks made everyone want to be close to her, and once they were, they realized her personality was just as beautiful.
“You will know several people here tonight. I know you have been making friends these last two weeks, plus you’ve built up quite a few admirers, or so I hear,” he said with a wag of his eyebrows. “Anyone caught your fancy?”
“Don’t be ridiculous William,” said Lily with an indulgent look on her face. She knew he was trying to change the subject to cheer her up, but asking about her love life was not the way to go. “What would be the point in dating a human? It’s very unlikely he will be my promised one,” she said, an almost wistful sound to her voice.
All immortals spent their lives searching for their fated mate or promised one as it had come to be known. Most only found him or her after hundreds if not thousands of years, and they were almost always another immortal. It was possible to find their promised one in a human, but it didn’t happen very often. It was very hard for a human to become an immortal without tuning into a vampire. The transition was hard on the body and mind. The immortal population had grown over the years, but it was still miniscule compared to that of the human one. There were less than ten thousand of them spread over the world. With each new discovery of another land, more and more of their kind left their homeland and traveled across the sea, for the promise of a fresh start.
“I’ve met a few of the other immortals who live here and none of them will be here tonight.” Larger cities had places where immortals could go to mingle with each other. London actually had few because of its size. Lily had managed to visit all of them already.
“Well actually, Lily, I’ve been meaning to tell you,” started William very carefully. He knew this could be a tricky conversation. “One of my good friends is in town, and I don’t believe you have met him yet. I wouldn’t mention him now, but there’s a possibility he will show up tonight…although I hope not.” He had tried to persuade Tristan to go out with his mistress tonight by sending her over to his townhouse. There was no way even Tristan would be so brash as to bring her to the Tilden’s ball.
“Oh, really, William?” asked Lily excitedly. “Who is it? Why haven’t I met him yet?” Lily was very young, but she was also very lonely. She would love to meet her promised one, even though she knew that it would likely be hundreds of years before that happened.
“Easy, Lily,” cautioned William. “He’s not someone I think you should concern yourself with.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, it’s just that he’s not exactly a paragon of virtue. His moral compass doesn’t always point north. Not that he’s a bad man,” said William quickly before she could interrupt. “He’s just a little rough around the edges. He’s had a difficult life.”
“I thought you said he was your good friend?”
“He is, Lil. And like I said, he is a good man, he’s just a little bit of a lady’s man, that’s all.”
“Even more so than you?” teased Lily with a raised eyebrow.
“Very funny, and yes. He makes me look like a saint. Any young lady he associates with usually finds herself ruined, if not literally then just because of his reputation.” There seemed to be a note of envy in his voice as he talked of his friend. Why anyone would admire traits like these was completely lost on her.
“William! Whatever are you friends with that man for? He sounds absolutely dreadful.” Their kind was always very popular with others because of their looks. Most of them were discreet though and chose to blend into the background as much as possible. For someone to be that much in the spotlight of London society, he had a higher chance of someone realizing he was more than human.
“Well, actually,” started William, probably going to defend his friend. Fortunately for him, they could feel the carriage start to slow down. “Just promise me you’ll be careful. Like I said, he shouldn’t be her tonight, but there will be other scoundrels sniffing around you for sure.”
“Stop being so overprotective,” she said with a final tug on her gloves. “Of course, I’ll be careful. I have one more question though. If he is such a good friend of yours, then how come he won’t be here tonight?”
“It’s a long story,” explained William, with a slightly guilty look on his face.
She knew that look. “What did you do, William?”
“Nothing.”
“William.”
“Oh very well, I was supposed to help him enter tonight’s assembly, but it may have slipped my mind. Besides, I have a feeling he will be rather busy,” he said with a slight grin on his face. Whatever that grin meant, for some reason it almost made Lily feel like she should blush. Obviously, her brother had manipulated certain events to prevent the two of them from meeting.
“You did this because of me?” asked Lily. She got her answer when she watched the look of guilt on his face transfer to one of steely determination. He was doing this out of a sense of brotherly concern and an almost paternal protection.
“I thought it best that the two of you do not meet quite yet.”
“For god’s sake, William, I can take care of myself!” exclaimed Lily, throwing her hands up in the air.
“I know that, but I’m just looking out for you. Now come on,” said William as he started to open the door. “Let’s go in here and charm Jane and her father so he will invest in my irrigation scheme.”
“Very well,” she said as she descended from the carriage with the help of a waiting footman. She then stopped and turned around, facing her brother as he put his hat back on his head. “Why did he need to sneak in tonight anyways? Was he not invited?”
“Just another reason why you should have nothing to do with him,” he said as he climbed down from the carriage. He looked splendid in his evening wear.
“Why wasn’t he invited, William?” she asked as they turned toward the house. “Everyone was invited tonight. My new friend Sarah said so. If he’s that popular in this town, then surely he would get an invitation.”
He took her arm to lead her up the steps. “He is currently having a disagreement with the lord and lady of the house. It’s nothing to concern yourself over, Lil,” he said while patting her hand.
They were to the top of the staircase. The entrance to the ballroom was on the other side of these doors. Lily could feel her heart racing. It felt as if she was walking toward a firing squad, not a party.
With a flourish, a pair of footmen opened the doors and stepped back, allowing the duo to walk into the room. The host and hostess were already mingling, and luckily it was too late to be announced. They might be able to sneak in without causing too much of a fuss.
“Help me off with my shawl, William,” said Lily. “You were the one grumbling about gentlemanly behavior earlier.”
“I was getting to it, Lily,” he said while glancing around the room. “I was trying to spot Jane.” He was so distracted looking about that he almost got her arms tangled up in her shawl.
“I think you fancy her,” said Lily as she finally shrugged out of it. She was saying anything now, trying to distract herself from the feeling of being watched. It felt like a thousand eyes were on them. So much for sneaking in unnoticed. She took a deep breath and tuned around.
“Don’t be crazy, Lily, she is—”
Lily knew he had kept talking, but she