Read Online An Unlikely Alliance by Rachel van Dyken - Free Book Online Page B

future.
     
    ****
     
    Surely her life had turned into a dream!
Evelyn danced around her room in fits of excitement as she thought
about the night ahead of her. He had a surprise for her! Suddenly
she was thankful for her daddy's wise words of not judging a book
by its cover.
    Lost in a flurry of joy, she ran into her
room to find something suitable to wear for the Valentine's Ball.
It was to be a masquerade; although she had never attended one, she
heard they were wickedly fun and, at times, dangerous. Since the
masks hid people's faces, it was natural those wearing the masks
would become braver, doing things that otherwise, unmasked, they
wouldn't dream of doing.
    Upon opening her wardrobe, Evelyn suddenly
realized she had nothing suitable to wear. The mask that had been
purchased for her by the modiste was plain—a word she didn't feel
adequately described the feelings she had at the moment. After all,
it was a celebration of love, and she felt she needed something to
show for it.
    Royce would be back in a few hours. If she
hurried, she would have time to run down to the shops to find a
suitable mask and gloves to match. Hurriedly she searched for the
dress with the white and black lace and made a mental note to match
it with a white mask and black gloves.

Chapter Twelve
     
    By the time Evelyn was able to reach the
store, she knew she was short on time. It had taken awhile to
convince her maid to let her shop on her own, and even longer to
convince the driver that she was fine taking the carriage on her
own. Only two hours to get back to her house and prepare. Quickly,
she found what she was looking for. A beautiful white mask lay
before her. It had crystals lining the slits where her eyes would
be, and feathers laced the rest of the white material around her
face. It was perfect.
    She purchased her mask and went on to the
glove shop further down the street. This particular street,
although still safe, was rumored to have several whorehouses in the
area. Something Evelyn was warned about by her daddy. Lucky for
her, the glove store was on the edge of the street, so Evelyn
wouldn't have to go all the way down to where the brothels lined up
in sad rows. If her daddy hadn't warned her of such things, she
would be clueless as to what the homes were used for. The only
thing that gave away their identity was the obvious location.
    It made her feel odd knowing so much
debauchery was going on, and nobody did anything to stop it. Evelyn
shrugged off the feeling and reached out to open the door, when she
saw Royce coming down the stairs of a large house across the
street. She was just about to yell out his name, when a
scantily-clad woman ran out of the house after him, pulled him into
a tight embrace from behind and abruptly ran back up the
stairs.
    Royce had the strangest expression of
elation on his face. Maybe the woman was a relation? Or a dear
friend? Though she was dressed rather…
    And then with a sickening feeling Evelyn
realized the location of the house. It was identical to all the
rest, poorly lit, and on the same side of the street that her daddy
had warned her about.
    It was a whorehouse.
    The man she loved, who not even an hour ago
had given her all the hope in the world that he was a changed
man—better than she could have imagined—was a liar.
    Gloves were the last thing on her mind. Her
first and foremost priority suddenly changed to escaping down the
street without him seeing her. Her heart pounded along with the
click clack of her heeled shoes as she hurried around the corner to
her waiting carriage and driver. She climbed into the carriage
without waiting for assistance, her chest heaving. She waited three
full minutes before breaking into gut-wrenching sobs, ruining any
chance of having a beautiful face instead of puffiness tonight at
the ball.
    How could he? Did she mean nothing? Was it
all a game? It had seemed so real, so perfect. It didn't make
sense. Was it because she was a woman of virtue? Not