Dancing On Air Read Online Free PDF Page A

home and we will discuss your compensation.’
    ‘Why thank you, Vincent. It is always such a pleasure,’ Marie said as she inclined her head. Marie picked up her cloak and swung it about her shoulders. Vincent crossed the room and ran his fingers along the dark green ribbons of her cloak. He picked them up and tied them in a perfect bow at Marie’s throat. His movements were slow and sensual.
    Marie touched his left hand. Two ugly, jagged cuts were slashed across the back of his hand and disappeared beneath his cuff. ‘I see that you are healing well. Are you still in pain?’
    ‘No. My arm is a little stiff but other than the possibility of a scar…I am healed.’
    ‘I am glad. You gave me a terrible fright.’
    ‘No more than I gave myself. Since the damn horse threw me, my mortality flashed before my eyes. Duty hangs heavily on my mind, something I never thought would happen. Death lingers in the shadows and once seen it is hard to forget. Dear God, I have finally become my Father! He was always so concerned about the bloodline and the continuation of the family. As much as I baulk at the very idea, it appears I must prepare for the future.’
    ‘Whatever do you mean?’
    ‘That I have reached forty and do not have an heir. I have no child, no one to carry on the De Vale family name,’ he said with a bitter laugh.
    ‘You mean you have no legitimate heir.’ Her lips twitched at the corners.
    Vincent’s hands stilled and he raising an enquiring eyebrow, ‘My dearest Marie, whatever do you mean?’
    ‘That I think you should question Florentia,’ Marie said with a widening smile. ‘Ah la, to have to think of such things. Once these sorts of matters would never have crossed our minds.’
    Vincent smiled as he gently ran his hand down her cheek. ‘Ah yes, our time in Paris was magical, was it not? Remember Marie, when we were young? You were the prima ballerina. Your perfection is the bar that the others will never reach.’
    ‘Even my sister?’ Marie delivered the question with such venom, it took Lisette by surprise. Her aunt had always told her she had taken her in, because of the love and affection she held for her sister. What Lisette saw in her aunt’s face was more akin to hatred than love.
    ‘Yes, your technique surpassed hers.’
    ‘And yet it was she who won the adulation of the crowd.’
    ‘But we stopped that, didn’t we?’ His finger slid down the side of her cheek. ‘It was always you, Marie. You had the talent and the passion.’
    Lisette stepped back and leant against the office wall. Her mind raced with unexplained questions. Quickly, making sure that she didn’t make a sound, she made her way around the far end of the corridor. She could hear her aunt’s laughter, which was an oddity in itself. Marie Devoré was a brittle and unbending woman. Her dark hair was pulled back in a severe, tight bun, her dresses were always simply cut, unadorned and in dark, brooding colours. She was thin, hard and unforgiving. She peeped around the corner and watched as Lord de Vale and her aunt walked out of the office. Marie linked her arm with his, instead of leaning on her walking stick. They left together, chatting in hushed tones. Lisette sank down the wall and sat on the floor, and wondered what it could all mean.

    Evander had managed to give his friends the slip. They had tried to get him to join them for supper and then some gambling at the Devil’s Mount Club. But he had resisted and said that he had other plans. They had laughed when they found him buying a single pink rose from the flower girl at the bottom of the theatre steps and assumed that he was going to try and meet Florentia. Anthony had said that he had a snowflake’s chance in hell for Florentia to even speak to him. Finally he had convinced them to leave him to his own devices. Without a backwards glance he hurried down the narrow land to the stage door. There were a dozen or so gentlemen, most with bouquets in their hands