Jillian Chantal

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to a picture prompt. I’ve started a Christmas story with some of the same characters in my book, Lord of Misrule, that releases later this month. I wasn’t quite ready to let the characters go.  This snippet is the beginning of the story. Not edited. 🙂

The tales are limited to 300 words. Mine is 298! 🙂  Be sure to check out the other tales here. 

Charles Lockwood skirted around the edge of the ballroom, eyes darting, taking in who was in attendance. Hoping a certain Lord and Lady weren’t there.

The last time he’d been in this ballroom was right before he made a fool of himself taking a young lady hostage and hiding her at his old nanny’s cottage. He had initially turned down the invitation to appear tonight, but the hostess was an old friend of the family and insisted he come. So here he was, praying not to be seen.

As he took refuge behind a plant and against a side wall, the irony of what happened last time filled him with shame. The young lady who had hidden in this spot then was the same one he had treated so abysmally.

Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he watched the dancers doing a country reel. He had to admit, they looked enchanting in the candlelight. The hostess chose the unusual color of red candles for her Yuletide decor. Her choice made the ballroom almost magical.

Charles suppressed a snort. People would surely talk if they heard me make such a romantic statement.

To cover for his true inclinations, Charles had taken on the guise of a rake. Mothers asked him to their balls only to make up numbers and they closely guarded their daughters from him. That was perfectly fine by him as he didn’t want any female entanglements to interfere with his life. He supposed he would have to take a bride eventually. Being a thirty-two year old bachelor was fine, but much longer than forty-five, members of the ton might start wondering at his reasons. It was bad enough the Lord and Lady he didn’t want to see knew the truth and could expose him.