“Beg pardon,” he grunted. Perspiration dotted his brow. “Dashed close, isn’t it?”

“It is crowded,” Julia said. “We needn’t finish.”

“Nonsense.” He trotted her around the room with renewed vigor. “I’m as fit as a man half my age.”

Julia gritted her teeth. It was their second dance of the evening. One more and they may as well announce their engagement to the world. The earl certainly seemed keen enough.

Already well in his cups when he’d arrived to collect her, he’d sat beside her in the carriage, clutching at her hand and talking at her décolletage the entire journey from Belgrave Square.

Seated across from them, Mrs. Major had only smiled complacently, so satisfied in her success at helping to engineer a great match that she’d willfully ignored both the earl’s behavior and his inebriated condition.

A condition that had only grown worse as the evening progressed.

Parched by the heat of the ballroom, Lord Gresham had been making free with the unending supply of punch provided by footmen who circulated the floor offering cups on silver trays.

He wasn’t drunk. Not yet. But his cheeks were ruddy and he was gripping Julia with a clumsy strength. She couldn’t get loose of him. The more she wiggled, the tighter he grasped.

A grim foreshadowing of what their life together would be like.

Julia hadn’t accepted it yet, but she recognized the signs. The walls were closing in on her. Or perhaps they already had and she was only now beginning to realize the full extent of her captivity.

She saw no means of escape. Not even Captain Blunt provided her any hope. For one thing, there was his past to contend with. And for another, he wasn’t even here. At least, he didn’t appear be.

Which didn’t mean he hadn’t come.

The sheer density of the crowd made it impossible to locate anyone. At any given moment, people were flowing from one room to the next, clogging the halls before spilling out into the drawing room or cardroom, or onto the terrace.

Julia wished she had as much freedom. If she did, she’d run straight out into the garden. Into the darkness and the fresh evening air. She wouldn’t stop running until she was alone. Until Lord Gresham and Mrs. Major and all the rest of them were too far away to catch her.

“Miss Wychwood?” Lord Gresham inquired loudly.

She blinked, bringing the earl’s face back into focus. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I said you must save me the waltz.”

Julia recoiled at the prospect.

Mercifully, the music came to a close before she was obliged to reply. His lordship released her, bowing. It was a short reprieve. Only a fraction of a second of freedom before he took her arm again to guide her from the floor.

“It’s the supper dance,” he said. “We can dine together afterward.”

“Oh no. I can’t think of dancing again, or of dining. Not until I’ve had a breath of air.” She tugged her arm in a fruitless attempt to extricate herself. “If you would please excuse me.”