Chapter One

The crowded ballroom was dimly lit, and the voices grew louder as Dorian Gray and Lord Henry Wotton strolled down the long entryway towards the sounds of merriment. Hot air collided with skin and fabric as the pair entered, and a soft smirk crossed Dorian's lips as he scanned the multitude of people. His eyes landed on one young woman, whose mouth was forming a pleasant friendly smile, but her eyes betrayed her boredom.

"Who is that?" Dorian said to Lord Henry, who was pouring himself some punch.

"Who?" Lord Henry asked, trying to follow Dorian's gaze.

"The darling blue-eyed blond talking with the older gentleman, just there," Dorian replied, discreetly gesturing in her direction.

"Oh," Lord Henry began, sipping his punch disapprovingly. "That's Miss Darcie Eldridge. I'd rather you didn't talk to her, she's perfectly innocent and you'll only corrupt her."

But Dorian had already snaked his way through the sea of people towards her. Miss Eldridge saw him out of the corner of her eye, causing the already bright blue circles to become even brighter. She excused herself from the elderly gentleman and turned to the table of food behind her. Dorian approached her casually, as to avoid the impression that he'd sought her out.

"Hello miss, I don't believe we've met," Dorian started, a shy grin on his face. Miss Eldridge turned around, half a strawberry in her mouth. She looked at him for a moment before speaking.

"No, I don't believe we have," she declared before returning her attention to the hor'dourves. Miss Eldridge smirked to herself, imagining the confusion on this stranger's face. She laughed as the turned again to face him.

"Pardon me, sir, I couldn't resist. "Miss Darcie Eldridge," she said, presenting a single white gloved hand.

"Dorian Gray," he said, clearly intrigued, brushing his lips softly against the satin concealing her hand. Darcie raised her eyebrows at this gesture, but did nothing to stop him.

"Are you visiting, Mr. Gray? Or are you a new resident for us all to gawk over?" Darcie asked, the picture of propriety. Dorian chuckled, a sound dark and deep in his throat.

"You can drop the act, Miss Eldridge. I'm not one for propriety and I think we both know neither are you," Dorian said, taking quite a risk. Darcie's face grew serious, but also succumbing.

"You would prefer to talk of something less trivial, but I'd still like to know the answer to my question. Are you here to stay or not?" She blinked several times, her large sky-like eyes impatient. The smile that appeared on Dorian's face was genuine and involuntary.

"For now I am, are you satisfied?" he asked.

"Mm," she said, sipping from a glass of burgundy wine. "You may have your choice of topics now: politics, society, whatever you choose."

Dorian eyed the musicians gathering at one end of the room.

"What about dancing?" he asked.

"Dancing?" she said, surprised. "It's a little more trivial than I expected, but very well. What about it?"

"I want to dance," he began, stepping slightly closer to her. "with you."

"That is what I assumed," Dorian chuckled at this also. "but which one?"

"All of them," he answered.

"Well, I can't promise you that. As I'm sure you've guessed I have many suitors who'll want a dance as well," she said, half teasing and half testing his perseverance.

"The only contender I can recall was most definitely over fifty, I'm not sure suitor is the appropriate word. Perhaps pursuit would be an more apt noun for the situation?" Dorian retorted.

"Isn't that what you're doing? Pursuing me?"she asked, seemingly serious. Dorian was thrown off at first, but taking her hand regained his train of thought.

"No," he began, leading her to the center of the room where couples were already gathering. "I'm dancing with you."

Darcie smiled sincerely and let herself relax in his arms. The first was a quadrille, the second a waltz, and it continued with the usual dances conducted at parties. Lord Henry watched from a corner, suspicious of Dorian's motives. Mrs. Loring approached him, most probably wondering the same thing herself.

"Lord Wotton," she began. "Your visitor seems to be paying more then the necessary attention to my Darcie this evening. Why, I don't think he's danced with anybody else." This last sentence was spoken with excessive rapture, her way of hinting to Lord Henry that he do something about it. He rolled his eyes at her lack of subtlety and hastily gulped his brandy.

"Yes, he noticed her at the door and hasn't spoken to me since. I am as powerless as you are, Mrs. Loring. Besides, it is not as if Mr. Gray is under my parental care, as Miss Eldridge is under yours," Lord Henry replied with a touch of nonchalance. A hefty sigh erupted from Mrs. Loring and she began frantically waving her fan.

"Well, we must do something. Your Mr. Gray is going to cause a scandal," she insisted.

"Oh, Mrs. Loring!" Lord Henry sputtered. "They;re dancing, not alone on a balcony."

"You never know what could happen," said Mrs. Loring, slapping her fan against her palm as each word left her mouth.

Lord Henry rolled his eyes once again, returning his gaze to Dorian and Darcie. He examined the expression on Dorian's face, searching for a trace of ulterior motive. He found nothing. Nothing but the kind and interested smile that seemed to never disappear from upon Dorian's mouth. This occurred to Lord Henry as odd, for this was very unlike Dorian, to be so sincere. He had perhaps begun that way, as Darcie had; innocent and infatuated with life itself, but Lord Henry's influence had soon taken over. As for Darcie, one could blame it on her lack of genuine parents, but it was in fact the the upbringing given by Mr. and Mrs. Loring that caused her to rebel against the ways of society. Mrs. Loring had tried time and again to marry Darcie off to an older but rich duke or lord, but each and every time Darcie would act so incredibly rude that not even the largest of dowries could persuade them. Darcie, of course didn't care one bit about her reputation. She wanted to find more in life, and was still searching. It may have been that very quest Dorian sensed when he first laid eyes on her; the similarity of their search giving them something in common.

Author's Note

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