Page 38 of Dropping the Ball

Chapter Thirteen

It was a simple fact of the profession Bernadette had chosen for herself that some balls and events were as easy as tying a bow to arrange and execute, and others were like attempting to extract a stump from the ground. They required constant effort, a great deal of strain, and the end results brought a great deal of mess once the task was completed.

Alden’s ball weekend was quickly turning into a stubborn stump.

“That is quite lovely,” Bernadette commented to Lady Alyce with a tight smile as she led a group of young ladies in a flower-arranging activity after luncheon had been served in the garden. “You’ve captured the spirit of spring entirely.”

In fact, Lady Alyce had listlessly stabbed several mismatched stems into the ugliest vase Mrs. Pettigrew had found for the afternoon activity. She showed no interest in what she was doing, and she spent the entire period during which Bernadette had been instructing the group gazing mournfully at footmenwho scurried around the garden, trying madly to fulfill the demands of each and every guest.

“I think I have just about managed it,” Lady Bianca said, working to fit what must have been her twentieth rose into a vase that was far too small for the eccentric arrangement the young woman seemed intent on.

“Brilliant work, Lady Bianca,” Bernadette praised the woman nonetheless.

Bernadette wasn’t entirely certain how she’d ended up tucked away on one side of the garden with the wallflowers. Or rather, she was not entirely certain how Lady Gladys had managed to wedge her all the way into a corner, far from the center of the afternoon’s activities, and far from Alden. As soon as luncheon had ended, Lady Gladys had sunk her claws into Alden and dragged him off to make more introductions.

As Bernadette finished assisting Lady Bianca with her overflowing and clumsy bouquet, then shifted to help Lady Ursula with hers, she glanced across the crowded lawn to see Lady Gladys gesturing between Alden and yet another of the eligible maidens Bernadette had invited.

These are wounds you inflicted on yourself, a voice in her head whispered. She had been the one to send invitations to the loveliest and most amiable young ladies she knew throughout Britannia. The entire purpose was so that one of them might catch Alden’s eye and replace her.

But no, in her heart of hearts, she was certain that her parents had done this to her. They were the ones who had given her hand away, and for no other reason than so that her father could improve his own standing in society and business through association with Hethersett. They had caused the insurmountable chasm between her and the man she now loved as surely as they used her connection to Hethersett to obtain invitations to the grandest parties in East Anglia.

Bernadette bit her lip and did her best to attend to the young ladies arranging flowers. The morning post had come and gone, and still there was no correspondence from Hethersett. She would have gone to Christiana herself to discuss what could be done to ensure her happiness, but that was now out of the question. The ball was to take place the following night.

“What is that sniveling hag doing now?” Kat asked, approaching the table where Bernadette and the other young ladies were at work on their flowers, pulling Bernadette out of her increasingly desperate thoughts.

Bernadette turned, then smiled when she saw that Kat had somehow found a basket for Napoleon. Napoleon seemed deliciously content to sit on the cushion that had been placed in the basket and look out at all the guests with utter disdain.

“I believe she is introducing Lord Alden to his guests,” Bernadette said, trying to keep her voice light and cheery, since the impressionable young ladies around her were listening.

Kat humphed and reached into the basket to stroke Napoleon. “She’s doing more than that. Have you noticed what she does after each introduction?”

Bernadette frowned and turned to watch Alden and Lady Gladys again. Kat was right. After whatever small conversation between Alden and the young woman he’d just greeted ended, Lady Gladys tugged him away, whispering something to him. They were just close enough for Bernadette to gauge Lady Gladys’s expression. She knew conniving when she saw it.

“Do you suppose she is giving Alden her opinion about which of the ladies would be most suitable for him?” Bernadette asked, despising the idea that her rival was helping Alden to choose someone other than her.

Kat frowned and hummed. “I do not for a moment believe that Lady Gladys Minstead is the sort to aid or assist anyone, unless it is for some advantage of her own.”

That was very true. It did not, however, ease Bernadette’s mind in the least.

What surprised Bernadette further was that within moments of Lady Gladys leading Alden away from the young woman he’d just been in conversation with, one of the handsome young bucks who Bernadette was certain Lady Gladys had invited swept in to introduce himself to the woman.

“Do you suppose that Lady Gladys invited a slew of eligible young gentlemen to transform this ball into an entire matchmaking weekend?” Bernadette asked, standing close to Kat and keeping her voice down.

Again, Kat hummed. She leaned toward Bernadette as well and narrowed her eyes as she watched the young buck and the suddenly bright-eyed young lady laugh together. “I think it is entirely possible,” she said. She stood straighter, nodded, then said, “I shall investigate.”

As glad as Bernadette was to have a friend who was determined to get to the bottom of things, Bernadette felt a bit abandoned as Kat left her. She had nothing to do but to turn back to the timid young ladies who had decided they would rather play with flowers than attempt to win a husband.

She caught them whispering to each other as she did.

“Mama is ever so insistent that I smile and preen and catch Lord Alden’s eye,” Lady Bianca said. “She wants me settled somewhere with a good fortune.”

“My mama wishes me to marry someone within a day’s journey of home,” Lady Ursula said cutting the end of the flower stem she’d just selected particularly viciously. “She does not trust me to live my own life.”

Lady Bianca made a sound of sympathy.

“My mama just wants to be rid of me in whatever way she can,” Lady Alyce sighed, shoulders sagging. “Rupert always said …”

She did not finish her sentence.

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