Page 56 of Dropping the Ball

“If what you have with Alden is true love,” Muriel added, coming to stand by Bernadette’s other side as she stood by her washstand, “then you cannot give it up so easily. I was in doubt myself at first, but Cedric has taught me that love is not only possible, it is something we all deserve.”

“If you are going to leave the man you love,” Minerva added, picking Napoleon up and coming to join the group, “then at least do it by succumbing to a fever and dying. Or perhaps just needing to retire to the seaside, since I would miss you too dearly if you actually died.”

Bernadette laughed briefly at Minerva’s statement. She appreciated her friends more than she could say.

“I am not leaving out of some sense of desperation, or because I’m fleeing a tragic situation,” she reassured them. “I’m leaving to find Hethersett myself so that I might explain why I wish to no longer be married to him.”

Her friends blinked in surprise, exchanging looks with each other.

“So you are not running away out of a sense of heartbreak and despair?” Minerva asked, looking a bit disappointed.

“No,” Bernadette said, pressing a hand to her stomach. “Quite the opposite. I have thought and thought about this, and I’ve reached the conclusion that the only way Alden and I could possibly stand a chance of being happy together is if I take matters into my own hands to right the wrong I was pushed into years ago.”

“Good for you,” Kat said with a strong nod. “We should all take matters into our own hands when it comes to our happiness. No matter what certain arrogant, pig-headed gentlemen tell us to the contrary.”

Bernadette eyed Kat sideways. Clearly, there was something more behind her words, but it would have to wait for another day to be resolved.

“Does Alden know you’re leaving?” Muriel asked, ever the voice of reason.

Bernadette let out a breath and turned to face her mirror. “Not yet,” she said. “I have not had a chance to speak to him since this morning, and I had yet to form the plan entirely in those early hours.”

Part of Bernadette expected her friends to censure her for spending the night in Alden’s room. They had figured out that’s where she was when Kat had attempted to visit her after dark and found her room empty. Bernadette also expected them to chastise her for not consulting with Alden about her plan as well. But Oxford Society ladies had a long-standing habit of resolving their own problems.

“Have you had word from Hethersett?” Minerva asked as the four of them finished up dressing and decorating themselves.

Bernadette winced. “No, I have not. Discovering where he is and whether my pleas have enraged him will be my first order of business. I will travel to London tonight, after the ball, and begin by making inquiries at the Norwegian embassy.”

“Are you quite certain you do not wish to wait a few days more?” Muriel asked. “And that you would not like Alden’s help in this matter?”

Satisfied with her appearance for the ball, Bernadette turned to her friends. “The answer to that question lies in whatever Alden decides to do tonight at the ball.”

“What do you mean?” Kat asked, crossing her arms. Even frowning and dubious, she managed to look regal and imposing, particularly when dressed for a ball.

Bernadette shrugged. “I mean that Alden still has the option to choose one of his guests to betroth himself to. It would be so much easier for him to pick someone else than to go through the trouble of untangling my marriage just so we could be together.”

Her friends surprised her by snorting, shaking their heads, and rolling their eyes.

“He loves you, you daft woman,” Muriel said, walking over to the vanity to snatch up her fan. “If he’s a man worth his salt, which I believe him to be, he will capture the moon for you.”

Bernadette knew that was true. Another part of her did not know why she was attempting to resolve the entire matter entirely on her own. Except that for the past ten years, she had been solely responsible for her own fate. Her parents had been no use to her. They had been the ones to embroil her in the impossible situation in the first place. Everything she had and everything she had achieved had been because of her own efforts. Why should she not rely on her own efforts to extract her from the trouble she was in now?

“Whatever happens tonight,” she said, giving her hair one final pat before deciding it was presentable enough for the ball,“I am through with being a pawn in other people’s games. I will decide my own fate, even if that means parting myself from the man I love. With any luck, doing so will enable me to come back to him, free and able to give him all my love and my life.”

“Well spoken,” Minerva said, looking as if she might break into applause.

That made Bernadette smile. Whatever course the rest of the evening took, her life could not be entirely ruined as long as she had friends.

A flicker of movement from the vanity reminded her that Egbert was there, and before leaving the room to head downstairs and outside, Bernadette scooped the vibrant lizard up and planted him on her shoulder. A lizard was as good as a brooch when it came to decorating a ballgown.

A good half of the guests had already gathered in the garden before Bernadette and her friends reached the marquees. For the first time since they’d begun arriving the morning before, Bernadette felt confident in her handiwork. From the meddling mamas to the most timid of the young ladies to the brashest young bucks, everyone was glancing around in wonder.

Bernadette had done what she’d set out to do. She’d created a world in the space that extended in front of the tall glass walls of the terrarium that gave the illusion of the world Alden had created inside his ballroom spilling out into the garden. Potted trees had been positioned to make it seem as though there were no barriers between the garden and the terrarium. Lanterns had been hung on poles both inside and outside the terrarium that made it seem as if there was one trail of light. Low-lying troughs had been positioned to run through the garden that made it look as though the stream inside continued outside.

Beyond that were lanterns and candles positioned to magical effect, reflecting the night sky. A dance floor had been laid down between the tents, and already, the dance instructors fromLondon were leading a few of the guests through dance forms, as if testing the integrity of the floor. Artwork that had been created by some of the guests over the last two days had been arranged in a sort of gallery, and a few of the young ladies were showing off their work to some of the young bucks.

In and amongst it all, the servants of Lyndhurst Grove were rushing about, arranging refreshments and doing their utmost to make certain every last detail of the ball, from the masks that were being handed out to the reptile escapees that had somehow made it out of the terrarium and needed to be put back, was perfect.

Bernadette had never been so proud of an event she had arranged, and the ball had only barely begun.

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