Page 39 of Enticed By an Earl
“Me?” Dev asked, flinching in surprise as he put on his waistcoat and did up the buttons. He shrugged, then said, “I want what any other third son wants.”
“And that is?” Kitty asked, stepping into her gown.
Dev shrugged. “To be happy. To have love and joy in my life. To have business to occupy my days and the sweetest companion imaginable to make my nights come alive.”
Kitty’s heart danced in her chest. “You are a poet, sir,” she said, sending Dev a cheeky look.
“And you are my muse,” Dev replied, finishing with his waistcoat and coming over to help Kitty the rest of the way into her gown.
It seemed utterly mad to Kitty that things could work out so splendidly between her and Dev. But then, it wasn’t Dev that truly worried her. Dev would stand by her side no matter what, she was certain. It was the rest of the world that left her in a cold panic, and sometimes her own doubts about herself.
That was particularly true when they arrived at Lord and Lady Bradshaw’s ball. Miss Kitty Dryden could not arrive arm in arm with Lord Deveraux Ogilvy, of course, so Dev had taken Kit to Lady Everly’s house first. That did not mean that Kitty received any less attention when she stepped into the ball accompanied by Lady Everly as her chaperone, however.
“I detest the way everyone stares at me so,” Kitty whispered as she followed Lady Everly into the already packed and swirling ballroom. “The more eyes I feel upon me the more I am certain that at least one set of them will see through me.”
“Nonsense, my dear,” Lady Everly said, taking one of Kitty’s hands and patting it. “People stare because that is what they do.” She paused, sent Kitty a sly glance, and added, “You were last week’s gossip. This week all anyone can talk of is the Italian wife Lord Dorman brought back from the Continent with him.”
Kitty laughed but tried to hide the sound behind her gloved hand. It was true. Thetonwas as fickle and hungry for novelty in their gossip as children were of the sweets they consumed.
That did not stop her from feeling desperately self-conscious as she and Lady Everly made their way around the ballroom, speaking to several of Lady Everly’s friends as well as meeting up with Georgiana and Alice.
“It is so good to see you again, Miss Dryden,” a certain Mrs. Tolliver greeted Kitty with a smile once their group began to make its way around the room together. “You are looking as lovely as ever.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tolliver,” Kitty said, curtsying to the woman, though she still was not entirely certain whether the gesture was called for. She’d mastered certain aspects of being a young woman out in London society, but there were a great many more points of protocol that she had yet to understand. At least his missteps counted toward his story of Kitty being from the country and not entirely used to London ways.
“We are seeing quite the turn-out tonight, are we not?” Mrs. Tolliver went on, speaking mostly to Lady Everly. “But Isuppose that is to be expected with this being the last ball of a long and exciting season.”
“It is indeed,” Lady Everly replied. “I suppose this is our chance to say farewell to our friends until the season begins anew.”
“My niece will be making her debut next season,” Mrs. Tolliver continued as Kitty’s attention began to drift.
She wondered if Dev had reached the ball before her, and if so, where in the room he could be. She stood a bit straighter and craned her neck in search of Dev before pulling back from the action lest the ribbon around her throat slip out of place.
Her thoughts were pulled back to the conversation as Mrs. Tolliver said, “But of course the most exciting talk of all is about the match between Lord Deveraux Ogilvy and your own Miss Dryden.”
Kitty nearly choked on her own tongue as she twisted to face Mrs. Tolliver with wide eyes.
“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Tolliver said, sending Kitty a cheeky look. “We all know that you have completely won Lord Deveraux over, my dear. The rumor is that he will no longer be one of the most eligible bachelors of thetonthis autumn. It is expected that he may not be a bachelor at all.”
Excitement and fear burst out in prickles across Kitty’s back and stomach. “Oh, I…I could not say about that,” she said, lowering her face slightly. Irrational as it was, she worried that if the rumors of her and Dev spread too much or too fast, people would begin to look for anything that was out of the ordinary, and if they looked too hard, they would most certainly find it.
“I think Miss Dryden and Lord Deveraux make a delightful pair,” Lady Everly said, shooting Kitty a sideways look that held too much knowing.
“Do you know something the rest of us do not?” Mrs. Tolliver asked, excited mischief in her eyes.
Kitty’s heart beat so hard against her padded corset that she feared she might swoon for a moment. Too much of her existence depended on being overlooked and ignored. Becoming the center of gossip could only lead to no good.
“I could not say,” Lady Everly replied mysteriously. “Oh, look. Lady Greg is here.”
She took Kitty’s hand, and with Georgiana and Alice following and trying not to laugh too obviously, their group moved on.
“Please do not let me be the center of speculation,” Kitty whispered as they moved on. “I cannot imagine it will end well for me.”
“That is your problem, my dear,” Lady Everly said, patting her hand once more. “You need to believe that things will end well for you. I am certain they will.”
Her words were encouraging, but they did little to calm Kitty’s nerves. Particularly when their group was approached by a pair of gentlemen who she had known during her days at Cambridge.
“Lady Everly,” one of them, a Lord Salisbury, said, bowing. “You have the most charming collection of companions this evening.”
