Page 116 of The Earl's Bluestocking Bride
They made their way to the ballroom, where the duke quickly excused himself to the refreshments table. Amelia suspected he was the type of person who might need a couple of glasses of champagne to get through the evening.
She, Andrew, and Lady Drake lined up just inside the ballroom. As the guests began to arrive, they greeted each of them warmly. Amelia had studied the guest list ahead of time to make sure she knew who everyone was. With each person she correctly identified, she congratulated herself.
Everyone they spoke to was polite, but as the crowd grew, she became aware of whispers and stolen glances. One group of debutantes turned away from her as she looked over at them, and the loudest of the three giggled behind her hand.
Amelia’s heart sank, and her shoulders climbed up nearer to her ears.
It wasn’t working.
The ball was supposed to fix things, but all it had achieved was to emphasize the fact that the earl’s family now had money and she was the reason why.
It was more obvious than ever that she’d bought herself a place among them.
Usually, that knowledge wouldn’t bother her, but she hated to be the subject of all this public speculation. It was awful.
“The first song is about to start,” Andrew said, taking her hand. “Dance with me.”
They moved onto the dance floor, and as others clustered around, Andrew drew her closer.
“Ignore them.” His voice wrapped around her like anembrace, but it couldn’t drown out the insidious whispering all around.
“It’s not that easy,” she said.
He twirled her as the first violin began to play, and her skirt flared around her, gleaming like a midnight sky in the light of the chandelier. “Nothing they say can stop us from leaving this week and enjoying Christmas in the country. It’s all irrelevant.”
Amelia didn’t believe that the ton was irrelevant, but she appreciated him trying to calm her, and it did help to picture how they might spend the cool winter nights in front of a cozy fire in Suffolk.
“We can endure this,” Andrew said. “And I promise that I’ll give you the best Christmas ever to make up for it.”
Amelia arched an eyebrow. “You can’t make that promise. You don’t know how good my past Christmases have been.”
“Well, then I’ll do my best.” He held her tighter. “And I won’t give you cause to doubt me again.”
She wanted to believe him, but she wasn’t sure that she could. He might mean it now, but no one could predict the future.
“Thank you,” she whispered, regardless. The assurance was the best he could offer.
The dance ended, and he escorted her off the dance floor. A movement in the corner of her eye drew her gaze. Lady Drake was hurrying toward them. Unfortunately, before she reached them, Mrs. Hart appeared in front of Amelia.
She did not look happy.
Amelia’s shoulders slumped. She’d always assumed that this ball would be her mother’s moment of triumph, even more so than their wedding. However, it didn’t look as though that was the case.
Mrs. Hart grabbed Amelia’s arm and tugged her away from Andrew. “The gossip hasn’t stopped.” She looked around as if she expected everyone nearby to be listening tothem. “You were supposed to fix this. Why should I be expected to deal with such disrespect? It was one thing when we weren’t part of an aristocratic family, but we are now. This shouldn’t be happening. Did you even try to make it stop?”
Amelia stared at her, astounded. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“Well, do better,” Mrs. Hart hissed. “This isn’t how I expected to be treated when we joined the aristocracy.”
Amelia glanced over her shoulder and saw her father approaching. She lowered her voice. “Tell me, how did you expect to be treated? You offered up a large dowry. The only reason we’re part of the aristocracy now is because of that.”
Mrs. Hart huffed. “If you were more socially adept, then we wouldn’t be in this situation because you’d have already made powerful friends within the ton.”
The barb struck true. Amelia’s mouth fell open. She didn’t know what to say. How could her mother be so cruel?
“Furthermore,” Mrs. Hart continued, “if you had kept your husband satisfied—”
“That’s quite enough,” Mr. Hart interrupted, taking his wife by the arm. “This is not the place to have this conversation.”
