Page 44 of The Viscount's Unwanted Bride
“And what if I were to decide I wanted everything in brilliant shades of pink and orange?” she challenged.
He tipped his head. “If that was your wish, I would honor it.”
“Hmph.” She wasn’t sure why she’d expected a different answer except that she’d have thought that the gentleman with the fashionably colored cravat she’d first met at the Wembley ball would have at least some kind of opinion about the decor for his engagement ball—or perhaps some basic concerns about good taste. He’d seemed the type.
Just another way Viscount Blackwell confused her.
“Perhaps we could have musicians in that corner,” Lady Drake said, diverting Kate’s attention from the viscount.
“Let me draw it out.” There were chairs along the far side of the room, so Kate sat on one and perched the sketchbook on her knee. With a few simple lines, she sketched the general layout of the ballroom. She added basic figures for the musicians in the corner her mother had indicated and drew small floral arrangements where she thought they might best be placed.
Lady Drake stood near her shoulder. “I think that will do nicely.”
“May I see?”
Kate jolted, surprised to realize Lord Blackwell was standing right in front of her. He extended his hand, and she passed him the sketchbook.
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “This is very good. You’re quite talented.”
Heat suffused Kate, and her stomach flipped over. She ducked her head, noticing that her mother was watching her in a knowing way.
“Thank you, my lord.”
He handed the sketchbook back. “I look forward to seeing more of your drawings.”
She was oddly excited to show him. He seemed as if he’d be an appreciative audience.
“Would you like a tour of the rest of the house?” he asked as she added another embellishment to one of the flower arrangements—the centerpiece.
“Oh, yes, please.” She hurried to her feet and dropped the sketchbook to the side, worrying belatedly that she’d smudged it, but when she checked, the lines were still clear. Not that it mattered. The drawing was purely practical. She’d just rather not realize later that her hands were covered in gray and she’d accidentally gotten it on her face.
“As you can see, there’s a room adjoining this one that can be either used as an extension of the ballroom or closed off as a smaller room for entertaining guests.” He led them through the second room and back into the hall. “My study is at the end of the corridor.”
They followed him back into the foyer and down a hall on the other side of the main staircase. He opened each door as they passed and let them look inside. There was a drawing room, a morning room, a formal dining room, and a more casual family room. The rooms farther along were used by staff.
As he guided them up the stairs, Kate tried to recall the basic layout of the rooms so she wouldn’t get lost in future. It seemed straightforward enough.
“The family rooms are to the left.” He gestured along the corridor. “To the right is the library, upstairs family room, and the room where my mother likes to sit in the window and embroider as she watches the world go by.”
Kate frowned. She didn’t think she’d met the dowager viscountess. “Is your mother currently in London?”
“No, she’s at Blackwell Hall in Oxfordshire. She usually resides there unless she’s visiting friends in London or Bath. It’s where she feels closest to my father.”
Her heart squeezed. “That’s sweet.”
The viscount shrugged one shoulder. “She’ll come to London for the wedding, if not beforehand, so you can meet her then.”
“Will she want to attend the engagement ball?” Lady Drake asked.
Blackwell pursed his lips. “I’ll invite her, but I can’t be certain.”
Kate didn’t understand that. Surely most mothers would be eager to celebrate their child’s engagement. If her father were alive, no one would have been able to stop him from being there, but not all aristocratic families were as close as hers. In fact, many weren’t.
It made her a little sad for him to think that his might be one of them. Never mind. When they were married, he’d have her family to make up for any shortcomings.
They wandered into the family wing, and Blackwell pointed at each door in turn, indicating which were guest bedrooms and which were reserved for particular members of the family. They didn’t enter any, but Kate hadn’t expected to. That would come after they were married.
“What about that one?” she asked, realizing that he hadn’t mentioned one of the doors they’d passed.
