Page 67 of The Lady Who Said No to the Duke
Of course, she realised, he must be sick and tired of being wanted for what he was, not who he was.He could be as bad-tempered as a bear with toothache, as foolish as any air-headed young buck and look like a toad and he would still be fawned upon and courted.
‘They do not know you,’ Thea said as the music came to a close.She curtseyed to his bow.‘If they did, they would desire Hal Forrest as much as they want the Duke of Leamington.’
She swallowed when she heard her own words.Had she betrayed too much, given away her feelings for him?
‘That, my dear Thea, is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.’Hal lifted her hand and kissed it.
‘Which is not saying much,’ she countered with a laugh.‘Not when you consider that I have been scolding you for your youthful misdeeds and running away rather than marrying you.’
‘But you are not running now, are you, Thea?’he asked, still holding her hand, seemingly uncaring of the fact that they were causing other couples to detour around them to get off the dance floor.
‘Certainly not,’ she said, trying to read his expression and failing.‘Not that I have the breath to do more than stroll after that dance.’
She had meant it as a mild joke, but there was that look in his eyes again and she realised Hal was reading rather more into that than she had meant to say.Even though it was true.
‘Here is my next partner,’ she said.‘I am going to have to beg that we sit this dance out.’
As the gentleman who came to claim her hand was an amiable cousin of her mother who had only been doing his duty by dancing, he did not need much persuasion to retreatto seats on the sidelines where he could admire her ring and they could exchange family gossip comfortably.
‘Your mama is in alt over this match,’ Cousin Ernest observed.‘Add the celebrations at Leaming Castle into the bargain and I am amazed she can string two words together coherently for all the triumph and excitement.’
‘Fortunately the Duke wished for an early wedding,’ Thea said.
‘Thus saving the sanity of all concerned,’ he observed with a rich chuckle.‘And you are in love with the fellow, which is pleasant.I don’t like to see young girls married off without a thought to how compatible they are going to be with their husbands.Makes for a lot of quiet unhappiness.’
‘Naturally, I hold the Duke in high esteem and find his company most pleasant,’ Thea managed, flustered.Was she that obvious?‘One does not look for a love match.Mama says that issobourgeois and a result of reading too many novels.’
‘Poppycock.And do not look so anxious, my dear.You are not wearing your heart on your sleeve for all to see.It takes an old romantic like me to see how you feel about him, and there are not many of us in this cynical world.’
He reached out, squeezed her hand and then lifted it to admire her ring.‘An interesting choice, and very much more flattering to you than the traditional Leamington ring, if I recall it correctly.’
‘Yes, it was very thoughtful of the Duke.’
‘Thoughtful?More than that, my dear.Dukes are not given to breaking family traditions just to be thoughtful.We might have a love match on our hands.’
‘Oh, no,’ Thea protested.She couldn’t afford to hope, did not dare indulge that daydream, because the truth would befar too painful.‘We are friends, that is all.Hal knows me, perhaps better than might often be the case.’
Cousin Ernest released her hand.‘What a very sensible young woman you are.’It did not sound as though he meant it as a compliment.‘And here comes your next dance partner to claim you.It has been delightful having this talk.I expect I shall see you next at Leaming Castle.’
He stood as she did and, on impulse, Thea kissed his cheek.‘Thank you, Cousin Ernest.’
What for, she was not certain, she realised as she smiled brightly at Lord Hopewell, a cheerful young man whose red hair burned even brighter than her own youthful locks had done.
‘I will tread on your toes, I expect,’ he apologised in advance as they took their places in a set for a country dance.‘We could sit out if you would rather not risk it.I just find these things confusing.I always seem to be heading in the wrong direction.’
So do I, Thea thought.And mostly in the direction of false hopes and foolish wishes.
‘Never mind,’ she reassured her partner.‘I know this one, so I’ll steer you if needs be.’
‘Thank heavens,’ he said fervently as the dance began and she tugged his hand to point him in the right direction.
* * *
Looking back, it seemed to Thea that Hal’s ball had been a positive oasis of calm and normality compared with what followed as the days rushed past before the wedding.
Hal left for Leaming Castle immediately after the ball, taking with him virtually the entire staff of his London house with the exception of two footmen and two grooms, whom he left to assist the Wiveton household with fetching and carrying and running errands.
Mama was delighted with this consideration and with the arrival of a clerk whose sole duty was to write wedding invitations in exquisite copperplate.There were those for the house guests; those for guests living locally who would attend for the day, divided into those who would be there for the ceremony and those arriving afterwards for the wedding breakfast and those for the reception to be held a week after the wedding, which would include tenants, local gentry and professional men and their wives.
