Page 39 of The Lady Who Said No to the Duke
She strongly suspected that his aunt, on receiving her favourite nephew back unscathed from the wars, had looked around and had made her own little list of the most eligible young ladies for him.She knew she would feature on it—not that she took any credit for that, one could not be responsible for one’s parentage, or the good fortune to be born into wealth—and she thought none the worse of him for working his way through his aunt’s suggestions.
At least, she thought darkly,he is getting on with it and hasn’t left some unfortunate young lady waiting for years while he went to war.
Even as she thought it, she was aware of the sensation of being watched, turned and found herself standing a foot away from Hal.
‘Duke.’
‘Lady Thea.May I crave the favour of a dance?’
‘Crave?How dramatic.You may certainly request one, of course.A country dance, perhaps?The one after supper is free.’
‘That would be delightful, thank you.’
Thea found herself somewhat breathless and realised that she had hardly glanced higher than the diamond stickpin in his neck cloth.With what felt like a physical effort she looked up and gasped.‘Oh, your poor face!’
He had made no effort to disguise the bruise that discoloured his forehead and had spread down to give him a magnificent black eye.‘Quite the Beast to cause all the Beauties assembled here to shudder, don’t you think?’
‘I believe that it would take more than a bruise to discourage young ladies from dancing with the most eligible man in London.’
‘True.Even you have accepted a dance.’
‘Evenme?’
‘We know thatyouare the one woman who has no time for the most eligible man in London,’ he said with an edge to his words.
‘I never said that I had no time for you.I said I wouldn’t marry you because you are a—’ Thea bit off the rest of what she had almost said.They had kept the volume of their exchange conversational but she was aware that heads had begun to turn, perhaps alerted by something in the tone.
She laughed and tapped Hal’s arm playfully with her closed fan as though they had been exchanging playful banter and the watchers turned away, losing interest in just another flirtation.
With a faint sketch of a curtsey, she walked on.Did he turn to look after her?she wondered, her spine tingling.There had been anger in that exchange, anger at her rejection that he had not shown before, and Thea found herself shaken by it.
It was all his fault, she told herself.Not hers.She had been in the right, the injured party, the one deceived.Shewas still in the right and the fact that he could be angry about it just showed how justified she had been.
Viscount Lammerton broke into her thoughts with a request for a dance and accepted the very first with an expression of surprise.He was a little shy, certainly unsure of himself, and had clearly expected to be fobbed off with a set of country dances towards the end of the evening.
Thea liked him, but felt nothing that would prompt her to encourage his tentative advances and scolded herself for being so unsettled by the encounter with Hal that she had offered the opening dance.Her parents would be horrified at the thought of a mere viscount for her and this would probably earn her a lecture from Mama.
She paused to talk to a small group of her friends near the door to the conservatory and, glancing inside, saw that it was a long rectangular room built along the length of one side of the ballroom.It was filled with greenery.
Miss Jameson had noticed that too.‘Perfect for a flirtation,’ she said with a giggle.
‘Even better for a kiss.’That was Lady Gloria Hunter, who had a reputation for being fast.‘I have been here before, so I speak from experience,’ she added with a naughty twinkle.‘And it is very convenient, because there is another door at the far end, so if anyone comes in you can always escape.’
Shy little Miss Wilson blushed rosily and Thea, seeing Giles Duncan approaching, laughed and moved on.He was a prosy young man with a passion for fishing and, apparently, little else, and she had no intention of adding him to her dance card.
Almost at the end of the room she swerved slightly.Ahead of her were Helena Linton and her mother, Lady Linton, their heads together.
Plotting.The word sprang into Thea’s mind, startling her.The two women turned and looked at the conservatory door just behind them and then across the crowded ballroom.Instinctively Thea turned too, tried to see whom they were staring at, but it could have been almost anyone.
She gave herself a little shake.Really, it was unhealthy to allow that woman to annoy her.It gave Helena an importance she most certainly did not merit.
The Pandean pipes ensemble ceased to play and retired amidst a smattering of applause as the string players came in and arranged themselves on the dais.People began to shift to the edges of the ballroom, ladies stood with casual elegance near the dance floor so they could be easily seen and the chaperones settled themselves in the grouping of chairs that had been set out for them.From there they would exchange gossip, demolish reputations, be lethally polite to each other and keep a sharp eye on each and every single young lady.
Gradually, as the players finished tuning their instruments, gentlemen found their partners and led them towards the centre and Lord Lammerton appeared at Thea’s side, awkwardly offering his hand.
Fortunately, he was a better dancer than one would guess on first meeting him, and Thea found she could relax and fear neither for her toes, nor her hems, despite the first dance being a complex quadrille.His small talk was limited, but the frequent separations of the steps made conversation impossible anyway, so that was no impediment to her enjoyment.
When their dance was finished he led her off the floor and straight into the waiting hands of the Earl of Porchester who must have been watching out for her.
