Page 147 of The Sisters of Sea View
“I don’t know, my dear. It depends on whether Sarah can spare you.”
They looked over as Sarah returned with a handful of long-stemmed flowers.
“She’ll have to do more than spare me,” Emily said. “She’ll have to accompany me. I cannot go alone. Georgie is too young for balls. And you know Vi won’t go.”
“I am not going to a ball,” Sarah said flatly. “I have far too much to do.”
“You always say that!”
“Because it is always true. Especially with the Eltons’ dinner coming up.”
“Pardon me,” a male voice interrupted. They all turned to see Mr. Stanley in the doorway.
“I did not intend to eavesdrop. But my sister plans to attend the ball and has conscripted me as escort. I would be honored to escort you too, Miss Emily, if your mother does not object.”
Emily looked eagerly at her parent. “May I, Mamma?”
“I suppose that would be all right. Thank you, Mr. Stanley.”
“My pleasure.”
Emily rose and walked into the house with the young man.
He said, “I shall even dance with you, if you’ll allow me, and endeavor not to step on your toes.”
She laughed. “I cannot promise the same. I am out of practice after our mourning period.”
He nodded, holding her gaze. “Then we shall muddle through together.”
———
That evening, Emily took great pleasure in donning a favorite ball gown and dancing slippers. She wished she had help with her hair but resigned herself to doing the best she could on her own.
A soft knock sounded.
“Come in. It’s open.” She expected Sarah. But when she saw the person reflected in the looking glass, she gasped happily and whirled on the dressing stool. “Stirling! Sorry. Miss Stirling. Old habits die hard.”
“I know.” The former lady’s maid smiled. “Never mind. I hear you are going to the ball?”
“Who told you that?”
“A little bird,” she coyly replied. “I thought I would see if you wanted a hand with your hair. My old habits die hard too.”
“Yes, please. You are so kind, and I am all thumbs. I was just wishing a fairy godmother would make an appearance, and here you are.”
Later, when she was ready, Emily went down and met Mr. Stanley in the hall. He looked handsome and broad shouldered in formal evening clothes. Even so, with his square build and ordinary features, he could not compare to her memory of Charles Parker in evening attire. She told herself to stop comparing and enjoy herself.
“You look lovely.” His eyes shone with admiration. Then abruptly his expression sobered and his manner became formal. He bowed and said, “Shall we go and collect my sister?” He frowned. “Perhaps I ought to have done so first so we three might walk together.”
Why did he suddenly want a chaperone? He hadn’t seemed to mind being alone with her before. She hoped it was a sign of his respect and nothing more.
“I will walk with you into town,” Miss Stirling offered as she came down the stairs. “I am going that way, as it happens.”
“Ah. Good.” He opened the door for the ladies and then tucked his hands behind his back, not offering either of them his arm. He kept his distance, staying to the far side of the esplanade, while Miss Stirling remained between them.
Was there something about her that made men wary? Emily thought again of Charles’s change toward her, from open warmth to cold reserve.
Miss Stirling walked with them as far as the York Hotel, which faced the beach. There she bid them farewell and turned inland toward her boarding house.
