Page 27 of War of the Wedding Wagers
“I think it was badly done of her,” grumbled Miss Playford just before they went to their rooms.
“It was a game, Miss Playford. We all knew that,” Amelia had said, trying to cajole her into brighter spirits so she could enjoy the ball with renewed enthusiasm.
But Sir Frederick had surprisingly agreed with the young lady. “It’s no fun when someone toys with one’s emotions, as Lady Pendleton is guilty of doing.”
“Toying with our emotions?” repeated Amelia. “We knew it was a game.”
“Did we?” His look was dark as he shook his head. “No, we entered into the spirit of it as if it were real. No one likes to feel they engaged a piece of themselves—” and he tapped the left side of his chest “—only to feel they’ve been played like a fool.”
And his words had Amelia wondering all the way to her room and as she changed, whether Sir Frederick really had ever had his heart broken because he was, she was sure, a philanderer who had no real heart to be played with.
Not only did she know that herself from experience, but Thomas had given an excoriating assessment of him just before he’d gone into battle.
The battle from which he had never returned.
*
And now thedancing was in full swing and Miss Playford was in company with her friends, the other Miss Ps—all blonde, petite, vivacious, and highly suitable for Sir Frederick if Amelia could only engineer such matters.
Which she must do if her dreams were to come true…she supposed.
“Would you do me the honor of this dance? A set is just forming.”
She looked up, surprised that Sir Frederick had asked. But she could not refuse. She knew him too well and it would be churlish. And she did like to dance. In fact, she’d miss dancing after she retired to the country, but not as much as she’d miss reading books and exercising her own will, which she’d have to give up if she were to wed.
She smiled, placing her hand upon the arm he offered, and together they crossed the room and took up their places.
“Miss Playford is rather charming, don’t you think?” Amelia asked him.
“Far more so that I’d thought initially,” he said, smiling. “There is a certain artlessness when she drops the façade of being on display that makes her a great deal more interesting than she appears now.”
They both turned to glance at the young lady in the midst of her group of friends, with several chaperones a short distance away. Miss Playford was speaking in a very animated fashion, but the glances she directed towards some of the eligible young men in the room were plain to see.
“I think she’s too young to get married.”
This was not what Amelia wanted to hear. “She’s the perfect age. She’s so pliable and ready to please. Any gentleman in want of a wife would struggle to do better.”
“But who wants a wife like that?” asked Sir Frederick, beginning the dance. “No, a young lady who has her own views and opinions is far more interesting. An intelligent young lady who takes the trouble to discover what she thinks first is far more appealing.”
Amelia was even more surprised. Then she said, “That is not very charitable to Miss Playford who, I believe, displayed intelligence, depth, and humor.”
“I thought the same until you made the remark that she appears pliable and willing-to-please,” said Sir Frederick. “And, as I place a great deal of store in your opinion, Miss Fairchild, that was my answer.”
Amelia felt he could have knocked her down with a feather and cautioned herself to be more careful in future. If Sir Frederick could be swayed by her opinion, then she’d have to paint a potential wife in very different terms.
“What are you looking for in a wife?” she asked.
“I’m not looking for a wife,” he said simply, and Amelia blushed hotly to think he might imagine she was asking for herself.
“Just as I am not looking for a husband,” she said quickly. “As soon as I—”
“Yes, yes, as soon as you get your inheritance, you’re retiring to the country,” he repeated with a sigh.
Amelia stared at him, open-mouthed. He seemed in low spirits suddenly, so she asked, “And what will you do as the season progresses and then the new year is upon us? Do you plan to go adventuring? Men have so many choices.”
“You say that as if you were envious,” he said, frowning. “Sometimes choice is not as grand as it’s made out to be. Sometimes, one has no choice but to do something one really doesn’t want to do.”
This was such a quixotic remark and Amelia was quite dying to discover what he meant and to be furnished with a concrete example, but then it was time to change partners and she found herself looking up into the eyes of Mr. Greene who sent her a wolfish smile and asked her if she’d discovered the final fate oftragic, bogus Miss Pernilla as they had, though not everyone had been so clever.
