Page 7 of Lady Charlotte and the Lending Library
“It is rather warm and husky for a female.” He shrugged when his friend grinned widely, feeling heat upon his cheeks. Ashford looked about the room a moment. He wasn’t exactly eager to proceed into the fray.
He’d told himself he was merely at the ball to find the young woman from White’s and warn her away from any further indelicate behavior. To his surprise, he found he felt energized at the prospect of searching for and finding the unconventional lady.
“I spy Nathaniel.” Cecil raised a hand to catch their friend’s attention. “At least his sister is safe to dance with, as she doesn’t fancy either of us.”
“Too right,” he replied with a chuckle. “Alicia has far better taste.”
Their friend, Nathaniel Tilford of Harbury, might be a mere baron, but he was the wealthiest of the three men. He’d been a naval officer during the conflict with Napoleon, retiring from the navy to look after his sister Alicia. Their parents had died of influenza the year before, and his sister had gone to live with maiden aunts for several months before her brother returned to England.
After Ashford danced with Nathaniel’s sister, he made a circuit around the edge of the ballroom, hoping to catch a whiff of his phantom lady. He spied the fashionable young woman who had stepped out of Lord Faversham’s carriage earlier that day. He’d forgotten about the vagrant’s friend Louisa in his desire to locate the lady from White’s.
Louisa stood with two other young women. Both were attractive. One lady had dark brown hair, the other, pearly blonde. His vagrant had been a head taller than Louisa, and the dark-haired woman was the tallest of the three ladies.
Although all of the debutantes in attendance dressed in white or cream-colored gowns, the tall woman standing near Louisa stood out from the rest. Her glossy brown locks were pinned artfully on top of her head, a strand of pearls woven through her lustrous hair. She smiled at something Louisa said, and her whole countenance bloomed. Observing the lady’s curved lips, he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. That smile transformed her features from merely appealing to enchanting.
Ashford took a few steps closer. The lady with pearls in her hair looked directly at him. Her dark brown eyes widened, and her mouth opened in a silent oh. Had he found his vagrant?
He could not approach the group as he had never been introduced to the young women. To his astonishment, a gentleman he recognized came to stand beside the trio of females. The man looked up, caught his gaze, and strode forward.
“Lord Ashford! How wonderful to see you! It has been a long time.” William Beaumont performed an exaggerated bow.
“I’m surprised you recognized me,” he replied evenly. If not for his desire to meet the young woman from White’s, he’d rather the young buck hadn’t remembered him.
“You did me a huge favor, Lord Ashford. I should never forget you. You must meet my sister. Let me introduce you to Charlotte and her friends.” The man returned to the three ladies, standing beside the tallest one. “Benedict Grey, Marquess of Ashford, may I present my sister Lady Charlotte and her friends Lady Louisa and Lady Edith.”
Ashford bowed to the ladies as they all curtsied prettily. The rich floral scent of Tuberose drifted to him, ensnaring his senses. The lady named Charlotte said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Ashford,” and he was sure he’d found the lady from White’s.
Lady Charlotte’s brown eyes were beautiful, slightly tipped up at the corners and thickly lashed. They were eyes a man could drown in. She’d been clever to hide them on St. James’s Street. If he’d seen her eyes, he would have known her for a woman straight away.
He greeted the three young women, the languorous warmth in his limbs and his rapid pulse alerting him to the fact that he was attracted to one of the ladies: a tall, slender woman with shiny, glorious chocolate-colored hair.
Ashford felt an odd kind of pleasure that his street urchin was the loveliest lady in the room, although it didn’t signify. Lady Charlotte wasn’t marriage material as not only was her recent behavior far too reckless. Her brother was a thief.
Chapter Four
Charlotte’s father had begged off attending the ball that evening and was ensconced in his study at the family townhouse in Hanover Square, a glass of port and a book at his side. Her brother William had been prevailed upon to escort his mother and only sister to the ball.
“As your older brother, I suppose it is my duty,” he’d said to Charlotte with a wink.
She’d wrinkled her nose at him, not bothering to reply. William was a mere year older than her own nineteen years and never let her forget it. He usually avoided entertainments of the marriage mart, declaring himself too busy with other pursuits. She knew only too well that he was shy around young women, having been witness to his awkward interactions with her friends.
Charlotte wore a white crape frock ornamented with French lama work in silver over a satin slip. Cut low around the bosom, the crape fronts were open at each side to display the white satin underneath, the short sleeves a mixture of white satin and crape. She wore white kid gloves drawn nearly to the elbow, and white satin slippers completed her ensemble.
Their carriage ride to Lady Cairs’ mansion through Holles Street took a matter of moments as the distance between Hanover and Cavendish Square was, at the most, a pleasant five-minute walk. The weather was lovely: clear skies with a light breeze.
“Come along, Mama,” Charlotte said to her mother as they made their way up the steps of their hostess’s red-brick mansion.
“You don’t need to rush to ask the marchioness’s assistance,” her mother replied with a laugh. “She won’t be going anywhere for several hours.”
Their outerwear dispensed with in the entry hall, they entered the ballroom. Charlotte paused for a moment to take in the elegance of the scene. Flickering candles illuminated gleaming chandeliers. Potted ferns and enormous arrangements of exotic flowers were placed in front of open windows to allow their fragrance to drift through the large room.
She remembered her quest to save Thorne’s and hurried her mother to the side of their hostess.
“I would like to speak to Lady Cairs before Louisa arrives. You know how Louisa loves to tease me about my ideas that never come to fruition. I want a fait accompli as soon as possible, and we must away before Lady Cairs attempts to match me with someone.”
William blanched and replied, “I forgot the dowager is a bloody matchmaker. I shall go retrieve refreshments.”
Charlotte’s mother winced at her son’s language. When they reached Lady Cairs, her mother proceeded to speak first as she outranked the other woman. Their hostess was affable as ever, complimenting Charlotte on her dress and hair.
