Page 55 of A Dreamy Match Made in Heaven
As it happened, the evening was becoming a whirlwind of men who appeared intrigued by Sophia and her confidence was growing by the moment. She wondered where these men had been at the previous ball and wished that Miss Wainwright was about, watching her.
If the Matchmaker was somewhere, hiding and observing as she had last time, then maybe she was seeing other matches to be made for Sophia. Now that she had given up with the ridiculous match of Thomas, she needed only to observe that Sophia was engaging with plenty of others.
She allowed her eyes to search the crowd for the Matchmaker, waiting for her to notice that Sophia was doing just that. She wondered if there was something else she ought to be doing to bring about flair and show that she was better than Miss Wainwright might have previously expected.
But alas, the Matchmaker was nowhere to be seen. There must have been some spot from which she was observing, but Sophia could not imagine where it might be.
“May I have the next dance?” came a voice from behind.
Sophia turned and saw that tit was the gentleman with the blue eyes and she nodded, happily.
“Certainly. I do believe I have space on my card,” she said.
He smiled and took her hand, leading her to the floor where the other dancers were lined up and ready. They took their places and he bowed as Sophia curtseyed.
“I did not catch your name,” she said.
“James Fanshaw,” he replied.
“Mr. Fanshaw, I am delighted to make your acquaintance,” she remarked.
“And you are Lady Sophia Hastings, if I am not mistaken?” he asked.
“Indeed,” she replied.
“I have heard excellent things about you and am thrilled to be meeting you now. I must confess that I know you have had a difficult season, but it appears that it has been utterly a gift for me to learn that you are not currently being courted,” he said, rather openly.
Sophia blushed, knowing that he was speaking far too familiarly. It was not the sort of thing that ought to have been said with such confidence. After all they had only just met and now, dancing together, it was very bold of him.
“You must tell me more of yourself, considering how well you know me already,” Sophia suggested.
James Fanshaw grinned all over again, with that rather dashing smile of his.
“I am not nearly as interesting as you, I fear,” he replied.
By the end of the dance, Sophia had come to see that it was true. Mr. Fanshaw spoke only of his love for turtles and the fact that he enjoyed not having to work thanks to his father’s title and wealth.
“I do adore that I am able to spend my days lounging about the outdoors rather than having to do all of those boring books for my father’s business. He has said that one day I might have to take over, but I am hoping to avoid that at all costs. Why should a man work when he has everything he needs without it?” he asked.
Sophia was rather turned away by these little remarks that Mr. Fanshaw made. She wondered how a man like that could be so lazy. How had he managed to charm her when he was simply a worthless creature who could hardly bring himself to do anything of nobility?
More than that, Sophia wondered how his mother and father were not ashamed. It appeared that they merely encouraged him to behave in such a way, which was even more disappointing. When she considered how she would like to raise children of her own one day, Sophia wanted them to have a father who exuded hard work.
This was simply not the gentleman for that task.
“Perhaps we might dance again later?” he asked, when the music came to an end.
She gave a polite, but false, smile. “We shall see how my card looks at the time,” was all she replied with.
From there, Sophia went on to dance with a man far too young for her to consider prepared for marriage, Lord Faversham who took pity on her after watching the failed dances, and the Baron who was far less spoiled, but equally as boring as James Fanshaw.
After those dances she made her way over to Adrianna again, who was taking a break from the dancing and getting another glass of punch.
“How has it been for you?” Sophia asked.
“Fine so far. But I’ve only just seen Officer Kingsley enter the room and I shouldn’t like to approach him. I think that if I linger here for a few moments, I shall make myself visible a short while after and allow him to come to me when he is ready,” Adrianna said.
The plan was a wise one. But for Sophia, it only made her wonder about Thomas. Had he arrived as well?
