Page 14 of The Duke's Indecent Match
“I thought so, too, but when Lady Astrid paired us together for dinner, he suddenly grew cold.Then he warmed again during the meal.I thought.Now…” Kalina glanced over to where he was speaking with Lady Kari, who fluttered her eyelashes and her fan at him simultaneously.
Her stomach twisted.
“Hmm.”Tiffany frowned.“I do not know what he is thinking, but I can try to find out.”
“No,” Kalina said immediately, shaking her head.“If he has taken against me, there is nothing I can do about it… I just worried that perhaps I had done something wrong.”
“Nothing I know of.”Tiffany smiled warmly and reached over to put her hand atop Kalina’s.“It can be difficult navigating theton, but I will help as best I can.Though Astrid and Delilah have far more experience than I do.”She seemed on the cusp of saying something, but then one of the ladies across the room—the older one, who insisted she be called Lady Collette—clapped her hands together, drawing everyone’s attention to her.
“Dancing!”Lady Collette exclaimed, bouncing to her feet.“That is what we need!We should start our stay here with dancing!”
The rest of the company exchanged glances, but no one seemed keen to gainsay her.Lady Blackstone looked at her husband, who shrugged, then at Lady Astrid, who smiled.
“Dancing sounds lovely.Shall we decamp to the ballroom?”Turning slightly, Lady Astrid gestured toward the door.Her father, seemingly resigned to his daughter’s direction, held out his arm to her mother, and the two led the way out of the room.
Right on their heels, the Duke of Ormonde gave Lady Astrid his arm, bowing slightly as he offered it.Her upper lip curled in a sneer before she could tamp down her expression, but she took his arm.
The rest of the company followed less formally.The Duke of Clarence appeared to offer his arm to both his wife and to Kalina.She smiled at him with relief, grateful to be included.Several other ladies linked arms with each other, but Kalina was not sure who she would have walked with if not Tiffany.
Delilah was already busy ushering Lady Johanna and Miss Belle along, and the other dukes she’d previously met were escorting other young ladies.Her father did glance over his shoulder as he led her mother and Lady Collette out of the room, his expression relaxing into a smile when he saw who she was walking with.When her mother glanced back as well, Kalina felt her chest fill with warmth.
Her parents had been all she had for so long.She very much appreciated that they still looked for her, even though she no longer required it.
Because I have friends.
Finally.
Such a strange concept.
Such a joy.
The Blackstone ballroom was massive, and footmen rushed around to light the huge room.
“Just this side,” Lady Astrid directed, waving her hand at the half of the ballroom that contained the pianoforte.“We should not have any need of the whole space.”
It left one half the ballroom obscured in shadows but, as Lady Astrid said, there was no need to fill the whole of it with light.The effort would be monumental, while their party was too small to properly make use of such a great amount of space.The footmen appeared relieved and quickly lit the side of the room she’d indicated, as well as just one of the four chandeliers.
The ballroom had a pretty pattern laid out on the floor that matched the pattern on the wallpaper, though the floor was polished wood and the wallpaper was done in cream and bronze.Tapestries depicting what looked like scenes from Greek mythology hung from the walls with sconces set between them, and lavishly ornate wallpaper decorated the space behind them.
Huge windows lined the opposite wall with heavy bronze draperies that matched the wallpaper and golden cords and tassels holding them open.It was dark, which meant they could not see outside, and Kalina wondered what the view would hold during the day.She would have to come and look tomorrow.
This was her first time out in the English countryside, and she wanted to see everything.
Lady Astrid was already settling herself behind the pianoforte, with the Duke of Ormonde hovering beside her.Giving him a narrow-eyed glance, she made a shooing motion at him.His jaw set, he ignored her clear order to move away from her and stepped even closer, reaching up to open her music.
“Oh, how sweet of you to turn the pages for Lady Astrid.”The Duchess of Ormonde beamed at the two of them with the blindness of a mother who was thrilled with her child’s betrothal and missed all the signs of said children’s dislike of each other.
Lifting her chin, Lady Astrid’s bosom rose as well as she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Very kind.Thank you so much, Your Grace.”
“My pleasure, my lady.”
They were the correct pleasantries, said through gritted teeth, almost as though they were verbally sparring.Everyone but the Duchess of Ormonde and Lady Blackstone seemed discomfited, but Lady Astrid broke through the moment by looking around at the rest of the company.
“Has everyone found a partner?”she asked, driving the attention from herself and the duke to everyone else.
Chairs were already being brought out for those who wished to watch rather than dance, mostly the older guests, though Lord Blackstone was already leading his lady out to the dance floor.The lady smiled at her husband with such frank delight, Kalina felt almost as though she’d trodden on an intimate moment when she looked at them, and she quickly looked away.
