Page 58 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
Priscilla hoped that the carriage ride that evening would be the most uncomfortable experience to occur, but that was just wishful thinking.
“I never should have let you talk me into this,” she protested, shaking her head at Sophie, who sat opposite her. They were alone thanks to Sophie, having insisted that her parents go on ahead without them so that she could convince Priscilla to even go in the first place. “I have been to my quota of balls this Season already.”
“And another is exactly what you need to take your mind offthings,” Sophie insisted, tapping Priscilla’s foot with her own in a playful manner. Priscilla cringed, knowing all too well what she was talking about. Even though it had been several days, she was still unable to stop from thinking of Lord Sinclair and everything else that had happened.
Though she put a brave, icy face on for the public, inside she was still sore or numb depending on how many tears she had cried on any given day while nobody was watching.
But she would never admit any of that to Sophie or to their parents. They were all already watching her like hawks, ready to swoop at the slightest sign something was wrong.
“My mind is perfectly content,” Priscilla insisted. When Sophie gave her a pointed scowl that suggested she did not believe her, she added, “Though I do believe it would be exceptionally embarrassing if we were to run into any of them.”
Sophie shrugged and pointed out, “Nobody knows of such things but us. Lord Montgomery has yet to make an announcement about Lady Caroline’s engagement.”
You mean, Lord Sinclair and Lady Caroline’s engagement,Priscilla thought bitterly, her throat constricting. Though she had thought to have cried her last tears, the sobs threatened once more, and not for the first time she wanted to have the carriage turned around.
“Perhaps Lord Sinclair and Mr. Parr were able to calm Lord Montgomery down,” Sophie suggested. “Maybe he truly had gotten the wrong end of the stick.”
“Maybe,” Priscilla responded, breathing the word instinctively, though she dared not allow her friend’s words to bury too deep into her. The very last thing she needed right now was to hope that they had found an alternative solution to Lord Montgomery’s ultimatum.What if they duelled after all?
The thought caused her to shiver, and she quickly forced it from her mind. If that had been the case, they would surely have heard of the death or maiming of one of the noblemen by now, likely some ‘hunting accident’ one of them had experienced or some other such nonsense, when deep down everyone would likely know the truth by the end of the day.
“We ought to just remember what your mama said and stop discussing it at all,” Priscilla pointed out, hoping that Sophie would take the hint. Though she huffed a little about it, Sophie did nod, and in the next moment, she leaned over to pull back the carriage curtain.
“We’re almost there.”
A shiver ran down Priscilla’s spine and she got her last chance to wish that she had asked for the carriage to be turned around. Instead, the carriage pulled up to the steps of the manor where the ball was being held. Though a grand place, Priscilla felt no excitement at the sight of it and she was practically dragged out of the carriage and up the steps by her friend.
“Don’t worry, you look lovely,” Sophie insisted as though she saw the apprehensive look on Priscilla’s face, yet the last thing on her mind was how she was looking. Though her duck egg blue gown was in stark contrast to Sophie’s pale pink dress, she didn’t mind what people might think of what she had chosen to wear. She would leave that mindless gossip to the other young ladies of theton.
All she cared to do was get in and get out to put her friend and their parents off the fact that she was still having a hard time of recovering from the ordeal at Mr. Parr’s townhouse.
There was just one problem she had forgotten about. Though they quickly showed themselves almost the moment, the servants showed Priscilla and Sophie into the entryway.
Even before the hosts had come to greet their guests, Mr. Kenyon and Miss Kendall were there before them, both looking exceptionally smug.
“Good evening, Miss Lloyd, Miss Lyttleton. How lovely it is to see you both here tonight,” Mr. Kenyon greeted them with a curt yet respectable dipping of his head, even as he wandered up with Miss Kendall on his arm.
The two of them made a fine pair, both reminding her of animals, a shrew and a snake, quite simply the perfect team to annoy her immediately upon seeing them.
Miss Kendall glanced beyond Priscilla and Sophie before she commented, “I half expected for Lord Sinclair to have escorted you here this evening, though I haven’t seen the two of you around for quite a while. I do hope nothing untoward has happened between you both.”
The gleaming expression upon her face and the way her eyes blazed with sarcasm made Priscilla want to grip her blonde hair and tear it from her scalp just to shove a few fistfuls into her mouth to shut her up. She most definitely deserved such treatment. Even though she was already riled, Priscilla would not allow herself to be made a fool of.
“You know, the two of you are awfully sad,” she declared, fixing them with an icy glare. “Have you nothing better to do than worry about my life?”
Both of them opened their mouths to speak, looking only mildly insulted, but before Priscilla could hear what either of them had to say, Sophie grabbed hold of her by the elbow and started to drag her towards their hosts.
“You really ought not to let them get to you,” Sophie insisted, hissing the words into Priscilla’s ear so that nobody around them would hear. “They are just trying to rile you up.”
And push me even further away from Lord Sinclair,Priscilla thought begrudgingly, though she wasn’t even sure that was actually possible. How much further apart could they be?What does it matter to them, anyway?She still could not for the life of her imagine why they had even been in attendance at Mr. Parr’s townhouse in the first place.
Still, it was better not to get lost in such thoughts all over again and so she plastered a weak smile upon her face and prepared to be greeted.
They had been in the ballroom little more than ten minutes before Sophie was encouraged away from Priscilla’s side by a gentleman wishing to dance. Happily, Priscilla watched her go, feeling much more at ease alone at the edge of the dancefloor, knowing that nobody would likely have the courage to step up and ask her to dance.
That was, until the commotion at the doors announced the arrival of yet more guests. On instinct more than desire, Priscilla turned her gaze towards the doors, half expecting from the way the women were braying that it might be Lord Sinclair.
Disappointment enveloped her the moment she saw that it was not him but another pair of eligible bachelors who had clearly taken the spotlight for the evening.
