Page 23 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
Priscilla rolled her eyes, relieved that Sophie wasn’t actually able to see, as she had not yet turned around from closing the door. Yet the moment that she did, she met Priscilla’s gaze and admittedly; she did look rather peaked.
“Maybe you should make an excuse not to go if you are feeling quite so ill,” Priscilla suggested.At least then I won’t be forced by my aunt to attend as well.Maybe if she had been able to keep the invitation to herself, she might not have had to go, but the moment her aunt had turned up on her doorstep to collect her to go to the Lyttletons’ together, she knew that her only option was to attend.
“Normally I would, but I don’t know this time,” Sophie admitted with a shrug of her shoulders and the way she continued to grip hold of Priscilla’s fingers told her exactly how nervous she was.
“Do you think you mightactuallylike this one?”
For a few seconds, the two women stared at each other and Priscilla tried her hardest to read the expression on her friend’s face. It was quite unclear as to what she truly thought until Sophie finally admitted, “Well, when I last met Lord Knighton, he was rather sweet.”
Priscilla gulped. It would take far more than a nobleman beingsweetto make her entertain the idea of marriage. She only hoped that her friend was not going entirely soft on her.
“I am sure that any man can be sweet if he thinks it will get him what he wants,” Priscilla said, perhaps a little too sternly, raising an eyebrow at her friend.
Sophie scowled back at her, pouting her plump pink lips in frustration. “Do you always have to be quite so negative about the men of theton?”
“Perhaps if there were more of them to speak positively of, I might,” Priscilla responded as coolly as she would have, no matter who was broaching the subject with her.
“Honestly, you shall never marry with an attitude like that,” Sophie grumbled at her. “I can see why your aunt is always so concerned about whether or not you will make a match.”
Priscilla eyed her friend closely for a moment, wondering whether now might be a good time to tell her of her deal with her father, but then she thought better of it. Though she had always told her friend that she had no true desire to get married, she had never quite told her that her father had practically given his blessing for her not to do so, if that was what she wanted.
She could only imagine how much worse it would make Sophie feel that her parents were adamant that she would marry, whether she liked it or not.
“I am lucky that I have a father who will leave me to make the final decision for myself,” she said simply. “My aunt can worry all she likes, but it will not change matters. If I find the right nobleman or gentleman, then I shall happily walk down the aisle.”
Bile rose in the back of her throat at the words because, in truth, she had never even thought about that walk. Yet today, for just a second, it popped right into her mind. Though she would not allow herself to think of the man she imagined waiting at the other end to meet her. It did not bear thinking about, and she quickly shoved all thought of the dark-haired man from her mind.
“Perhaps you will take a liking to Lord Knighton’s friend,” Sophie suggested and Priscilla immediately gritted her teeth to stop herself from blurting something that she might regret.
Instead of saying something harsh, she carefully asked, “And who exactly is Lord Knighton’s friend?”
She looked at Sophie with a raised eyebrow. It was the very first that she had heard of him, though from the way she had said it, it was clear that they would also be meeting him at the park today. Priscilla got the distinct impression that it was not any mere coincidence.
Sophie’s cheeks instantly grew red, confirming Priscilla’s earlier suspicions that something had indeed been planned behind her back.
“Lord Knighton suggested that he would be bringing a friend along with him today and I overheard your aunt and my mother discussing the fact that it might be a good opportunity for you,” Sophie explained with a gentle shrug of her shoulders.
“I thought that Lady Bishop would have mentioned him.”
With an overly exaggerated sigh, Priscilla shook her head and said coolly, “She did not.”
Priscilla could see exactly why her aunt had not mentioned Lord Knighton’s friend to her the moment that they met the noblemen in the local park. Where Lord Knighton was an Earl, his friend, Lord Bessington was a baron.
And where Knighton appeared to be sweet, his friend was entirely the opposite. In fact, he was pompous and quite simply foolish, though he did appear to be trying his damnedest to entertain Priscilla.
Forced to walk with her arm in his, she was more than a little amused when the Baron accidentally tripped over what appeared to be his own feet while they were making a turn of the pond. It was the perfect excuse for her to release his arm and the moment she got her opportunity she did just that, much preferring to walk alone even if she was forced to remain at his side.
She felt more than a little penned in by Lord Knighton and Sophie’s walking in front of them, while Lady Lyttleton and Lady Bishop remained behind, chaperoning and talking quietly among themselves as though all was right with the world.
Though she was having a terrible time, watching the baron stumble about and having to listen to his drivel about how much of a keen businessman he hoped to be, walking in his late father’s footsteps. She had to admit that her friend did appear to be having a marvellous time.
She deserves it,Priscilla thought, deciding to simply grit her teeth and bare the time she had to share with the baron for her friend’s sake. Though she had never liked the idea of marriage for marriage’s sake, she would not deny her friend a chance of happiness if that was what she believed would actually make her happy.
And though she had not given him much credit before, Priscilla did have to admit that Lord Knighton appeared to be as sweet and gentle as Sophie had stated he was. The two were talking quite adamantly, even a little over-animatedly, as if they had entirely forgotten that there was anyone else in the park.
Priscilla, on the other hand, had not. And desperate to stop herself from going numb with boredom, she found her eyes wandering about the place, admiring the nature of the bees and the butterflies humming about while also taking in the other members of thetonwho eyed their party just as much as she eyed them.
At least all the colourful people around them were far more interesting than the baron who was almost like a puppy, trailing after her and stumbling as he was. Even his attention span reminded Priscilla of one as he kept stopping to look at this flower or that tree, flitting out of the way whenever an insect drew too near, catching his foot in uneven ground wherever there seemed to be some.
