Page 15 of A Secret Infatuation
“Very well, thank you.” She was proud that her voice sounded strong, with little trace of shyness. “I have been walking in Hyde Park and have attended some of the smaller assemblies. This is my first large ball of the season.”
“I am glad Lady Dorothea convinced her to come to it. I had begun to fear I would have to endure the entire London season without having Lady Sophia by my side at any of the events,” Marie added, laughingly.
“I am glad you came as well,” Mr. Harwood said.
When the meaning of his words pierced her consciousness, a tentative smile grew on her face. She could hardly believe he cared enough to say it, even if he was likely being polite.
Robert glanced at Mr. Harwood with narrowed eyes. “As am I. And you may be assured that I will begin calling on you more regularly, Sophia.” Along with dropping the honorific, Robert turned toward her with a look that seemed proprietary—and wrong. “I’ve not been able to do so before, because my father has been keeping me busy, but I have a bit more time at my disposal now.”
“Mr. Harwood, do you pay morning calls?” Marie asked. As soon as the words were out, she turned to Sophia, an immediate blush filling her cheeks. That had been forward, even for Marie, and she strove to soften it. “Sometimes I sit with Lady Sophia during visiting hours, and if Mr. Cunningworth were to come, we should be delighted to see you as well.”
This was untrue, but Sophia could hardly blame her. Marie had revealed a partiality that would be unbecoming if Mr. Harwood did not return it. Sophia was glad to shield her friend from embarrassment, even if she could hardly be happy about watching them make a match.
“You are indeed welcome,” she said, adding her encouragement to Mr. Harwood. It was not difficult to admit that she would be glad to have him come for calls, as well, if she must endure Robert’s.
“I have not been well enough acquainted with Society ladies to have made morning calls before now,” he said, again with a smile that seemed in his amiable way to be just for her, although she was likely reading too much into his politeness again. “But if you are pleased—if you both are pleased to have me,” he rectified, “I shall be glad to come.”
Marie looked gratified, and Sophia returned his smile. She could not help it, for spending time with Mr. Harwood, even if it was to further his interest with Marie, was better than spending no time with him at all.
Chapter 7
The stultifying tick of the clock resounded in the drawing room, which was absent of all other noise. Marie leaned back on the reclining sofa and offered Sophia a sheepish look.
“I cannot think what possessed me to ask Mr. Harwood whether he ever paid morning calls and to follow up that piece of nonsense by assuring him I would be in your drawing room should he wish to do so.”
Sophia smiled listlessly, prey to the mixed feelings of anticipating Mr. Harwood’s presence in her very own drawing room, while knowing that if he did come, there was every reason to suspect he had done so to see Marie.
“And now that I’ve said it, I’m obliged to haunt your drawing room until he pays a visit,” Marie continued. “Poor you.”
This produced a genuine giggle from Sophia. “Well, as neither he nor Mr. Cunningworth have actually called these two days past, perhaps we have made a fuss over nothing. Before Mr. Cunningworth announced his intentions, I had not even given morning calls a thought, whether it was to make them or receive them. Dorothea is not here to arrange the calls as she did last year; my mother never thinks of them, and we have not gone out in Society enough to expect them.”
“I feel it is all my fault,” Marie admitted.
The door to the drawing room opened and Camilla entered as Sophia sighed and shook her head. “It is not your fault, for Mr. Cunningworth has promised to visit.”
“You mean he has threatened to visit,” Camilla said as she joined their circle.
Sophia gave her sister a reproving look but was unable to repress a chuckle. Rather than dignify that comment with an answer, she turned to Marie. “I don’t suppose I would have made any effort to be at home if it were just to await Mr. Cunningworth’s visit.” The silence that followed this made room for her worry that she had given too much away. Did Marie take it to mean she was now staying at home because of Mr. Harwood?
Before that particular fear could grow to gargantuan proportions, Camilla changed the subject. “I told Joanna and Tilly to come down as soon as they can make themselves presentable. They have been quarreling, and we are all of us in need of some diversion.”
“Even if that diversion is Mr. Cunningworth?” Sophia asked, and was instantly seized with guilt for having made him the subject of her joke. She rushed on. “Will Mother come down?”
Camilla shook her head. “Mama is feeling poorly and says we will have to do without her company today.”
Marie murmured a consolation, then added, “Well, as your sister has said, perhaps we are all assembled here for nothing, for it is the third day of waiting and we have yet to receive a single visitor.”
As if on cue, the rap of the knocker sounded on the front door. Sophia and Marie both turned their heads toward the main hall to listen for the voices that would identify their callers. Joanna and Tilly entered the drawing room from the private entrance.
“Take the seat there,” Joanna urged their youngest sister before sitting beside Sophia on the sofa. Seconds later, the butler entered the drawing room.
“My ladies, three gentlemen are here to see you. Mr. Cunningworth, Mr. Harwood, and Mr. Grantly.”
“Show them in, please.” At hearing Mr. Harwood’s name, Sophia’s throat went dry, but she had no time to examine this before the gentleman entered the room. He glanced at everyone present, but she felt his eyes on her. She had never been so nervous in her own drawing room before.
Greetings and courtesies were exchanged, and they piled into the remaining seats in the center of the drawing room. Mr. Cunningworth chose the seat next to Marie, which was to Sophia’s left, and Mr. Harwood and Mr. Grantly took the chairs opposite.
Mr. Harwood broke the silence. “It is just as you said, Miss Mowbray. We find you here during calling hours.”
