Page 4 of Wager for a Wife

Lady Wilmington took Louisa’s hand and patted it. “Are you quite well, my dear?”

“Yes.” She swallowed. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” Since Lady Wilmington didn’t add anything to her earlier cloud reference, Louisa decided—hoped, rather—that it must have been a coincidence. A coincidence she had no intention of sharing—especially with her brothers, who would never let her live it down.

Couples were already taking their places on the floor by the time Louisa and her parents arrived at the ballroom, and the musicians were warming up their instruments on the dais. The first dance of the evening would soon be underway. The murmur of conversation filled the room, and as Louisa looked around the room for familiar faces, all thoughts of clouds faded from her mind.

Lord Kerridge would be here tonight, and he had asked her to reserve a dance for him. The evening would be filled with dancing, and that meant she would most likely have many dance partners, for Lord Kerridge wouldn’t be able to dance with her more than two dances. She had already penciled his name on her card for one dance. Would he ask her for a second later in the evening—perhaps the supper dance? Were there other gentlemen here tonight she would find as charming as he?

What if no one else asked her to dance? The thought hadn’t occurred to her before, but it was entirely possible she could end up a wallflower, sitting with Mama and her friends and fanning herself out of embarrassment and boredom. How mortifying that would be if, at her first real ball, she turned out to be an utter failure. Could a worse thing imaginable ever happen to her? She doubted it.

“Would you care to dance with me, Lady Ashworth, before you settle in with your friends and fret over which young suitors are paying court to your daughter?” Papa asked Mama, interrupting Louisa’s stream of thought.

Goodness, she was so nervous she was babbling in her head now.

“You mean before you discreetly head in the direction of the card room, Ashworth?” Mama replied with a coy smile.

“Precisely, my love.”

“I would enjoy such a dance, provided your daughter is not left on her own as a result.”

Ashworth glanced around the ballroom. “You needn’t worry. Halford will show his face at any moment if he knows what’s good for him.”

As if on cue, Alex and Anthony materialized at the ballroom door, both looking like lambs being led to the slaughter. Louisa hid a smile behind her gloved hand as her brothers spotted the rest of the family and made their way toward them.

“I’m off to search the ranks for willing—I mean suitable—dance partners,” Anthony announced. “You shall not be left wanting, little sister.” Louisa barely had time to register what he’d said before he was off like a shot and disappeared into the crowd.

“Lady Cumulus,” Alex said, bowing theatrically to Louisa, a twinkle in his eye. “How soon we meet again! I would be honored to dance the first dance with you, provided you do not become thunderous during our time together.”

She laid her hand on his arm and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. “Did you or Anthony say something about my gown to Lady Wilmington?” Drat. She’d told herself she wasn’t going to say anything about that.

“Don’t be silly,” Alex said absentmindedly. “Wait.” He stopped walking. “Are you telling me she actually called your gown a cloud?”

“Something like that,” Louisa answered, feeling rather grumpy about the entire business.

Alex grinned.

“Stop it,” Louisa said, rapping Alex on the arm with her fan, which caused both of her parents to turn and give her reproving looks. “Stop it,” she repeated in a quieter tone, trying her best not to giggle. It was all so ludicrous. “I chose this gown with extreme care, you know. Does it really make me look like some sort of weather phenomenon?”

“It’s a very delightful, very fluffy gown, Weezy—much better than the monstrosity you wore when you were presented at court last week.”

Louisa shuddered. “That gown was a monstrosity—all hoops and brocade and ostrich plumes, with that horrid train I barely avoided tripping over as I backed away from Queen Charlotte after curtsying nearly all the way to the floor.”

“I don’t envy you at all. In fact, I applaud your ability to stay on your feet.”

The music began at that moment, and Louisa turned her attention to the steps of the lively country dance.

Throughout the remainder of the evening, she found herself engaged to dance with a number of her brothers’ friends: Christopher “Kit” Osbourne, the eldest son of the Earl of Cantwell; his brother Philip; Sir Richard Egan; and Hugh Wallingham, to name but a few. Obviously, her brothers had listened closely to their father’s orders and done their duty in seeing Louisa had a full dance card for the evening. But they were friends, young gentlemen she’d met before, not suitors, really; at least, they didn’t seem that way to her. She could hardly be interested in someone who felt forced to bestow his favors on her, now could she?

Dancing with her brothers’ friends hadn’t allowed her much of an opportunity to be introduced to other young gentlemen or to dance with some of the gentlemen with whom she’d already become acquainted. Like the Earl of Kerridge, for example.

The earl was dashing and witty and was heir to the Duke of Aylesham, making him one of the great matrimonial prizes of the Season. Louisa, as the daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Ashworth, was one of the highest-ranking young ladies making her come-out this year, if not the highest. While love matches were looked upon with tolerance, many noble marriages were still arranged for practical reasons, especially amongst the higher ranks. Louisa was not a fool. She knew at least that much about the Society into which she had been born. If Lord Kerridge offered her marriage, it would be foolish not to consider it. Marriage to him would eventually make her a duchess.

She did have a partiality toward the earl. But was this partiality love? She had no experience at all when it came to romantic love. Would she recognize the feeling when it happened? Would the attachment she felt for him grow into something more?

Oh, but she dearly wished to marry for love.

“Ahem, Lady Louisa,” a male voice behind her said.

She turned, smiling, hopeful that Lord Kerridge had finally approached her to claim his dance. Her smile froze.

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