Genuine sympathy for his older cousin, Mrs. Agnus Sykesbury, filled Fortuity. “I am sorry. By the cheerfulness of her gown, I thought your cousin much improved.” Poor woman. The pair had come to live with the viscount after Mr. Sykesbury’s death and a complicated unpleasantness with his family in India. Even though they were well over two years past the usual period of mourning, Mrs. Sykesbury still wrestled withparalyzing bouts of grief. Her daughter Eleanor suffered no such incapacities. “Do you think you should take her home?”
“I offered, but Eleanor fussed enough to compel her mother to stay.” He grumbled—or growled. Fortuity couldn’t decide how she would describe his disgruntled sound if she were to write it. “You know Agnus never denies her daughter anything.”
“Yes. I am aware.” Fortuity was very much aware. None of the Broadmere sisters liked Miss Eleanor Sykesbury after she attempted to cause problems between Blessing and Thorne before they married. The conniving little chit thrived on stirring trouble. Her mother, Mrs. Sykesbury, was kindness itself. Eleanor was an insufferable cow.
“Lord Ravenglass,” said Fortuity’s eldest sister Serendipity with well-aimed shrewishness as she joined them. “How are you this evening?”
“Weapons down, Seri,” Fortuity said. “He is here because he is hiding from his admirers, not attempting to ruin me.” She fluttered her fan at the trio of ladies slowly making their way around the edge of the dance floor. “Perhaps you should run, my lord. Your huntresses are on the move. They approach their prey.”
With a mischievous wink, Matthew positioned himself between her and Serendipity. “Surely I am quite safe while flanked by the esteemed Broadmere sisters.”
“Yes,” Serendipity said, sounding distracted as she gazed around the room. “Speaking of which, where are Grace, Joy, Felicity, and Merry? Have either of you seen them?”
Serendipity had promised Mama she would look after her six sisters and not marry until each had found love and happily settled down with a husband. Even though it was rather against the usual for the eldest to marry last, nothing about the Broadmere family and their beliefs had ever been orthodox or usual. That knowledge made Fortuity smile. She took great pridein their eccentricities and the rare way Mama and Papa had raised them.
“I have not seen them since we arrived,” she told her sister. And she hadn’t. If she had, she would point Serendipity in their direction to save herself from being forced to dance and interact with those she would much rather observe from the safety of the shadows. After all, as her siblings had so indelicately put it, she was next on the chopping block, since Blessing had married. Their brother couldn’t come into the full of his inheritance until all seven sisters had found the bliss of love matches. As far as Chance was concerned, the tally was one down, six to go, and he couldn’t get them settled fast enough, since his monthly stipend was less than what he considered adequate. He wanted access to the entirety of the family’s vast coffers, and he wanted it now.
“What about you, Matthew? Have you seen them?” Serendipity craned her neck and continued scanning the crowded room.
“This is a masked ball, my lady,” he said, gentling the reminder with a lowered voice.
“You found me easily enough,” Fortuity retorted.
“You were unmistakable to me.”
The smug slant of his smile and the exciting wickedness smoldering in his eyes made her catch her breath, but she refused to let him know how he affected her. After all, they were friends. Nothing more. He had often said so himself. “Ah yes, my fervent scribbling in the shadows of the draperies. I gave my studious little self away, didn’t I?”
“Well, I must find them,” Serendipity said, then gave Matthew a stony glare before turning to Fortuity. “You should come with me, Tutie.”
“I will not.” With a broad wave of her feathery fan, Fortuity encompassed the large ballroom. “I am far from unchaperoned in this crush, have yet to finish my observations, and Blessing isjust over there. She will watch me to maintain all proprieties.” Fortuity couldn’t resist a gleeful smirk at the viscount. “After all, I must protect our dear friend here from the beasties headed his way. I am sure they have their claws out.”
“Indeed, they do,” Matthew told Serendipity with mock seriousness.
Serendipity looked past him and perked like a hound catching the scent of a fox. “I believe that’s Gracie over there. Do excuse me.” Before she charged through a cluster of lords and ladies, she pointed her fan at Fortuity. “Please join Blessing and make sure she does not overdo. You know how impossible she has become.”
Fortuity nodded and shooed her onward, even though she had no intention of plowing through the guests to reach her sister Blessing’s side. Thorne would watch over his wife and ensure nothing endangered her or their unborn child. Their presence at the ball had surprised Fortuity because none of the Broadmere sisters had ever cared overly much for such functions, and Blessing could have used her condition as an excuse even though she was barely rounding in the middle. All became clear when her sister explained that Lady Atterley’s husband had proposed a lucrative business venture to Thorne that required the expediency of discussing it tonight rather than waiting for a more suitable moment.
“May I have this dance?” Matthew asked with surprising urgency.
“Why?” Fortuity turned back to him. “Are more lovelies headed your way?”
With a pointed look over her head, he stared at something behind her. “This waltz will save us both, my lady. Is that not your favorite marquess coming toward us?”
She turned and allowed herself a groan. “Oh dear, the malodorous Lord Smellington.” She flinched. “Beg pardon. I should not have said that.”
Matthew threw back his head and laughed as he swept her out onto the dance floor before the man reached them. “Your sister always called Lord Pellington the Marquess of Debt, but I believe your moniker for him is more accurate.”
“Last season his stench caused poor Merry to gag on her lemonade and spew it all over him.” Fortuity shuddered.
“He believes bathing causes illness.”
“His lack of bathing causes illness. I nearly retch whenever he is near.” She struggled to concentrate on the steps after treading on Matthew’s foot yet again. “I am so sorry. Now you know another reason why I keep to the shadows with my scribbling.”
“You have yet to tell me the first reason, my lady.” He smiled down at her, making her heart flutter in a manner that made her breathless. “Since I rescued you from Lord Smellington, should I not be rewarded with an elevation in status from friend to confidant?”
“You are more tenacious than one of Gracie’s dogs with a favorite bone.”
“I shall take that as a compliment.” He lowered his head and looked into her eyes as if she entranced him while they spun to the music. “Tenacity is an honorable trait. Denotes patience. Perseverance. I always get what I want, my lady.”
