Now, she had one of the most handsome men in London teaching her to do the quadrille in her drawing room.
Sometimes she couldn’t believe how she’d gotten here. How had she gone from resigning herself to a life of spinsterhood to preparing to attend a ball with her future husband?
How did she go from being indifferent to her heart quickening every time he stepped close to her? Every time he held her hand? Every time he guided her through an instruction and their eyes met for a brief, intense moment?
Things were different.Shefelt different. She just couldn’t tell if that was a good thing.
“When will you two be married?”
Catriona glanced at her sister in the mirror, watching as Ava twirled around in one of the new dresses she’d gotten from the modiste.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. Even though Joseph had spent almost two hours teaching Catriona how to dance the quadrille yesterday, it hadn’t crossed her mind to ask the question. And it didn’t seem to be on the forefront of his mind either. But surely that was something they needed to settle on soon, wasn’t it?
“It would be so nice if you two could have the wedding by the seaside,” Maisie sang from her spot near the window. As usual, the two girls had finished getting ready for the ball before Catriona, so they’d congregated in her room while Catriona didher finishing touches. She was in the process of going through her meager collection of jewelry, trying to decide what would go best with her unique dress.
As she’d promised, Mrs. Fairclough had the dress delivered early this morning, and it was exactly how Catriona had pictured it. But now that it was almost time for them to leave for the ball, her nerves were beginning to set in. It was beautiful but certainly different. There was no doubt that she’d attract attention in a dress like this. She just didn’t know if she was ready for it.
For the most part, she’d asked for the dress to remain traditional with a modest neckline and cupped sleeves. Mrs. Fairclough had even gone ahead and added an overlay of lace that shimmered when caught in the light. But the tartan was what caught the eye. It sat in the middle of the dress, a long strip from her bodice to the hem that complemented the surrounding muslin and lace.
Mrs. Fairclough had managed to bring her vision to life, but now, Catriona was wondering if she should have settled for completely traditional in the end.
“All right, I’m ready,” Catriona announced as she stood.
“Finally,” Ava sighed. “Any longer and I would not blame His Grace for leaving us behind.”
Catriona chuckled at that. Francis had come by ten minutes ago to say that the Duke had arrived which meant that he had been waiting in the drawing room all this time. Likely at the mercy of her uncle’s whims.
“I cannot say that I’d mind,” she said as they made their way out her room. “That way, I would not need to bother with this ball at all. Though I suppose it would still be nice for you two to attend.”
“Do you think we will see Lord Wentworth there?” Maisie asked with a giggle.
Ava immediately turned red. “I hope not.”
“Why not?” Catriona asked. “He clearly likes you. And you seem to like him as well.”
“W-who said I liked him?” Ava protested. “I never said such a thing, did I? I hope ye ken that ye cannae say anythin’ like that tae him if he is there!”
Maisie nearly doubled over in laughter. She had to hold on to the railing of the stairs to keep herself from tumbling down the steps as they descended. Catriona struggled to hold back the force of her own laughter.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Ava,” Catriona assured her. “It’s rather nice to have affection for someone, isn’t it?”
Ava crossed her arms. “I wouldnae ken, so I cannae—” She broke off, then tried again. This time, the accent was expertly tucked away. “I wouldn’t know. And neither would you. Unless things have changed between you and the Duke?”
“Nothing has changed,” Catriona answered, a little too quickly.
“Truly?” Maisie questioned. “I heard that he was here for quite a while yesterday. I can’t believe you didn’t let us know.”
“If I had, you two would have interrupted us.”
“And we cannot have that, now, can we?” Ava drawled, laughing. Clearly, she did not mind teasing as long as she was not at the receiving end of it.
Catriona tried not to sigh. “Please mind your manners and graces at this evening’s ball. I know how much you two like to jest, but it would not do to poke fun at either me or Joseph when in front of others.”
“Oh?” Maisie squeaked, eyes dancing with humor. She shifted her gaze to Ava who seemed to be on the same page.
“He’s Joseph now,” Ava whispered to Maisie as if Catriona was not well within earshot.
“I wonder when we decided to discard the formalities,” Maisie whispered back. She giggled behind her hand.
