“That is not what I meant,” she said, making her way down the line. Then, she turned away, her swan-like neck lifting above all others, as her gaze seemed to pierce through the very walls that kept her here. A moment later, she faced him once more. “I have just met him. Meeting him a day later seems unnecessarily hasty.”
“But you did not just meet him,” he reminded her, sensing a displeasure at his offer. However, Percival marrying Marjorie would be the easiest solution to their problem. Swift and painless, and probably very quick. “You know him from before. Percy and I have been friends for ages.”
“Yes, but I have not been friends with him for ages,” she echoed, proceeding with the steps of the dance firmly, as if her life depended on it. He did not fail to realize that all the men who were not dancing were staring at her. A few strands of her fiery hair came loose from her chignon, and now fell close to her cheek, the redness in stark contrast to the ashy, pale blondes and chestnut-haired ladies that surrounded them. Marjorie stood like an uncut diamond, without even realizing it.
“My word might not mean much to you,” he said, “but, Percy is a good man. Any woman who marries him would be a lucky one.”
“It is comforting to know that,” she acknowledged, although he could still not tell what she felt about the proposition. “And… it does.”
“What does?” he wondered curiously, spinning her about one final time, knowing that the dance would end right after that.
“Your word,” she said. “It does mean… something.”
“Something,” he couldn’t resist chuckling. “At least, it’s something.”
She curtsied politely, accepting his hand to be led back to their table.
“If you think we should all meet for a stroll tomorrow, then arrange it. I shall attend.”
“That is good,” he blurted out, ecstatic that she had agreed. But before he could continue this conversation, Lord Hollingsworth had come to ask for the next dance, and Marjorie was whisked away again, away from him. At least, she agreed. That brought him one step closer to the goal. Indeed, he might be mesmerized like the other men here who could not take their eyes off her, but he knew that this magic would end with the first rays of the morning. She would not be a mysterious damsel with fire for hair and the woods for eyes. She would once again be Marjorie, the orphan his father had saved from the streets. Nothing more.
* * *
“Have you tired of the dancing and all that nonsense?” Edith giggled as soon as Marjorie lit up a candle, careful not to wake up her friend, who a moment later, popped up from the bed and immediately started talking.
Edithdidthink that balls were nonsense, but she liked the idea behind it. She liked dancing. She liked good food. And she liked handsome gentlemen. Thusly, she liked balls indirectly.
“I think Alexander wished us to remain a while longer, but I swear, I could not take a minute more of it,” Marjorie sighed, as she placed the candlestick on a nightstand, and sat on the edge of the bed.
“So, you fled before it was time?” Edith commented.
“Well, it was not as if I offended the hosts,” she spoke, crinkling her nose. “I had merely greeted them and that was that.”
“You did not talk to anyone?” Edith seemed incredulous at this.
“I danced the entire evening! My feet feel like an elephant had been stomping on them all evening.”
“Oh, that sounds lovely…” Edith said dreamily, tilting her head to the side, her face adorned with a silly little smile.
“I would gladly have you attend the next one instead of me.”
“If only things worked that way, dear,” Edith chuckled. “Have you met anyone special?”
“Apart from Alexander?” The words just exploded out of her, without her meaning to say any of that aloud. But once they were out, it was impossible to take them back.
“Alexander?” Edith lifted a brow curiously.
“I meant, did you mean if I met anyone apart from him?” The explanation made no sense. Nothing she said would have made any sense. “Oh, do not mind me, Edith. I am so exhausted I have no idea what I am talking about.”
Edith said nothing, she merely kept her gaze focused on her friend, with that silly little smile still lingering on her face.
“I did meet someone,” Marjorie quickly continued, not wishing to talk about Alexander any longer. She had nothing to say about him, anyway.
“You did?” Edith’s curiosity peaked.
“Well, to be quite honest, I did not meet him for the first time, I do know him from before. He is Alexander’s friend, and he has been to the house where I lived with the earl several times, but that was years ago.”
“Who is he?”
