Grace gasped and hit him lightly on the shoulder. “Morgan. It is not polite to dredge up embarrassing memories a lady would rather forget.”
Despite her scolding, her lips quaked and her eyes filled with mirth. “Yes, I suppose it was indeed quite a scene. One the ton would find so difficult to forget.”
“And there was the time Lady Dawson let out that terrifying screech and fainted when she turned and realized that she had bumped into me.”
“Yes, I remember that quite well. But Morgan, you must not give her any thought. Lady Dawson has always been very prone to dramatics and fainting spells after all. It was no fault of yours that she fainted.”
This time, there was no mirth in Grace’s eyes. She had never cared for the Dawsons, and the younger Lady Dawson had only made it worse with her outrageous display as Grace had called it for weeks after it occurred.
“Oh, and what about the time Lady Blackwell’s shoe got stuck in the mud and when I approached to help her, she shrieked and ran deeper into the mud until her shoes were not the only things that were stuck. It had taken a lot of people to pull her out afterward and she had had to walk all the way to her carriage with everyone’s eyes on her.”
“I know…”
Morgan could see in her eyes that she had no comeback for that. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he had more stories than she could come up with excuses for.
“Or when Lady Browning ran into the arms of a man she would never dream of touching just because she thought she needed protection from me as if I was some scoundrel.”
“I know…”
Morgan was beginning to enjoy it. The look on his grandmother’s face that showed her utter defeat was comical. His grandmother never allowed for defeat as she was always quick to a rebuttal. Now, she was out of words to convince him that it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with them.
He supposed he should have been affected by that but he could not find it in him to be. Nor when he had reconciled himself to it. He was the man women would always fear and run away from.
All except from the one exception who lived under his roof.Selina.She never ran away from him. She was never scared of him either, instead, she goaded him and tried to frustrate him with every breath that she took. Perhaps she would be the one woman who could-
Morgan shook his head to dislodge that thought. Now was not the time for him to dwell on that, not that there was any perfect time. The last thing he needed was to complicate things.
“Or when Lady Di-” he began again, just to be cut off by his flustered grandmother.
“Oh, enough with the reminders, Morgan. You have made your point, regardless this does not mean that you should stop trying because eventually there will be someone who will see you for who you really are.”
She smiled up at him, stretching as she reached up to pinch his cheeks as she often did when he was younger. Morgan rolled his eyes at her. He had grown past all of this but once in a while, she seemed to forget that he had and often sought to manage his life, not that he much minded her meddling.
“Besides, when we go to the ball, I will be there to help you through it all, as will Miss Knight.”
She tapped him once again and turned away, walking out of the study without another word. Morgan sighed as he watched her go. He walked the distance that separated him from his chair and sat down heavily, his body suddenly heavy with weariness.
Despite his weariness, he could feel the excitement bubbling in him. Every social event he had attended had left him dragging his feet as he struggled to find something that would have him in a positive mood save for the flitting presence of his friend.
Now, he did not have to struggle with it. Although he could not understand the reason why he was so excited at the thought of going to a ball with Selina but now that his grandmother had mentioned that she was going to be there, Morgan found himself more open to the idea of going to the ball himself. Perhaps the night would be great after all.
CHAPTER12
The Dowager Duchess had been relentlessly excited about her friend’s party. The energy with which she anticipated the event amused Selina.
While she knew how eccentric Grace was, she seemed much keener for the coming party than anything Selina had witnessed in Brigpool.
On two occasions, Selina had walked into a room and found the Dowager Duchess humming to herself and dancing to imaginary music only she could hear.
The second time Selina had walked in on her dancing, she had watched her from the doorway, smiling happily as the older woman twirled happily in sweeping motions, gliding graciously around the room.
That had gone on for several minutes before Grace found out she had an audience watching her. When she noticed Selina smiling and looking at her, she finally paused to catch her breath.
“My dear,” Grace had said as Selina joined her afterwards for some tea. “Our youth is so fleeting. Seems like only years ago I learned that dance before my first season.” She then turned to look at Selina. “I hope to see you move even better than I just did at the party tomorrow.”
Selina could not understand why her companion was so excited for a garden party, as it had been termed. While she didn’t want to appear ungrateful, she still felt that the dress she had gotten for the event was a little overboard for something so casual.
The dowager’s excitement was infectious, however, and Selina found herself caught up in the frenzy.
