“He’s the most arrogant man alive,” Arthur murmured. “I’m so sorry about this, ladies.”
“There was no need to hold your best friend back from me,” Isabella teased him, seeing how frustrated he was by Lord Henrough’s behavior. “I’m ever so glad to have had the opportunity to meet him. I just wish you hadn’t kept him to yourself all this time. You must bring him around the house more often.”
“You see, Arthur?” Lord Henrough cuffed Arthur on the shoulder. “I told you your wife and I would get along well. I knew you should have allowed us to meet before this.”
“Why don’t we all go into the ballroom?” Felicity suggested. The crowd was beginning to move in that direction. “I don’t want to miss out on any of the festivities.”
“Yes, I quite agree,” Arthur said. “And if we stay out here in the foyer, it’s clear to me that the only thing that will happen is that Lord Henrough will continue to make jokes at everyone’s expense.”
“Not everyone!” Lord Henrough said with a laugh. “Jokes at your expense, perhaps, Arthur, but you do make it so easy for me. You’re so solemn and serious all the time.”
“Were you expecting anything else from me after what happened the last time you and I met?” Arthur asked.
Something shifted. Isabella was at a loss to explain it, but it was clear that Arthur had said something of significance and that even the jovial Lord Henrough had been impacted by it.What happened the last time the two of them met?she wondered, but she didn’t feel as if it was a question she could ask.
The two gentlemen were silent for several moments. Then Lord Henrough cleared his throat and attempted to move on as if nothing of particular significance had happened. He commented on the decorations around Manford, and Felicity was quick to praise them, allowing the conversation to move on…but Isabella couldn’t let what she had noticed go by so easily.
Something had happened. Something had taken place the last time Arthur and Lord Henrough had seen one another.
Arthur had never mentioned going to meet with Lord Henrough, and to Isabella, that could only mean one thing.
She finally had an answer to what he was doing when he left the house every day. Perhaps not all the time, but at least on some of those occasions, he was meeting with Lord Henrough. And at their last meeting, something had occurred that had made Arthur unhappy.
Now more than ever before, Isabella wanted to know what it was.
The musicians were beginning the first dance number now, and Isabella’s thoughts veered in a new direction. Would Arthur askher to dance? Would he know how badly she longed to dance with her husband at tonight’s ball?
She waited, holding her breath, wondering whether he would ask her. Imagining how it would feel if he were to take her in his arms and spin her around. Isabella was sure that she would quickly forget about everyone else in the ballroom in the face of the opportunity to dance with him. She could hardly imagine how good it would feel after all the times she had longed to get closer to him. It was strange that something like a ball would be the thing to do it—she would have thought they would have been able to be closer in the privacy of their own home than they would in front of dozens of people. But then, nothing about their relationship had ever been conventional, and maybe it was to be expected that it would take something like this to finally drive them into one another’s arms.
“Shall we take a quick walk?” Arthur asked. “You and I have business to discuss.”
At first, Isabella felt nothing more than simple confusion. What business could she and Arthur possibly have to discuss?
Then she realized—he wasn’t even speaking to her. He meant to discuss business with Lord Henrough.
Business! With Lord Henrough! Was that why they had come to the ball? Had he nothing to say to his own wife? He didn’t even intend to ask her to dance? She was shocked—upset—angry—but before she could say anything at all about it, the two gentlemen were bidding them farewell.
“Wait here with your sister,” Arthur said. “I’ll be back with you shortly.”
And then he was walking away, leaving Isabella to watch him leave.
“I wonder what business could be so important that they need to discuss it at a ball,” Felicity mused.
“Yes,” Isabella agreed, frowning after her husband. “I would have expected them to stay here…”
“Well, they did say they would be back shortly.”
“I know,” Isabella said. “But I really didn’t think that Arthur would abandon me the moment we arrived, that’s all. I thought he would want to spend time with me here.”
“I’m sure he does, Isabella,” Felicity reassured her. “Let’s take advantage of this moment of freedom and walk around together. We can see some of the other ladies and gentlemen. I’m sure that will be a pleasant enough way to pass the time until your husband rejoins us.”
“He wanted us to wait here,” Isabella said uncertainly.
“I know,” Felicity said, “but if we just stand here, Father will find us, and so will Rosalind. You don’t want to speak tothem,surely?”
Isabella laughed. “You’re right,” she said. “I would avoid the two of them at all costs.”
“Then come, let’s go for a walk ourselves. We’ll just make sure to be back here by the time Arthur returns.”
