Fuming silently, Richard shoved the empty glass in his hand off on the first servant that he saw and let his attention turn over to the very beautiful woman across the ballroom, who had apparently been watching his exchange with his father very closely from where she stood. Even now, there was something empty behind her eyes. Something that he could not abide.
His gaze must have lingered on the dowager duchess for a moment too long because she took his glance as an invitation to join him. She waved her fingers delicately before sauntering through the crowd toward him. If he were to walk away from her now, it would be interpreted as a slight, and he could not have any more whispers about him circulating around the room.
He only wished to be left alone so that he could go and seek out Catherine in hopes of setting this whole situation to rights. That was all that he wanted. More than anything else.
“Dancing with a fallen woman, Richard? It is enough to make a woman jealous,” she said in her sultry voice as she drew closer. Isabella had chosen to wear a gown of crimson, something that would make her stand out in any crowd.
She had always liked to have attention on her. It complimented the olive shade of her skin in a way that could have earned her a dance with anyone in the room. Naturally, he was the only person that she wanted because he was the one whom she could never have. He wanted nothing to do with her.
“That was not my intention, Lady Elmsworth. Please, enjoy your evening.”
“I will when you dance with me.”
“You have plenty of suitors that could fill your dance card, Lady Elmsworth. You do not need my company.”
“But I want it, Richard. It pains me that you have resumed addressing me so formally! I despise that title, and you know it. Come, dance with me, I desire it, and you know that I like to get what I desire.” Isabella fluttered her thick, dark lashes at him in a way that would make more men swoon to be near to her.
She reached forward boldly and ran a finger down the sleeve of his coat, and he pulled his hand out of her reach at the very last moment to keep from holding her hand. “Come now, you know that I do not wish to cause a scene…”
The threat clearly implied that she absolutelywouldcause a scene if she needed to.
No was not something that Lady Elmsworth heard very often in her life, and he was happy to disappoint her.
“Forgive me, Lady Elmsworth, but I have somewhere that I need to be.”
“Youneedto be here with me, Richard. That is all that you need.” Isabella’s gaze sharpened as she regarded him angrily. “Do not tell me that you are actually going to look for that fallen woman. She is nothing but a commoner now, Richard.”
His temper flared, and he shot her a sharp, warning look that halted her tongue from wagging any further in her mouth. “I urge you to use caution when speaking about Lady Catherine. Honestly, should not such childish behavior be beneath you?”
His lip curled derisively as he left her company without further warning. He did not care what the rest of those nosy bodies in the room had to say about his dismissal of the dowager either. He was nearly out of the room, when he caught sight of Sir Anthony lingering by a doorway with a knowing smirk plastered on his face. His dark eyes slid over to Richard as he approached, but he did not comment right away.
“Have you seen Lady Catherine?”
“Things are going well as planned, are they?” Anthony mused, with the ghost of a smile on his lips. “You have not introduced me to her yet. Should I take that to mean that you have turned your own eyes on her and would delight in keeping her for yourself? After only one dance? She must be one hell of a woman.”
“For now, all I wish is to prove to her that I am capable of removing my foot from my mouth for the length of an entire conversation.” Richard sighed as he scanned the ballroom for her raven hair once more.
“A feat easier said than done.” Anthony chuckled. “Was that a pun? A close enough approximation to one, I think. I’m going to count it.”
“Have you seen her or not?” Richard repeated with a touch of insistence.
“I have.” Anthony nodded his head in the direction of the veranda. Richard squeezed his shoulder affectionately as he walked past. Even as Richard left the room, he could hear his friend muttering behind his back. “Yes, yes. I will cover for you, do not worry.”
Lady Catherine was the only one in sight as he stepped silently out onto the veranda. She stood with her arms wrapped about herself, the wisps of hair that had fallen around her face brushed against her skin in the breeze as her skirts ruffled softly around her slender frame.
Her pale skin seemed to absorb the beauty of the moonlight over her head in an impossible fashion. A silent figure against the glittering backdrop of the ballroom, and yet he could not think of a single place that he would rather be. What he would not give to know what she was thinking at this very moment. What he would not trade to be able to properly understand her and be understood by her.
She looked so much at peace on her own that he was almost tempted not to interrupt her solace. He had done enough of that thus far. What right did he have? Still, he could not take his eyes off of her.
Chapter 9
Wallingham Place
She should not be here, and she knew it.
If she were being truly honest with herself, she had known it from the beginning. She had known that coming here, even for Arabella’s sake, was a mistake. She could already picture how it was going to end when they returned home at the end of this ball. Mother was going to be over the moon with happiness…but it would not last.
It would not stay because as the days passed and they moved into the future and her friends still did not come to call on her, she would realize that this was just a last glimpse into the life that they once had. It was tonight, and tonight only. She should have stood her ground. She should have insisted that they not come here. She had gone against her gut, and for what? For this? To be standing here alone on the veranda while life happened behind her?
