Eve smiled serenely and offered ruefully, “I did try to beat it out of her again and again, my lady, but to no avail.At least she no longer indiscreetly hangs out over the balcony at the theater to call greetings to her friends and wave at random gentlemen.”
Lady Hyde snorted indelicately as Fiona beamed fondly at Eve.There was a reason Eve was one of her favorite sisters-in-law.“Thank goodness for small favors,” the elderly lady said, taking Eve’s hand in hers and patting it lightly.“Indeed, my granddaughter’s more flamboyant displays are now thankfully largely confined to the privacy of her own home.Quite unlike your behavior, dear girl, when you had your first Season here.”
Eve squeezed the dear old lady’s hand between hers and winked at Fiona.“I blame my American upbringing, of course.Why, with your tutelage at a younger age, perhaps it might not have taken me quite so long to become a proper lady.”
“Perhaps not.Perhaps not,” Lady Hyde patted Eve’s hand again as if her words were not blatantly tongue-in-cheek.“Though you are now, of course.”
Eve winced but added smoothly, “As Fiona will surely be one day as well.”
Lady Hyde only raised a brow but did not verbally concur.Not that Fiona expected her to, of course.She’d long been a trial to her grandmother, especially in the unhindered years between her mother’s death and Richard’s marriage to Abby.Perhaps Lady Hyde might have taken her more firmly in hand when Fiona’s mother died if she hadn’t been mourning the death of her only daughter, her only child, and things might have been different for Fiona now.She might be more ladylike, more subdued, but she was not and was, admittedly, thankful for it.In truth, she was rather glad to have been raised as she was.
It had made her who she was...exasperation to her grandmother and all.
Dear old thing...
“Posture, Fiona!”Lady Hyde prodded Fiona with the point of her fan once again, effectively poking away any tender sentiment that might have hovered in Fiona’s mind.
She scowled at her grandmother, lips parted for a retort when Eve shifted uncomfortably by her side.
“Lady Hyde, I feel a tad fatigued after all this standing.Would you mind terribly if Fiona helped me to those chairs on the far side of the room?”
“Not at all, Evelyn,” Lady Hyde allowed grandly.“I have said it before, and I shall say it again: it was quite wrong of my grandson to bring you out so soon.Away with you!”
“She’s said it about a thousand times,” Fiona whispered fiercely as Eve took her by the arm and led her away.“She’s driving me batty and wields that fan like a bloody sword.I’m as bruised as a prizefighter, and we’ve not even seen supper yet!”Noticing that Eve was leading her toward the refreshment table and not the chairs set aside for wallflowers and matrons, Fiona frowned.“Didn’t you need to sit down, Evie?”
Eve’s musical chuckle mingled softly into the melodic strains of the Strauss waltz being played by the orchestra, and she whispered confidentially, “La, Fiona, after three babies in three years, I’m fairly certain I could take a break from dancing to birth a child and return for the next set without delay.”
It was Fiona’s turn to laugh at Eve’s uncharacteristically bawdy comment.“I knew that must have been a piece of flummery but I didn’t dare call you out since you were so kindly liberating me from Granny’s reach.I don’t know how I’m to endure much more of this.”
Eve only smiled.“Your grandmother merely relishes having her only granddaughter presented for the Season.You should take so much pleasure.”
“How can I?We’ve been here a week already, and I haven’t been able to meet a single gentleman who did not cower away under her hawkish glare or my brothers’ overbearing presence.I haven’t even been asked for a dance.”Eve opened her mouth to respond, but Fiona rushed to add a proviso to her statement, “Someone other than one of my brothers.Did theyallhave to come along?I’m surrounded by them.Why, even Jack Merrill is here, and he’s not even related!”
“Oh, pish posh,” Eve dismissed with a wave of her hand.“If you’re not enjoying the Season, it is because of your own determination not to.If I had been the one to tell you that we were coming for the Season, you would have been overjoyed, and I said as much to Francis.You’re simply upset that your brothers have finally denied you something when they’ve done nothing but spoil you your entire life.But, dearest, in spiting them, you only spite yourself.”
Shehadbeen spoiled.There was no point denying it.But when one’s every wish was granted, a certain expectation for more of the same became understandable over time.That her wishes hadn’t been granted in this instance still befuddled Fiona.Even so, it wasn’t spite that kept her from enjoying herself.
If she were honest with herself, Fiona knew that it was the fading but still tangible possibility of spotting one particular head amongst the crowd that kept her on pins and needles, leaving her feeling far too testy to enjoy much at all.
Ever perceptive, Eve’s eyes narrowed.“You know, I’m beginning to think that’s not it at all.You haven’t been yourself for weeks.What is it that has you so tied in knots?”
“The fact that Francis brought me here against my wishes isn’t enough?”
“If it were only that, I could understand your anger,” Eve said.“But this isn’t anger I’m seeing.What is it?”
Since fear was the last emotion Fiona would ever admit to even in the confessional, she only shrugged.“Bafflement, pure and simple, that I must endure this.Lord Ramsay is a lord, not a stable lad or shopkeeper.”
“Nor is he at all what we imagined for you.”Eve managed a serene smile, though clearly, she did not credit Fiona’s defense.“But there are a hundred gentlemen here in this room who might be.If not, a hundred more still to be met.Perhaps if you worked as hard at enjoying yourself as you do holding this grudge, you might not have a frown on your face that can be dreadfully off-putting to any other gentlemen who might dare to ask for a dance.”
“Humph!It isn’t any frown of mine that is discouraging any potential suitors.It is the frowns and glowers of nine...no, ten, oversized Scotsmen that are scaring them off.Thank goodness James had the courtesy to remain in New York.”
“I’m certain if we had given him greater warning...”
It wasn’t easy to nurse her temper when Eve was equally determined to soothe it away.Reluctantly giving in to a smile, Fiona took a deep breath, exhaling the last of her ire.
“Better.Now smile, or you shall frighten the gentlemen off yourself.Though how they can stay away, I cannot imagine.You look beautiful.”Eve whispered and kissed her cheek.
Fiona fiddled with a length of ribbon hanging from her waist with a surprisingly modest blush.She had wanted to look her best tonight, and she felt beautiful thanks to Eve’s insistence the previous spring (while Eve had been between pregnancies) that they spend a glorious month in Paris having their wardrobes made.
