“The Roger de Coverley is certainly a lively dance.” She met Felicity’s gaze in the large looking glass propped against the wall. “I never laughed so hard as when Lady Darlington lost her slipper.”
“She did manage an exceptional recovery,” Felicity added.
Bethany only half-listened as Felicity distracted the room’s occupants with a full description of the incident.
These sorts of assumptions planted the seeds of the worst rumors. Chase wouldn’t do that to her. When she’d asked him about Lady Starling, he’d told her it was over.
She believed him.
Bethany would march back into the ballroom, Chase would claim her for the supper dance, and then she would ask him about it while they sat down to eat.
He’d told her he was going to share things with her—share the contents of his heart. A good place to begin would be for him to share the contents of the note from his former lover.
Bethany summoned her composure, nodded in Felicity’s direction, and they returned to the party.
When Lord Tempest arrived to claim the set he’d reserved with Felicity, Bethany assured Felicity that she was perfectly fine to be left alone. Her husband would find her any minute, and they would join the other dancers for the waltz.
Bethany watched as more and more dancers took their places on the floor.
He would be here. Any minute.
Even Lady Delia had a partner, as did the Misses Mossants. Rachel’s Somerset awaited the music to begin with the Duke of Culpepper.
Feeling conspicuously alone for the first time all evening, Bethany moved along the wall, head held high. He likely was in the card room or smoking in the library.
But he ought to hear the music. Aside from that, he always carried his timepiece with him. He wouldn’t be so caught up in his wagers or cigars that he would forget her.
Would he?
Pitying stares encroached on her confidence.
And then…
A matronly woman stepped to the side, giving Bethany an unfettered view of the windows that opened up to the terrace and revealing the man she’d been watching for. Chase was holding a cigar between his fingers, rolling it. He was watching for something. Her!
Bethany smoothed her skirts and licked her lips. She would learn not to doubt him in the future. He was not the rogue people believed.
She raised her hand to attract his attention but just as the welcoming smile danced on her lips, he shifted his gaze back to the windows, and then, almost as though not wanting to be seen, slipped outside the terrace door leaving Bethany standing at the edge of the dance floor.
Alone.
Chapter 31
What Business?
The megrim Bethany feigned when informing her mother of her early departure had become a very real thing by the time she actually climbed into bed.
An unfamiliar, cold, and lonely bed.
The Gold Room had been emptied and what furnishings remained had been covered with large tarps while the contractors began work on the renovation. Since she couldn’t bring herself to await his return in his bed, she’d claimed one of the other guest chambers.
She shouldn’t have left the ball early, but she’d panicked.
After watching him sneak away to meet Lady Starling, there was no way she could continue pretending that nothing was amiss. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Did she know him, or didn’t she?
M-i-s-t-r-e-s-s. Eight.
