“He is quite handsome, isn’t he?”
“Handsome and besotted,” Mrs. Ainsley said. “I didn’t know you were looking for a new companion.”
“I wasn’t. Nothing about Will was planned.”
“You mustn’t let Kate take credit for it,” Lady Juliet said. “She claims credit for every relationship that forms in her vicinity and it’s tiresome.”
“Will is a bit apprehensive about our attendance tonight. I know the dowager Lady Grayson will be here tonight. Is there anyone else to avoid?”
“The Duchess and Dowager of Sutton can be difficult,” Mrs. Ainsley said.
“And Mrs. Courtenay will be snide if her husband remembered he has a wife long enough to stuff her into the carriage tonight,” Lady Juliet added in what might have been the most unforgiving speech I’d ever heard from her. I raised my brow in feigned disapproval, but it lasted only as long as my next breath before the laughter broke free. “Kate has pared down the invitations primarily to the most tolerable.”
Nodding in agreement, Mrs. Ainsley’s gaze flicked to the entrance, then returned to us before darting back to the door behind me. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. “Oh, good Lord.” The way her eyes softened in my direction made me absolutely certain I was in for a headache this evening.
In turning, I was proved entirely correct. My mother-in-law, wearing a gown that was either twenty years out of date or twenty years too early with a circumference that was surely visible from the heavens, was attempting to navigate the stairs without injury. The shoulders of the gown were truly unique. Rather than puffed, as was common, they rose like two sheer cliffs, knifelike in black taffeta. Apparently she had decided to continue with the wigs as well. This one was only slightly more sedate than the one she wore to the masquerade. It still rose nearly six inches off her head in an alarmingly dark shade.
Behind her, Xander escorted Davina in. As always, she was dressed far more appropriately. After all, it was difficult to get away with mischief when someone stood out the way her mother did. Her simple white gown trimmed with green ribbon belied her vexing ways.
Xander, too, looked very fine as always, his head held high despite his mother’s entrance. That was one of the things I appreciated most about him. His refusal to be anything otherthan supportive of his mother’s ways, even when the rest of thetonfound them odd or off-putting.
I had always suspected that one of the reasons Gabriel always returned home late for evening engagements was the desire to arrive after the whispers about his mother had died down.
With a fortifying breath, I took leave of Mrs. Ainsley and Lady Juliet. Approaching Clementia and her children, I greeted her with warmth and a kiss to the cheek as always. Her jewels were more sedate than the rest of the ensemble, and I complimented those. I tried to give her sincere compliments on her gowns whenever possible, but this one was a touch too far.
My greeting was often enough to break the spell cast by Her Grace’s gowns, and tonight was no different. Lady Grayson, the dowager viscountess, all but raced to her side. That odious woman would keep Clementia occupied for some time with her sycophantic adulations.
Davina was scooped up by some young buck I did not recognize before I could greet her. I would need to keep a close watch on them to ensure they did not run off to Gretna Green by morning.
At last, I was left with Xander who took my hand in his for the first dance without a word. It was not an unusual practice for us, even from his first ball, and I always enjoyed myself.
He was light on his feet and confident in his direction.
“Surprised not to see Will here,” he said at a turn.
“I sent him to the study before Lady Grayson—the dowager—noticed him.”
“So, that courtship is going well?”
“I don’t know that we’re courting. We’re merely… enjoying each other’s company.”
Xander merely hummed pointedly in response.
“What was that for?”
“Oh, I just wonder if he knows that.”
“He does.”Doesn’t he?
“Of course, my mistake.” His tone told me plainly that he was certain he was not mistaken. “I did have something I wished to discuss with you—to ask really.”
We were briefly interrupted by a twist in the dance.
“I’m intrigued.”
“A ballroom may not be the best choice for this, but I had thought to sell Rycliffe Place.”
If I’d had a lifetime, I never would have anticipated his words. My stomach lurched uncomfortably at the thought for reasons that weren’t readily apparent. I was so shocked I missed a step in the dance and had to perform a little skip to right myself.
