“Don’t fret, love. We’ll find her.” Sliding a proprietary arm around his wife’s waist, Strathaven said dryly to the group, “Excuse us while we attend to a domestic emergency,” and the pair took off into the crowd.
“Should we help them look?” Thea asked.
“Tremont, Harteford, and I can go,” Kent said. “You ladies enjoy yourselves.”
As the men took leave of their wives, Penny suffered a stab of envy. Harteford murmured something in his lady’s ear that made her cheeks turn pink, and Tremont kissed his new bride tenderly on the forehead. Whereas Penny’s husband… she couldn’t help but glance beneath her lashes in Marcus’ direction. Blooming hell, he wasstillin Cora Ashley’s group, only now the scheming bitch had wormed her way to his side. Penny gripped her lace fan as Lady Cora leaned up and whispered something in Marcus’ ear, laying a pink glove on his arm.
Onmyhusband’s arm.
Fragile sticks snapped in Penny’s hand.
“Is everything all right, my dear?”
Marianne’s quiet words broke Penny’s anguished reverie. For once, she felt too hurt and angry to measure her words. She didn’t even have the heart to care about the presence of Lady Helena, who was a mere acquaintance. Seeing as the marchioness was Marianne’s bosom friend, she probably knew some of the truth anyway.
“No.” Bitterly, Penny tossed her broken fan into the pot of an adjacent palm. “Things are far from being right.”
“Lord Blackwood must be proud of your event,” Thea countered. “I’ve never been to a ball so beautifully planned, and no one can deny this is a crush.”
This evening was supposed to be Penny’spiece de resistance. Her way to win her husband back and show the world how much they loved each other. Instead, the entire affair was a fiasco.
“I thought this would help, but clearly it doesn’t. None of this matters.” She waved a weary hand at the roaring merriment. “He’s still angry at me.”
“Then why don’t you go talk to him?” Marianne said. “Tell him how you feel.”
“I don’t know what is going on, and it’s probably not my place to say.” Lady Helena’s soft, cultured voice broke in. “But if this has anything to do with husbandly problems, I might be able to help.”
So Marianne hadn’t said anything to her friend. Penny was grateful for the other’s discretion. At the same time, she couldn’t help but say wryly, “What would you know about those, Lady Helena? Your husband adores you and probably hasn’t given you a moment’s trouble.”
Marianne and Lady Helena looked at each other—and burst into gales of laughter.
Penny frowned. “What is so amusing?”
Thea shrugged, her expression equally puzzled. “I haven’t the faintest.”
“Sorry—sorry,” Lady Helena gasped, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. When she was finished, she said, still smiling, “It’s just that Idoknow a thing or two about troublesome husbands.”
“Trust me, she does,” Marianne said.
“And what I know leads me to believe that the gossip circulating about your estrangement can’t possibly be true,” Helena went on.
“Why would you say that?” Penny said with dull resignation. “Marcus hasn’t paid me any attention all evening.”
“But hehasbeen paying you attention, my dear,” Helena said, her eyes dancing. “He merely does so when you’re not looking. Right now, for example.”
Penny’s head spun in Marcus’ direction. Her gaze locked with his stormy one, and her heartbeat took off in a wild gallop. The next instant, he looked away, bending his head to catch something Cora had to say. A minute after that, he left the group.
To fetch something for the needy tart?Penny thought, outraged.
Jaw clenched, she said, “Why can’t he justtalkto me about what’s gotten under his skin?”
“Because he’s a gentleman,” Marianne said. “When it comes to talking about their emotions, they’d rather have a tooth drawn.”
“Or drink. Or pummel each other in the ring,” Helena added.
“Or clam up—even though they are suffering inside.” Thea’s voice was gentle. “Being newly married myself, I can’t profess to have the knowledge that you all do. But my mama always said there’s one important adage to live by in marriage: to err is human—and to forgive, divine.”
Flora would have said something similar.
