“For pity’s sake, Eleanor, this is the style you should be dressing your daughters in. At least give them a chance to create an impression and show off their figures. Use another modiste,” Violet Amble said.
Mary had constantly ignored the pitying looks and giggled comments other women sent her way about her clothing and repeatedly told herself she did not care what people thought about her. But deep inside, she did care, very much.
Did it make her shallow that she hoped a new dress would change people’s opinions of her?Very likely, but she desperately wanted to see what it felt like to wear something that was pretty and the current fashion. Something that did not make her stand out from the crowd, and not in a good way!
CHAPTERSIX
Had Mary been close to tears? He’d never pushed her to that point before. Zach had watched her walk away, feeling sick inside. He’d then headed in the opposite direction in dire need of a drink, but first he had to dance with the two women whose dance cards he’d put his name on. The first was Miss Richards, who he thought very pretty, and the few conversations they’d had she’d not bored him spitless.
“It’s the silk on the walls, you see. It adds that special touch, sir,” Miss Richards said as the dance began.
“The silk?” Zach took her hand in his and turned.
“When coupled with the elegant wainscoting, the effect is quite something.”
She had beautiful skin, and her cheeks were tinged with rose color. Her eyes were a deep chestnut, and her body was lovely in that pale blue dress. He felt absolutely no interest in the woman.
He smiled through the dance and then the next two, and each dance partner was as unexciting as the last. What was wrong with him? He loved dancing. Loved flirting.
It was Mary, of course. Zach could not stop thinking about her. He’d never wanted to hurt her, but it was how they always behaved with each other. She said something, and he retaliated.
Delivering his last partner back to her mother, Zach bowed and left, intent on finding a glass of something to sip while he contemplated Mary. He was not the broody type, but right then it fit his mood. Looking around, he tried to find her, but she was not nearby.
Was Mary dancing?He hadn’t seen her.
“Why are you scowling?”
“I like to scowl,” he muttered to the Duchess of Yardley, who now stood before him wearing a large quantity of material the same color of what Walter had sneezed all over him earlier today.
“I saw you talking to Mary earlier. What did you say to upset her?”
“How do you know I said anything to upset her?”
“I could tell.”
“And there was me thinking your advancing years meant you couldn’t see clearly.”
She snuffled out a laugh. The duchess loved a good verbal sparring match. The ruder the better as far as she was concerned. After Dimity went to work for her and before Gabe realized she was the woman he loved, she’d infiltrated their household and now was a regular visitor. Zach would never tell the duchess this, but he liked her company. The woman was abrasive and cutting, and those were her good points. She was the grandmother he did not have but had always wanted.
“You upset her, Deville,” the duchess said. “I know that girl, and she was weepy.”
Had he made her cry? That hadn’t been his intention, but maybe he’d gone too far? It wouldn’t be the first time, but then Mary usually just fired barbs back at him. Zach would never intentionally hurt Mary, it was just a game they played.
“Do you want to know what I think, young Deville?”
“I hang on your every word, Duchess.”
“I think you like her, and this is your way of denying it, but deep inside you realize she is the one.”
His head spun so fast his neck cracked. “One what?” He glared down at the elderly woman.
“Mary Blake is your destiny.”
“I told you last time, the punch is to be sipped. Clearly you have had more than a single cup to spout such nonsense.”
Why had her words made his heart start thudding hard? It was ridiculous nonsense. Mary was nothing but an irritating, managing female to him.
She gave him a smirk. Well, he thought it was, but her lips disappeared into her mouth as she sucked on them.
