“I can understand that as most people are fools,” Evie said.
The entrance was lined with servants waiting to take outer clothing and assist in any way they could.
Evie would need to keep her eyes open tonight so there was no possibility of running into Lord Cavendish. Lord Hamilton was not a problem because they disliked each other, so he’d never seek her out. But he had stood up for both her identities in small ways, so she could be polite at the very least if she saw him. Plus, there was that bond they shared of hatred for Lord Cavendish.
“It is the grandest house we have visited so far,” Prue said.
“It is.”
Their father smiled and waved to people he knew. After all, he was a baron and had been in and out of society for years.
“Do you think people wonder why they have never seen us until this season?” Prue asked.
“No. You’re the perfect age for a debutante and I’m old and jaded, and here to chaperone you.”
“But do you think they wonder why you didn’t have a season before, Evie?” she persisted.
“We were in mourning, Prue. They may wonder, but we have an excellent reason to be presented at the same time.” Even if money had a lot to do with it.
“I miss her,” she whispered.
“So do I, but Mother would be proud of us for doing this and taking care of Father,” Evie said squeezing her sister’s fingers.
Their mother had died unexpectedly four years ago, leaving her family reeling with grief and shock. Heathcliff Spencer had loved his wife deeply, as had they, and mourned for her, and Evie believed still did.
What the Spencer sisters hadn’t realized until it was too late was that it had been their mother who had kept the household on track by doing the bookkeeping. Evie often cursed herself over the fact she hadn’t been more aware of what was going on around her.
“Imagine living here?” Prue whispered.
“It’s certainly large,” Evie added.
The walls were pea green, and a line of gold and cream trim ran around the center. The floor was tiled black and white, and the furniture elegant and, she guessed, expensive. A mirror allowed new arrivals to ensure they were just so, and then they were heading to the huge sweeping staircase.
Placing a foot on the first red and gold carpeted step, she took her father’s arm, while Prue stepped to his other side.
This was not about her, she reminded herself. So she could avoid two men and ensure her sister did what was needed to secure a happy future with a man she respected.
They walked behind the other guests, climbing the stairs slowly. The woman before them wore pale gold that seemed to float around her. Hair the color of midnight piled high on her head, with tiny sparkling diamond pins holding it all in place.
Looking down at the skirts of her own dress, Evie wondered if it was too simple? It was pale rose with bows on the bands of each sleeve. She looked at Prue. Her dress was cream with an overskirt of sheer apricot that opened at the front with apricot silk binding. Her sister looked wonderful, and in no way out of place, and that was all that mattered.
“Good evening.”
Evie hadn’t even realized they’d stopped until she heard that greeting and looked at the beautiful woman before her in the gold dress. Of course, she knew who she was, but they’d never conversed.
“Good evening,” Evie said dropping into a deep curtsey. Rising, she studied the stunning woman, who was on the arm of a man who suited her perfectly. Tall, dark, with graying hair, he was chatting with Evie’s father and Prue.
“Are you enjoying the season?” the woman asked.
“Yes, thank you. Very much,” she added.
“It can be excessively boring at times, and wonderful at others. The trick is to find humor in every situation.”
“Is it?”
“Oh yes. Take that old windbag Captain Williams. The end of his nose moves when he talks. I find if I watch that, I can count how many times it twitches until the conversation ends, and it makes him think I’m interested in every word he speaks…which I assure you I am not.”
Evie laughed.
