“Your next stop is to pay tribute to the lady of the hour,” Lord Waverly said, half in jest, but Amity supposed she did, indeed, have to go closer and hope for the best.
“Will you introduce us to the others as well, my lord, since we do not know anyone here, and his lordship is otherwise occupied?”
“His lordship?” Lord Waverly frowned. Then he smiled. “Oh, you mean the duke. Yes, he and his family will be coming in shortly. I think almost everyone has arrived as it is not going to be a huge gathering.”
And then Amity found herself presented to Lady Madeleine as if the young lady were royalty. She definitely looked like a princess in a gown of shimmering gold silk with copper-colored satin ribbon for trim and very little lace or showiness. She was both elegant and understated despite the vivid hue. Amity felt almost gawdy in her verdant gown even though she was perfectly in fashion with what others around her were wearing.
As usual, compared to Lady Madeleine, they were all outshone.
Amity wondered if the lady would recognize a rude “shopgirl” when out of the setting of the confectionery. In truth, Lady Madeleine barely glanced at her before her gaze flitted over to Charlotte standing close by. Perhaps the lady looked at each female briefly to see if anyone could match her beauty, and when she found they didn’t, she dismissed them.
Yet when her glance returned to Amity’s face, her eyes widened slightly and she startled, her alarm barely detectable except for the wine sloshing in her glass.
“This is Miss Rare-Foure,” Lord Waverly said, oblivious to any undercurrents.
“Good evening, Lady Madeleine,” Amity said, refraining from a curtsey but giving her a gracious nod. “May I introduce my sister, Miss Charlotte.”
This was greeted by utter silence.Oh dear!Amity supposed it was better than an immediate command to throw them out as she’d feared might occur. She should have known the lady was too well bred to make a fuss, especially at the duke’s home.
“Pelham invited them as special guests,” Lord Waverly added into the thick quietness. “He has grown very fond of their confections.”
“Yes, I’ve heard,” Lady Madeleine returned, polite as could be. Her gaze slid past them to more guests coming up behind. The Earl of Brayson gave a tepid greeting, and the countess murmured something too quiet to catch, so Amity nodded again and turned away.
As she followed Lord Waverly, Amity was extremely glad Charlotte stayed with her instead of trying to engage the Braysons in a chat about the weather or the price of almonds.
“Dare I say, the fair lady looked positively rigid, like marble,” Lord Waverly declared when they were a few steps away from the Brayson family. He gave a short bark of laughter. The man seemed always to be in good humor. He also apparently knew everyone, and easily introduced them to Lord This and Lady That as they went around the room.
Amity smiled and nodded, seeing Charlotte do likewise. They couldn’t hope to remember any of these people’s names. In fact, her fervent wish was that she and her sister were seated on either side of Lord Waverly, so they could use him as their anchor.
In another few minutes, the Duke of Pelham escorted the dowager duchess into the drawing room, followed by his sister and her husband. Amity noted how the duke made sure his mother, who seemed awfully young to be widowed, was seated in a comfortable chair before asking if everyone had a drink. When he was assured they did, his eyes scanned the room and briefly found hers causing a frisson of heat to spark through her.
“Let us toast to a pleasant evening,” he said.
“Here, here,” many agreed.
Her gaze unable to leave him, Amity was mesmerized by the duke’s appeal as he moved from guest to guest, perfectly in his element, an excellent host and a devoted son. With the wine flowing into her empty stomach, she even began to relax and think this evening might not be too terrible, until she watched him take his place next to the golden Lady Madeleine by the fireplace. One day soon, he would be her ardent husband.
Undeniably, they looked to be the perfect pair. The duke said something to his ladylove and she smiled radiantly, which caused him to smile in return. They probably had forgotten anyone else was even in the room. A moment later, however, when the duke looked up to bring someone else into the conversation, he caught Amity staring at him and gave her a welcoming nod.
She nodded back, feeling her cheeks warm at being noticed observing him as if he were a specimen at the zoological garden. Averting her gaze quickly, she was grateful when Lord Waverly asked her a question about another shop on Bond Street, and she could speak like a woman of business instead of an ill-mannered guest.
For a few minutes, all went well. She needn’t even have worried about Charlotte, who’d managed to catch the eye of a handsome young man. The discussion coming from their quarter seemed perfectly pitched and appropriate.
And then suddenly, Amity felthimat her side. Hesitantly, she turned to find the duke had left the perfect flame of loveliness to attend the weak flickering of her own feeble light.
“Unlike Icarus, you have escaped unscathed.” These words came from Lord Waverly, making the duke laugh.
Amity knew the story of the boy flying too close to the sun only to spiral to his death and wondered at the duke not taking offense. After all, it inferred Lady Madeleine was a dangerous and poorly conceived goal.
“My best friend always knows how to bring the situation into sharp perspective,” the duke proclaimed. “Is this rogue bothering you, Miss Rare-Foure?”
“Not at all,” she promised. “As I know no one else here, except my sister, I am grateful you had already introduced us.”
The duke glanced past her to Charlotte. “It seems your sister has also found a friend of mine to enchant. Jeffcoat’s his name. He is a good man, without the unfortunate vision issues of Greenley.”
“That’s good to know, my lord.”
Lord Waverly and the duke seemed to cough in unison, and Amity hoped they weren’t making fun of her for she could not imagine what she had done wrong.
