Lord Diamond gestured for her and Aunt Cordelia to go ahead of him, which they did.
“What now?” Caroline whispered to her aunt.
“I suppose I get to keep my head upon its shoulders,” she jested. “As for you two, heaven help you if you decide to continue in this folly.”
“I can hear you,” Lord Diamond said, sounding annoyed. “Why is this folly?”
“While I am a sappy fool who allowed you to meet,” her aunt snapped at him, “Lady Caroline’s parents will not look kindly on any association. I had half-hoped my niece would find you lacking and speak no more of you. But mark me, Lord and Lady Chimes will not give their blessing and certainly not my niece’s dowry to a Diamond.”
Silence met those daunting words. By then, they were back inside and heading upstairs to the ballroom. Lady Plain de Ville had disappeared from view.
“Maybe Lord Diamond doesn’t want an association,” Caroline began.
“I believe I do,” he muttered, and she almost laughed with relief for, more than anything, she wanted to get to know him better. When she stopped in her tracks at the top of the staircase, Lord Diamond ran into the back of her.
“Ooph,”he said. “I nearly tumbled back down to my death.”
“That might have been easier on you,” her aunt quipped.
Caroline ignored them both. “I merely wanted to ask if we would be allowed to dance again tonight.”
Aunt Cordelia sighed. “Yes, you two can have another dance, but I shall have my eyes upon you both, and if I’m lucky, a glass of rum punch in my hand.”
Caroline wondered howshe could win either of her parents over to her side. Dancing twice with Geoffrey Diamond had been heavenly, despite Lady Plain de Ville’s disapproving stare for the rest of the evening.
Moreover, every other partner that night was inconsequential in comparison, and all she could do was hope this wouldn’t be the last time she was in Lord Diamond’s arms.
In the carriage, her aunt was not hopeful.
“While I believe our hostess will not mention seeing you two together, the fact that you were both at this ball will most likely reach your mother’s ears. You could pretend you never even saw Diamond, I suppose, but that won’t get you any closer to your goal. That is, if you truly wish to have that plummy young man court you in earnest.”
“I believe I do,” Caroline said, echoing Lord Diamond’s earlier statement. She decided to tell her parents the following day. If she was honest with them, surely they would want her happiness as they always had before.
As circumstances happened, she didn’t catch them together until dinner.
“Sit,” her father said as soon as she entered the dining room.
“That was my intention.” Caroline glanced at the two of them. Her mother’s lips were set in a straight line, and her father was drumming upon the table as if he’d been kept waiting. Unmistakable tension shrouded the room.
Her usual place on one side, halfway between them, felt like a trap, and she fervently wished one or both of her brothers were at home to offer a diversion or at least bolster her spirits.
“I hope you are both well,” she started, then hurried on. “I have something to tell you.”
“If it is about Diamond, we already know,” her father said.
Her gaze flew to his and then back to her mother.
“From Lady Plain de Ville?” Caroline asked. If that was the case, then they knew about the kiss.That glorious, breathtaking, soul-shattering kiss!
“The newspaper had a paragraph about the party,” her father continued, “mostly because the Diamond heir was in attendance. Word has it he’s looking for a wife.”
“I see.” Caroline quickly decided to change tactics and let them draw any information out of her.
“Did you dance with him?” her mother asked, her tone soft, which was more cause for alarm.
She had to tell her. After all, they’d been seen dancing, and it was nothing to be ashamed of.
“Yes,” she said.
