I missed so much of her growing up; I should not miss this forward step in her life because I am nervous of what is to come.
As he picked up his glass of wine and took a sip, he watched his daughter closely. Harriet was politely picking her way through the fish course of baked sole with lemon and dill, using every lesson that Frances had taught her about dining etiquette.
When Lord George spoke to her, she covered her mouth with her hand and finished chewing before responding to him. Dominic could not hear what was being said, which irked him somewhat, but it appeared that his daughter was doing rather well.
Satisfied that, with Hugo so close by, Harriet was in relatively safe hands, Dominic allowed his gaze to slide over the rest of the guests. There were twelve in all, including Frances, Harriet,Hugo, and Dominic, the other eight almost entirely unfamiliar to him: two young ladies around Harriet’s age, and six gentlemen of varying age.
One was somewhat familiar, though Dominic could not place him: older than the rest of the party, perhaps Dominic’s age, with thick fair hair, light blue eyes, and a lively demeanor that seemed to be pleasing the two other ladies in attendance.
Another friend of my cousin, no doubt.For theyallseemed to have been dragged along by Hugo.
Dominic continued to observe the guests as he sipped his wine, until his gaze came to rest on Frances. She appeared to be the quietest at the table, concentrating on her food rather than the conversation going on around her. As if her part in it all was complete, and the rest was for everyone else to enjoy.
Does she not like these sorts of occasions?
He frowned, unable to figure out how a lady of her standing and her beauty and her character was not yet married at five-and-twenty. How could someone like her be on the verge of spinsterhood, on the brink of being unmarriageable in society’s eyes?
In that moment, he wished he might have been seated closer to her, so he could at least strike up a conversation. It did not seem right that the one who had orchestrated all of this should be the one sitting silently, ignored by the guests on either side of her.
“I refuse to permit it!” Hugo suddenly cried, his voice a melodramatic boom that would have carried all the way to the other side of the manor.
Dominic’s attention snapped back to his cousin.
“My son will be a marquess one day!” Hugo continued, as Dominic assessed the situation.
Another gentleman, seated on the other side of Harriet, had begun to talk to her: young, easily amused, likely incapable of growing a mustache, much less being capable of taking care of Dominic’s daughter.
“You may be a duke’s daughter, and unreasonably pretty, but I simply cannot let you steal away my heir with your charms. I saw you slurp your soup, I watched you flounder over which knife to use for your fish.” Hugo clasped his chest, as stifled laughter began to ripple around the room. “No, it cannot be! I forbid it!”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed, his temper flaring, as he braced to scold his cousin… but then Harriet burst out laughing, throwing her napkin down as if in defeat.
“You saw no such thing, Uncle Hugo,” she protested as she laughed. “I have never given more concentration to anything in my life as I have given to each of these courses and each piece of cutlery.Youwere the one who did not even use a knife for your fish!”
Hugo’s face cracked into a grin. “Ah, you see—you are no fit bride for my son, if you would point out my failings! You should ignore an old man’s weaknesses. If you see me drop some bread, as I did before, you say nothing! And I am not your Uncle Hugo, I am…” he checked his card “… The Marquess of Haselden.”
“Never,Lord Haselden,” Harriet replied, her eyes glittering with mirth. “Ishall become the tutor of etiquette, pointing out every mistake I see. For if I must learn, then so must you all.”
Dominic relaxed, permitting himself a chuckle. His daughter was not upset or insulted, taking it in her stride.
Meanwhile, Hugo leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. “My apologies, dear Harriet, I have ruined the charade. It was selfish of me. I have no excuse; I simply could not continue playing the part of a fifty-year-old man with a son. It was too unsettling for a young gallant like me.” He gestured to Frances. “I apologize to you, too, for disrupting the game. The lesson, rather.”
“Nonsense, Your Grace,” Frances replied politely. “I thought my student dealt with it rather well. Indeed, as Lady Harriet has done so well, perhaps we might be ourselves for a while. At least until after dinner.”
“A splendid idea,” Hugo cheered, while Harriet seemed to draw in a relieved breath.
Dominic did not see how the rest of the table responded, for he could not look away from Frances. With the mechanism ofthe evening now relaxed, she brightened, a somewhat shy smile enhancing her beauty as she turned to speak to the gentleman on her right: the fair-haired fellow that Dominic had not been able to place.
Mesmerized, Dominic watched her mouth move, though he could not quite hear what she was saying. And when she chuckled at some jest or other, he found himself smiling as if he were the one seated beside her, telling her the joke.
And as he continued to admire her from afar, something stirred in him, like a jewel that had lain buried in river silt, emerging with an unexpected tide: a feeling he had never felt before. A feeling so foreign to him, that he had no name for it.
Just then, her laughter, rich and musical, drifted across the table. Not a mere chuckle or a shy smile, but true, unbridled laughter, offered without shame or embarrassment. It might have been the most beautiful sound Dominic had ever heard… tarnished only by the fact that some other man had brought that laughter, that merriment, to her lips.
For the second time that evening, a new feeling caught him unawares, but this one had a name:Envy.
CHAPTER TEN
Icannot believe it; this is a success!
