“Always have. I’m one of the little people. How about you, Miss Holwell?”
“The little people, my lord? How can that be true? You have ‘lord’ in front of your name. You come fromthefamily in our parish.”
“OurhumbleCornish parish,” he answered. “Humility is an attitude, Miss Holwell. An openness. Besides, aren’t you trying to have ‘duchess’ in front of yours?”
She faced him. “That is the second time you have referred to the duke and myself. Let me assure you, I don’t have any such expectations.”
“Liar.”
Her face flushed red. She drew herself up and then gave him her back, fiercely engaging Lord Rawlins in conversation about the hare in cream sauce being served.
Lady Haddingdon’s hand returned to Soren’s knee. He shot her a look. She was unrepentant. “I won’t ignore you like she is, Dewsberry. It has been a long time since I’ve been seated by one as handsome as you.”
“And I know why,” he assured her, moving her hand back to her lap. She cackled her amusement.
The hare dish was placed in front of him. He had no appetite. Instead, he listened to Cass laugh at something Lord Rawlins had said as if he was the most clever man in the room.
Leaning toward her, Soren said, “Who would have thought that at one time we’d spoken easily with each other?”
She turned and considered him. “Easily?” She shook her head to deny his words. “There can be nothingeasybetween a Holwell and a York.”
There, Cassandra had let Soren know exactly where he stood, andit felt good.
And how dare he appear to woo her on one hand and then mock her on the other as not being suitable—or attractive?
The last was a loaded word. Especially fromhim.
Oh, there was so much she wanted to say, including how hard it had been to hold her tongue ever since the marquis’s ball when he’d started asking her to dance and pretending that they had a friendly acquaintance.
The sight of the food on her plate made her ill. There was no way she could eat. There was no room for simple nourishment. Not when she was filled with so much bile.
The difficulty was that Cassandra prided herself on her composure. She’d spent years going through the humiliating exercise of being trotted out for men to ogle and judge with dismissive or snidely clever comments. She had managed to keep control over her emotions, to appear serene.
But right now, she discovered she didn’t have the will to continue to be silent. In this moment, she couldn’t sit next to Soren York andpretend.
Not when everyone in the room, save for her father and stepmother, was apparently thinking that a match between them would be a good thing. After all, Soren wasn’t first quality. He came from a line of gamblers who’d left him with empty pockets. They wouldn’t wanttheirdaughters to marry him.
But it would be perfectly fine forherto be his wife... because they didn’t consider her first quality, either. Her father was boorish and his manner crude. Yes, Cassandra knew whattheywhispered. Her father did as well. He took great pride in pushing himself upon them.
Whereas she sometimes wished she could disappear...
“Excuse me,” she said to the table. She tore her napkin from her lap and tossed it beside her plate. Before anyone could comment, she pushed back her chair and walked away from the table.
Did the conversation miss a beat as she left? She thought not. She didn’t even hear a pause.
A footman opened the door to the hall. She walked through it and then stopped.Wherecould she go?
She wanted to go home to London, to stop pretending that she could fit in—
“It is down the hall, my lady,” the footman whispered. “The third door on the right.”
“Down the hall—? Oh, yes, thank you.” He had assumed she was interested in the necessary room set aside for the ladies. There was another one for the gentlemen. It was a quick, convenient place as any to escape. At least it gave her an excuse for having abruptly risen from the table and taken her leave.
She moved down the hall and opened the appropriate door. She was pleased to find she was alone. The maid who had been in there earlier had obviously been pulled to the kitchen to help with the serving of so many guests.
And at last, Cassandra felt free to think.
The tension in her shoulders eased. She was away fromhim. She raised a relieved hand to her forehead.
