“I suppose you do need to keep your wits about you, so we’ll table this conversation ... for now.” Charles glanced at his pocket watch again before turning his attention to the entranceway. “Adelaide’s cutting it rather close, but perhaps her delayed entrance will work to her advantage.” He nodded to Ward McAllister, who was now standing feet from the entranceway. “Ward will certainly take note of her, and if he makes a bit of a to-do over her transformation, that’ll immediately get everyone talking.”
Gideon narrowed his eyes in Ward’s direction. “Is it just me or has Ward relaxed his strict rules regarding the Patriarch Ball and invited more than the usual number of industry titans this year? He’s currently speaking with Marshall Wilson, a gentleman I know through the New York Yacht Club, but a man who’s been fairly vocal about his lack of success with gaining entrance into the hallowed midst of the Four Hundred.”
“It’s not only you who’s noticed the inclusion of numerous members of the nouveau riche this evening,” Charles said. “My mother was appalled to witness Dudley Paulding and AnsonMcKim looking pleased as punch as they made their way through the receiving line. She then almost descended into a fit of the vapors when she spotted Harold Spencer in the crowd, fawning over the debutantes.” He sent a nod Marshall’s way. “When Mother took note of Marshall paying close attention to Miss Jennie Gibson, she was fit to be tied and marched off to have a word with Ward and demand he get rid of the interlopers, as she called them, before the ball begins in earnest. I assume Ward didn’t agree with Mother since he seems to be enjoying his chat with Marshall.”
“Ward would do well to proceed with caution because his position in society isn’t completely infallible,” Gideon said. “High-ranking ladies might tolerate the addition of an occasional swell here or there, but an influx of them, and at the opening ball of the Season, will have repercussions for Ward, who, according to rumor, has lost a bit of favor with Mrs. Astor recently.”
“That favor is surely going to diminish even more if Mrs. Astor gets wind that men who aren’t worthy of the Four Hundred seem to be attracting this Season’s most eligible ladies,” Charles said with a nod toward Marshall, who was currently in the process of adding his name to Jennie Gibson’s dance card. Ward beamed his approval at the couple, as if he’d been the one responsible for Marshall being granted a dance from a lady who was undoubtedly going to be deemed an Incomparable of the Season.
Gideon frowned as he watched Marshall return Jennie’s dance card before he turned to Constance Kip, presented her with a bow as Ward performed an introduction, then added his name to her card before he moved to Edith Sherman and did the same. He then strolled with Ward to another gathering of ladies, all of whom immediately began fluttering their lashes.
Gideon turned and quirked a brow Charles’s way. “I thoughtyou said you were unsuccessful with getting your name on Miss Gibson’s card because every spot was taken.”
“I’ve apparently been found out because, in truth, I didn’t actually approach Miss Gibson and may have simply assumed she didn’t have any dances left.” Charles’s gaze darted around the room. “Thankfully, I don’t see my mother, but if she were to notice that gentlemen are still adding their names to Miss Gibson’s card, I’ll need to invent a suitable excuse.” He brightened. “Perhaps I’ll blame you.”
Gideon laughed. “I had nothing to do with your inability to secure a dance with Miss Gibson.”
“Mother doesn’t need to know that.”
Before Gideon could argue with that nonsense, Charles checked his pocket watch again and frowned. “Adelaide’s definitely behind schedule. I hope she hasn’t run into another unexpected and, need I add, catastrophic situation.”
“We have three operatives from the firm tailing her tonight, which should alleviate any opportunity for chaos,” Gideon said. “I would think Adelaide’s simply stalling for as long as she can because the thought of attending her first society function since her unfortunate unmentionables debacle, paired with her swans’ song performance, must be a little nerve-wracking.” Gideon leaned closer to Charles. “That’s why I gave her the cipher I’ve been unable to decode earlier today, hoping it might help distract her from thoughts of the ball, while also providing her with something to do as Camilla’s stylist did her hair, an event Camilla warned was going to take several hours.”
“I thought you didn’t want to involve Adelaide in accounting firm business.”
“I’m not really involving her because there’s absolutely no possibility she’ll be able to break the code, not when I’ve spent hours poring over it to little avail. The four men I assigned to try their hands at deciphering it haven’t been successful either.”
“Why would you give Adelaide an impossible task?”
“I didn’t want her to spend her day worrying about what was ahead.”
“You really are very solicitous of my cousin’s feelings, which—”
Whatever else Charles was going to say ended abruptly when Marshall Wilson strolled over to join them, shaking hands with Charles and then Gideon before he snagged a glass of champagne from a passing server, downed a good half of the contents with one gulp, then turned a smile on Gideon.
“Good to see you at the yacht club the other day, Gideon. I was quite impressed with your little boat—Scorpius, was it?”
Gideon resisted the urge to snort over the notion that Marshall had just called his two-hundred-foot, three-masted steam yacht a ‘little boat.’ He smiled instead. “Glad you were impressed, and yes, my teeny-tiny yacht is namedScorpius.”
Marshall took another gulp of his champagne. “Seems a little odd to name a yacht after a scorpion since those reside on land.”
“Which would be a valid point if my yacht was named after a scorpion. It’s actually inspired by the constellation Scorpius, which was named in the second century by Ptolemy.”
“Interesting” was Marshall’s response to that before he handed his now-empty glass to a passing server, snagged another flute, took a swig, and frowned. “That you know about such things suggests you’re a well-read gentleman who probably attended Harvard or the like.”
“Naval Academy.”
“Ah, a navy man. Surprising.”
Gideon opened his mouth to excuse himself from a man who was certainly trying his patience, but before he could speak, Marshall suddenly stilled with his glass halfway to his mouth as his eyes went wide.
“On my word, but who is that delightful creature who justwalked into the room?” Marshall demanded, gesturing with his glass toward the entranceway.
Gideon turned to where Marshall was now gaping, the room falling unusually quiet as his gaze settled on Adelaide.
Dressed in a deep shade of royal blue, the color enhanced by the sapphire-and-diamond necklace she was wearing as well as the sapphire-and-diamond tiara that was twinkling under the light cast from the chandelier, she immediately commanded the attention of everyone standing in her near vicinity—not that she appeared to notice that, since she was fiddling with her diamond bracelet, one that seemed to be attached to her mother’s silk glove.
Phyllis seemed oblivious to the idea that her daughter was literally stuck to her because she was beaming and nodding to numerous guests, clearly delighted to find herself and Adelaide the subject of undivided attention, and not attention of the hostile sort.
