Additional introductions commenced with the gentlemen Adelaide was not familiar with, performed by a variety of society matrons who were smiling at her in a friendly fashion, as if they hadn’t recently been considering giving her the cut direct.
To make the situation even odder, she was also approached by gentlemen she’d known for years, who took to showering compliments on her as they added their names to her dance card. Before she knew it, every spot was filled, and she then found herself in the curious position of being left to deal with disappointed gentlemen who’d not been quick enough to secure a dance with her that evening.
“Do promise you’ll be at home for calls tomorrow,” Thomas Hassel said as he bent over her hand, kissed her fingers, then gave them a squeeze.
Her first impulse was to say she was promised elsewhere during calling hours, but before she could get that excuse out of her mouth, she spotted her mother standing a few feet away, beaming in clear delight. Adelaide retrieved her hand from Thomas, earning a sigh from him in return. Pressing lips that wanted to curve into a grin over the ridiculousness of finding a gentleman who’d been avoiding her for years now fawning over her, she gave a brief inclination of her head. “I will indeed be home tomorrow to receive callers.”
“Excellent,” Thomas said as Mr. Muskel announced one of the special quadrilles was about to begin.
Taking a place beside guests now assembling on the edge of the ballroom floor to watch the eight dancers who’d beenchosen by Ward McAllister to perform a Parisian quadrille, Adelaide soon found herself in the company of young ladies destined to become the diamonds of the Season. Miss Jennie Gibson, the lady Aunt Petunia had set her eye on for Charles, took the spot directly beside her.
Additional introductions, along with the expected pleasantries, were exchanged before Adelaide found herself the recipient of invitations to tea, shopping, and sleigh rides in Central Park, if the snow predicted for later in the week materialized, as well as invitations to join some of the ladies in their families’ boxes at the Metropolitan Opera House.
In all honesty, it was a little overwhelming as well as disconcerting, because she’d been labeled a wallflower, and a peculiar one at that, from the moment she’d entered society. Now, however, and simply because Gideon had settled his attention on her and Camilla had been telling everyone she was delightfully original, she found herself in high demand. Although given Suzette’s subtle snideness, it did seem as if not everyone was keen to embrace her newfound notoriety.
To her relief, as soon as the orchestra began playing, everyone turned to watch the quadrille, which gave her a brief reprieve from far too much attention. As the dancers swept around the floor with intricate steps that had been practiced to perfection, Adelaide’s gaze drifted around the room, settling on two young ladies who were standing off by themselves against the opposite wall, positioned between two decorative ferns, as if they’d chosen the spot to afford them a small bit of protection from the guests who weren’t paying them any mind. The young ladies were smiling, but Adelaide knew the smiles weren’t genuine, because she’d smiled those very same sort of smiles for years.
It wasn’t difficult to conclude that the ladies were awkward sorts who’d never earn the titles of Incomparables or diamonds. One lady was tall and exceedingly slender, her shoulders hunched in a way that suggested she was attempting to makeherself look shorter. The lady beside her was more voluptuous than what was considered fashionable and was wearing a gown that was supposed to camouflage her figure but was instead leaving her looking as if she were far heavier than she actually was.
Unsurprisingly, even though the Delmonico ballroom was crowded with guests, no one was standing close to the ladies, who were obviously trying to pretend nothing was amiss, and in that moment, as Adelaide’s stomach knotted, the plan to make her fashionable seemed small, if not downright nonsensical.
She’d always prided herself on being different, on being content with who she was, and yet she’d agreed to let Camilla take her in hand if she could remain true to herself, but ... she didn’t feel like herself in the least.
Yes, the feeling of being included, while slightly overwhelming, was nice, but the reminder that young ladies were still being slighted and excluded from the sparkling crowd left a hole in Adelaide’s heart. She’d told Camilla and Gideon at one point that she was wondering if God might have a plan in store for her—one in which, if society did the unexpected and embraced her, that circumstance could be used to give hope to other disadvantaged ladies living on the edge of the upper crust. She’d forgotten all about that plan and was now left feeling as if she were disappointing God and perhaps had even failed some type of test God had given her.
It wasn’t a feeling she enjoyed, and she realized in that moment that nothing of true importance had changed in society. Yes, the social set evidently no longer believed she was a pariah, but the satisfaction she thought she’d feel over gaining acceptance into the upper echelons was nowhere to be found. Instead, she felt hollow inside because it wasn’t much of a stretch to realize that another unfortunate lady would simply take her place as the oddity of society, which meant—
Before she could puzzle the thought out to satisfaction,the quadrille drew to a close, applause resounding around the room, and then Mr. Dudley Paulding, still sporting his monocle, was standing before her, his hand extended. Taking it, she soon found herself on the ballroom floor again, where Dudley proceeded to extend her outrageous compliments. He also attempted to impress her by telling her all about his yacht, then invited her to attend a play with him at the theater the following weekend before he reluctantly returned her to where Mr. James Vector was waiting to claim her next dance.
“I must say it’s been far too long since we’ve had an opportunity to converse,” James said, swirling her past Gideon, who was standing on the sidelines and watching James with a stony expression, something James apparently noticed because he changed directions and led Adelaide to the other side of the room.
“We must make plans to go riding in Central Park, or better yet,” James continued, “I’m escorting Miss Cynthia Barney into dinner this evening. You must join us.”
The idea that had begun to take root during the quadrille left her shaking her head. “Forgive me, Mr. Vector, but I fear Mr. Abbott and I have already promised other friends we’ll join them. Perhaps you and I can share a table at another event this Season.”
A touch of disappointment flickered through James’s eyes before he inclined his head. “I’ll look forward to that.”
Thankfully, after he led her through a few complicated steps, the music came to an end, which had James escorting her from the floor, then telling her to expect him to call on her within the foreseeable future before he handed her off to Mr. Marshall Wilson.
“Ah, Miss Duveen, it appears it’s our turn to take to the floor at last,” Marshall said as he took her arm and towed her toward the center of the room.
He didn’t bother to present her with a bow as the musicbegan, instead twirling her around with quite a bit of gusto, which left her feeling decidedly off-balance, not that he appeared to notice as he began marching her across the floor in a manner that suggested he wasn’t comfortable dancing, which left her feeling slightly more charitable toward him. She knew only too well how it felt to not be proficient with pursuits society deemed of the utmost importance.
As they plodded around the room, Marshall wasn’t at a loss for words, complimenting her on her beauty, her tiara, her necklace, and the color of her gown, suggesting he wasn’t knowledgeable with ladies’ fashions in general when he remarked how odd he found it that most unmarried ladies were wearing pastels when darker colors would have been more favorable, something he thought she’d obviously realized, given the deep hue of her gown. After the compliments, he then launched into asking her questions about her Knickerbocker background and if she’d seen the large home being built on Fifth Avenue that sported numerous turrets—one that, of course, belonged to him.
By the time their dance ended, she wasn’t feeling nearly as charitable toward him, because the longer he talked, the clearer it became that Marshall was a man possessed of an enormous ego, and someone who didn’t hold a candle to Gideon, who never bragged about his accomplishments, his wealth, his yacht, or his lofty place within society.
“Ready for dinner?” Gideon asked, materializing beside her and sending Marshall a pointed look when the man didn’t immediately release his hold on Adelaide’s arm.
To Adelaide’s concern, the pointed look seemed to be responsible for Marshall tightening his grip on her until Camilla glided up to join them, smiling a dazzling smile at Marshall before she nodded to Gideon.
“Would you perform an introduction, Gideon?”
“I’m Mr. Marshall Wilson,” Marshall said before Gideon could comply, dropping his hold on Adelaide as he took Camilla’s handand raised it to his lips. “And you are, of course, the incomparable Miss Camilla Pierpont. I’ve been longing to make your acquaintance.”
Camilla’s smile dimmed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wilson. I believe everyone is making their way into the dining room. I assume you’ve claimed a young lady to dine with this evening?”
“Miss Jennie Gibson, to be exact.” Marshall smiled and kissed Camilla’s hand again. “May I dare hope you and your dinner companion will join us at our table?”
