“Mother’s waving for you to join her,” Sally said, giving her brother a none-too-gentle nudge in the direction of Ada Mae, who wasn’t actually doing any waving since she’d moseyed away from the receiving line and was currently inspecting one of the paintings Luella had recently hung on the wall.
Obviously realizing he’d just been given the perfect excuse to remove himself from what was certainly now a hostile environment, both Owen and Beulah staring at him with fire in their eyes, Stanley muttered his excuses and headed off in Ada Mae’s direction.
“You’ll have to forgive my brother,” Sally began. “He’s still incredibly sensitive about his nose, probably because it now has just the tiniest dent in it, but enough about noses.” She extended her hand to Owen, dipped into a curtsy after he kissed it, then turned to Camilla but paused mid-dip when her gaze settled on something over Camilla’s shoulder.
“I say, is that Mr. Wetzel over there by the staircase?” she asked.
Camilla turned and nodded. “It is.”
Sally craned her neck. “I don’t see Luella anywhere yet.”
“She’ll be along directly.”
Sally was suddenly all smiles. “I’m so looking forward to seeing her again, but while we wait for her to make an appearance, I think I’ll go and keep Mr. Wetzel company.”
As Sally strolled away, Camilla turned and found a line of guests waiting to enter the house, their excitement regarding their invitations to a special quadrille lesson almost palpable.
The next fifteen minutes were spent being introduced to everyone Camilla had not yet met, such as Martha Wellington and Clarice Colleens, two young ladies who’d been close friends with Luella before the pond incident, and who both seemed nervous to have been invited to participate today, their inclusion a direct result of Luella insisting their names be added to the guest list.
After Martha and Clarice wandered over to join Charles and Sally, Curtistine made an appearance, as well as Pauline Zavolta, who merely sent Owen a sniff when he presented her with a bow before she stalked off. Next in line were Mr. Jeromy Witman and Mr. Thomas Stanford, two of Stanley’s friends who’d been at the pond that dreadful day, both men perspiring ever so slightly as they greeted Owen, acting quite as if they were worried they were going to be called on the carpet then and there for their abysmal behavior.
To Owen’s credit, besides giving the two men what had obviously become his signature firm handshake of the day, which left the men grimacing, he’d welcomed them into his home, then encouraged them to have a look around, which they didn’t hesitate to do, practically bolting down the hallway in their quest to get away from him.
“Your restraint was rather impressive,” Camilla said, a grin tugging her lips.
“You said I wasn’t allowed to be anything but gracious today, and you even wrote down a list of appropriate things I was allowed to say while greeting guests. Challenging someone to a duel unfortunately failed to make that list.”
“Of course it did, but I might need to revisit that list and beeven more specific, or give you a refresher course on graciousness in general, since you did growl at Stanley and almost maimed Mr. Witman and Mr. Stanford’s hands, but other than that, good job.”
Owen sent her a grin before he turned to the next guest and welcomed the young lady dithering on the threshold into his home.
Once every guest had been greeted, Camilla took Owen’s arm, and together they followed everyone up to the ballroom, Camilla taking a few minutes to disclose who everyone was partnering with, ignoring the grumbles of a few ladies when she stated that Luella would be partnered with Charles.
Any lingering grumbles came to a rapid end, though, when Luella swept into the room, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to linger in the doorway to allow everyone an opportunity to see her since she headed straight for Charles, who immediately excused himself from speaking with Sally and Curtistine and strode to join her.
Camilla couldn’t resist a smile when Charles took hold of Luella’s hand, kissed it, then held it for a few seconds longer than was strictly necessary, her smile widening when Charles withdrew a lily from an inside jacket pocket and tucked it into the elaborate chignon Bernadette had assembled, the ease with which he did so suggesting he might have very well practiced a few times to make sure his gesture went off perfectly.
“I don’t remember that being part of the plan,” Owen grumbled beside her.
“It wasn’t.”
“Can’t say I appreciate Charles gazing so adoringly at my sister.”
“I don’t believe that was planned either, but before you go off and relocate those rifles you hid of Beulah’s, what say we get the lesson started.”
Owen shot a look at Luella. “Maybe I should partner my sister.”
“You’re supposed to be almost engaged to me, so ... no.”
Owen blinked. “I almost forgot about that.”
“I suggest you remember because we’ll hardly find success withour plan if anyone notices us not behaving like an almost-engaged couple.”
“I’m not actually certain how almost-engaged couples are supposed to behave.”
“They normally behave as if they’re dying to sneak off and steal a few kisses together,” Camilla heard pop out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
The corners of Owen’s mouth quirked. “That was not what I was expecting you to say.”
