“And don’t you clean up nice,” Beulah said, moving to join Luella, where she promptly kissed her on the cheek before she gave her a good squeeze. “Nervous?”
Luella shook her head. “Since Camilla managed the grand feat of getting me reaccepted by old friends weeks ago, as well as accepted by a slew of new ones, I have nothing to be nervous about.”
“Except that you’ll be performing that fancy dance she taught you in front of all those guests.”
“Charles and I have been putting in extra practice time, and that’s in addition to the extra time I spent with Sally, so I can do those steps in my sleep.”
“When and where were you getting in this practice time with Charles?” Owen demanded, striding into the room and causing Camilla’s mouth to drop open just a touch because ... good heavens. The man did wear formal evening attire exceedingly well.
His jacket, as was always the case these days, accentuated his broad shoulders to perfection, and the pristine white of his shirt, paired with a white cravat, stood out in stark relief against theblack fabric of his suit. His hair, arranged by Bernadette, had just a bit of curl to it, although Bernadette had somehow managed to tame the curls that usually had a mind of their own.
The only thing that detracted from his appearance was the scowl he was currently wearing, one that deepened as Charles and Leopold ambled into the room, Charles coming to an abrupt stop as his gaze settled on Luella, while Leopold moseyed directly over to Beulah, taking her hand and placing a kiss on it.
“This is going to be a very, very interesting evening,” Lottie said as Edward walked into the room.
“Are you certain the two of you don’t want to join us?” Camilla asked after Edward walked over to stand beside Lottie, beaming a warm smile at her as he took her hand and kissed it.
“I’m not one for fancy parties,” Edward admitted, keeping hold of Lottie’s hand. “Besides, my mother is hosting a dinner for us this evening, and she’s been cooking all day, clearly wanting to impress Lottie.”
“Your mother doesn’t need to go out of her way to impress me,” Lottie muttered. “I adored her the moment I met her last week.”
“I believe the feeling is mutual,” Edward returned.
When Lottie and Edward began gazing into each other’s eyes, a feeling of satisfaction swept through Camilla, a direct result of knowing she’d been somewhat responsible for what was clearly going to be a spectacular match. After telling the couple to enjoy their evening, she strolled across the room to where Owen was still scowling, taking hold of his arm.
“There’s really no need for you to look so fierce since Charles doesn’t find your scowls intimidating these days, considering how often you scowl at him but never do more than that,” she said.
“Do you think I should escalate to something a little more threatening?”
“And leave your sister more than morose if you were to happen to scare Charles off, not that I think he’d be easily deterred?”
“I take it that’s a firm no to the escalating business?”
“Too right it is, especially when Charles is completely besotted with Luella, and she with him, something Charles’s mother, Petunia, is certainly going to be thrilled about.” She gave Owen’s arm a squeeze. “Did I mention how often Petunia tracked me down in New York to discuss Charles’s matrimonial prospects and how I was going to go about helping him end his bachelor state?”
“You did, but I’m not certain that telling me how difficult it was for Charles to find a compatible lady within the confines of the Four Hundred is the best way to convince me he’d be perfect for my sister.”
“Learning Charles wasn’t compatible with high-society ladies should be reassuring, not concerning because, what I’ve come to understand about Charles is that he was never meant to marry a lady from the Four Hundred, as he’s not the quintessential society gentleman. He loathes discussing current fashions, the weather, or which virtuoso might be performing on any given evening at the Metropolitan Opera House. He prefers honest conversations, which he’s been indulging in often of late with Luella.”
“But Luella seems to have found a love of fashion, which I’m sure she’ll eventually want to discuss with Charles, which suggests he may soon find himself less-than-besotted with her.”
“You’re reaching and you know it,” Camilla countered. “Charles would be happy to discuss fashion with Luella because it interests her, and he, being a man in love, obviously wants to make her happy. And besides all that, another mark in his favor is that Charles accepts Luella exactly as she is.”
“Given the stunned expression on his face when he first caught sight of her only moments before, I think he may enjoy the sophisticated and gorgeously gowned Luella over the ragamuffin he first met.”
“While Charles is certainly a gentleman who can appreciate Luella’s beauty, he’s more enamored with her kindred spirit and kind nature, and it doesn’t hurt that she can outshoot him on any given day, or that she shares his love of horticulture.”
“But Luella was convinced just a few months back that she was meant to marry Stanley, which suggests she could very well be in a rebound state of mind and has simply focused her attention on Charles to vindicate a wounded ego.”
“Luella would have never married Stanley because they were ill-matched, something I think Beulah realized since she never tried to get that apple pie recipe into Stanley’s hands.”
“Huh, she didn’t try that, but I haven’t seen her give that recipe to Charles, which could mean that Meemaw isn’t convinced Charles is right for Luella either.”
“I hate to burst your bubble, but I overheard Beulah asking Charles just the other day to fetch her recipe box because she needed to pull out her recipe for anise cookies.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten an anise cookie Meemaw made.”
“Which suggests sheistrying to get that recipe into Charles’s hands. She probably had the apple pie recipe sticking out of theAsection. I don’t really think he’d balk if she’d just hand it over to him, but she might like the whole drama of sneaking it to him without his notice.”
