It was time to mingle.
Elizabeth adjusted her necklace, and gave her mother a small smile.
As she scanned the room, her vision caught a dark figure drifting through the back of the crowd. The man was wearing a black travelling cloak, which struck her as odd, as all the other men in attendance wore suits of light tan or cream. She couldn’t discern much of his appearance from across the room except that he had a black beard and dark hair. The man strode confidently towards the back of the ballroom and slipped outside, ignoring the rest of the party.
It seemed everyone else had noticed him too, and shared her thoughts.
“Who isthat?” Lady Patricia asked, coming over to gossip with a look of derision.
“I have no idea. Might be an ambassador or some kind of foreign nobility,” Charlotte murmured.
“I don’t think so.” Lady Patricia said with an air of superiority, “I would know his name if he was. I had tea with her Majesty just last week, and she would have informed me if any wealthy foreign suitors were in attendance tonight. She added with a sneer, “Perhaps he is a new addition to the lesser nobility, or worse, a commoner who snuck in.”
The orchestra started playing a tune meant for dancing, and Lady Patricia surveyed the crowd, looking for eligible dance partners, and tossed her hair. “Anyway, I have to go. Tell me if you hear anything about that strange man.”
Elizabeth smiled. “We will.”
As Lady Patricia stepped out of earshot, Charlotte muttered, “Always a treat, that girl.”
Elizabeth tried to rein in her amusement and went to stand by her parents. She smiled prettily and waited for someone to ask her to dance.
To her delight, two gentlemen asked her to dance during the first part of the evening. She took a turn about the room with each of them before returning flushed to her parents’ side.
Her father gave a slight shake of his head. Disapproving both men and instructing her to refuse another dance with either of them.
What an old stick in the mud! She didn't care about the birthright of her dance partner.
“It’s onlydancing, Father,” Elizabeth said, trying not to roll her eyes.
There wasn't much point in a ball if she couldn’t dance with anyone. She resigned herself to cheering Charlotte on with a redheaded gentleman she had danced with several times now.
Charlotte finished dancing and came to Elizabeth's side, flushed. Charlotte fanned herself and recounted every detail of her dance partner’s physique and mannerisms. Elizabeth was struggling to maintain ladylike smiles when she wanted to grin like a fiend upon hearing that her friend had danced with the redheaded gentleman on the terrace and grabbed his ass. His name was Connall, and Charlotte was already smitten.
Charlotte was describing his exact words to her when Elizabeth’s father interrupted the pair of them.
Her father asked to speak with her privately, and Charlotte obliged, departing with raised brows.
Her father offered her a kind smile, one that put her on guard. “Elizabeth, you’ll be pleased to hear I have secured you a match.”
She brought a crystal goblet to her lips, arching an eyebrow. “Really father? And who, pray tell, is this distinguished gentleman that you want me to meet tonight?”
“You already know him.” Her nose scrunched in confusion. “He is very rich, a member of the high nobility, and he has an estate and manor to offer.”
Elizabeth’s brows climbed higher.
“Duke Howard has asked me for your hand, and I’m inclined to accept on your behalf.”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“Father, what? You must be joking.”
“Elizabeth Beatrice Ashcroft.” His voice carried a warning. “You insisted on choosing your own husband, and I have let you. It’s been years, and at this rate, you’ll reach thirty before deigning to choose someone. I want to see you taken care of. You would have a good life with him.”
“Yes, a good life, until an early grave, for being the wife of such a man would kill me. He is old and cruel, Father. You cannot be serious.”
“He is a fine match for you,” her father said, dismissing her protest with a wave. “And a valuable alliance for our family. Howard House is very powerful. He has hundreds of armed guards, and his estate is second in wealth only to the queen herself.”
