The carriage slowed and Harriet couldn’t resist peeking out the curtain. They’d arrived and were in line to join the others. It didn’t take but a few minutes until a footman was helping her down. She looked around at the people dressed in their finest. The house was quite elegant for the evening as well. Candles lit every window in the front of the house making this Greek revival look classic.
Their host and hostess were in a receiving line inside the grand hall. As she followed Arthur and Daphne, Harriet tried to maintain her composure. She knew Lucien was somewhere andwas anxious to see him. Instead, she quietly spoke to their hosts and was announced into the ballroom.
As she accompanied her cousin’s wife towards a group of ladies, she was caught off guard by the sight of Lucien surrounded by a group of young ladies. They were all fawning over him. Their leader? Lady Winifred. She had really put together an influential group which included Lady Jane Smith, Lady Agnes Belmont, and Lady Joy Thomas. Winifred smirked at her, even though she didn’t know if Harriet saw them.
Lucien appeared to be quite uncomfortable by the group and when he saw her with Daphne, he must have been making excuses to leave them to mix with other guests.
Harriet pretended to be interested in the conversation going on around her but kept finding herself gazing back to Lucien.
Since she was seeing Lucien, she could go over and rescue him from the clutches of that bunch of vipers. She certainly didn’t need to remain the soft, shy young woman a lot of peers thought she was. Since Lucien came into her life, she noticed little changes in how she dealt with situations. She was becoming the woman she wanted to be.
Winnie saw her approaching and tried to move closer to Lucien. He caught a glance of her and turned to greet her.
“Good evening, Harriet. You look exquisite in that gown,” he said, guiding her by the elbow into the inner circle of peers he’d been dragged into.
“Thank you,” Harriet replied. She acknowledged the group all the while standing at Lucien’s side.
The group stayed together and spoke of upcoming galas, and of course to acknowledge the gossip that was circulating among them.
“When did you and Lady Harriet become betrothed?” Lady Winifred inquired.
“We aren’t yet. We’re waiting for her parents to return before we make any announcements,” Lucien said.
He was trying to let them know how serious his and Harriet’s relationship was without giving away things that did not concern the young ladies. He didn’t want it to look as though Harriet was hanging on waiting either.
Finally, Lucien found an out. “If you will excuse us, I see Harriet’s cousin beckoning us to meet someone.”
They walked away and Harriet giggled. “Arthur really didn’t beckon us, did he?”
“No, I never saw Arthur. I just thought you might wish to get away from them,” Lucien replied.
Instead, he guided her onto the terrace. The evening was pleasant with a slight breeze. A change was beginning to happen. Before long, coats would be needed to keep a person warm.
“Come, let’s walk in the garden. There won’t be many more evenings like this.”
“I’d love to,” she replied.
Lucien tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and they began walking along the lit path. “Would you like to take a test run in one of the trains? Actually, it’s for six cars we were commissioned for.”
“Where will you go for your test run?”
“We usually run north. There are more long stretches that direction.”
“That makes sense. It’s not populated like it is near London.”
“That’s why.”
“Didn’t you go to Scotland with the prince?” she inquired, even though she knew the answer.
He stopped and walked off the path where they could have more privacy. From the rustling of the bushes nearby, Lucien wasn’t the only one with this idea.
“It’s so hard for us to get any privacy,” he whispered in her ear.
“We’re not supposed to have any.”
“If we’re betrothed, we would have more, or if we married,” he said.
“You’ve been giving this a lot of thought, haven’t you?”
