There was a time I had hoped I meant something to Alec, too, but his absence from my life hinted otherwise.
As the musicians began a waltz, I lifted the train of my gown and allowed George to spin me around the dance floor. He was a magnificent dancer, so confident and handsome, and he seemed to only have eyes for me. I smiled up at him, trying to remember that I was happy.
The evening progressed from one dance to the next, but they all started to blend. When we stopped for supper, George escorted me into the dining room. He sat to my right, a place of honor, and I knew that by morning the gossips would speculate that we were engaged.
Would he ask me to marry him? Now that I’d had a proper debutante ball, I was considered ready for the marriage mart. Surely George knew why Aunt Maude was taking me to Europe. He couldn’t be completely naïve.
After the meal, there was more dancing. My feet and back ached, but I kept a smile on my face, knowing how much money and time Aunt Maude had given toward this ball. The flowers alone had cost her five thousand dollars, a sum of money that would take over a decade for Uncle Charlie and his family to make. To know that they would be cast into the garbage tomorrow felt like a sin. Newspaper reporters werewriting scathing articles about the excess and waste of parties like this one when the average New York family was living off less than four hundred dollars a year. And they weren’t wrong. For party favors, Aunt Maude has chosen gold cigarette cases for the men and diamond necklaces for the women. The food, the champagne, the party favors, flowers, invitations, musicians, and extra staff had cost over fifty thousand dollars.
And all for what? To impress each other? It was a foolish way to live and the more I experienced it, the more I disliked it.
But it wasn’t my money, so I said nothing.
Just before five in the morning, the musicians announced the final dance of the ball. I wanted nothing more than to climb into my bed and sleep for days, but I soldiered on and saw that George had written his name for the last dance, as well as the first.
He found me near the punch table and offered his arm to me.
“I hope you don’t mind that I took the last dance without asking,” he said as we began to waltz.
“Of course not.”
His smile was warm and affectionate. “I’ve loved getting to know you these past two months, Clara.”
“And I you.” I was so tired of talking, but it was almost over.
“I imagine you’ll have several callers in the morning.”
There had been many young men who had asked if they could call, and I had said yes to all of them. Aunt Maude wanted it to appear as if I was the belle of the season.
“I suppose I will,” I said.
“I hope—” He paused.
I finally gave him my full attention. If things had been different, I could have fallen in love with George. He was kind and generous and would be easy to love.
“I hope,” he continued, “that you’ll not give any of them encouragement to pursue you.”
I studied him, waiting.
“I had rather hoped you’d reserve that for me,” he continued.
For weeks, I had practiced my response to him, but it seemed to stick in my throat.
“Don’t speak now,” he said. “I would rather wait and hear a yes, than get my answer now and hear a no.”
I smiled at him, thankful he was preceptive enough to understand where I stood. “You are very dear to me.”
Those appeared to be the right words because his hand pressed a little tighter to my back and his gaze filled with pleasure.
When the final dance concluded, the guests took their leave, and I was finally free.
Twenty minutes later, I stood with Aunt Maude in the ballroom for a moment, listening to the silence.
“The staff will come in soon and begin the cleanup,” Aunt Maude said with a sigh. “You’ll want to get a few hours of sleep before your callers arrive.”
I groaned at the thought.
Aunt Maude looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “Remember you’re respectable now, Clara, and respectable people don’t moan.”
