Chapter Twelve
Amber never imagined that Almack’s would be so boring. She’d been to one party.One!And already, she was tired of discussing the weather, fashion, and the latest play. No one wished to discuss politics or a secret passion. And the men seemed to think she would be fascinated by effusive compliments of her hair, her eyes, and even her teeth.
She enjoyed the dancing. And she especially loved being in a gown of palest blue just like she’d imagined that night before all this began. She wasn’t dripping with sapphires, but she did wear the gold lion in her hair. After a few minutes, even that grew boring. She missed her sketchbook, her family, and most especially, she missed working metal into a piece of art. She had seen more ugly jewelry in the last few days to make her itch to design something beautiful.
She wasn’t complaining. Heavens knew this had been her dream since she had first heard of pretty dresses. She just hadn’t expected reality to disillusion her so soon. There were only a few moments when her dreams felt as if they were as wonderful as she’d imagined, and those seconds were fast ticking away. It was whenhedanced with her, whenhesmiled at her, and whenhesaid she was lovely, that she felt happy.
Elliott Rees, Lord Byrn. The man who had stayed away all day and offered no explanation of his absence when he came to fetch them for Almack’s. The man who owed her nothing, and yet she was peeved when he didn’t dance with her but once and anxious until he looked at her again. She was being illogical. He couldn’t look at her while he was dancing with every girl in this wretched place. And he couldn’t talk to her while he was saying pretty things to all those other richer, titled, or more beautiful girls.
“Thank you for the dance,” Amber said to a gentleman with buck teeth and watery eyes. In truth, he was one of her better dance partners. He moved beautifully and spoke of something other than the weather, and it wasn’t even about his dogs. He asked about Berlin and her life there, which, of course, was complete fabrication. She’d been grateful that the movements of the dance prevented her from anything but the most generic responses. She knew what to say, of course. She’d developed an elaborate past in the last few days, pulled from her very rich imagination. But it turned out that lying about who she was also paled over time.
Daydreams, it turned out, were never meant to come true. And that made her more depressed than she had ever been in her entire life.
“Amber, you should have told me!” Diana said as soon as Mr. Buck Teeth retreated. “I could have seeded the field so much better if I’d known.”
Amber frowned. She had no idea what that meant.
“Don’t look like that. It causes wrinkles,” Diana said as she pulled her to sit in a nearby bench. The orchestra was taking a break, thank heaven, and Amber was grateful to get off her aching feet. “I just heard it from Lady Waterford, who heard it from her son who heard it from… Oh, I don’t know who. But it’s the talk of the evening and the reason you haven’t stopped dancing all night long.”
“What is the reason?” she asked, her voice sharper than she intended.
“Your dowry! I had no idea that you had one, much less twenty thousand pounds! That’s enough to overcome your lack of a title. In fact, it’s enough for you to be much more discerning as to your dance partners.”
Twenty thousand pounds? But that was ridiculous. “I don’t have a dowry,” she said. And even if she did, it certainly wasn’t any twenty thousand pounds. The amount was exorbitant!
“Actually, you do,” said the one voice she’d been straining to hear all day. Elliott stood beside them, holding out two glasses of lemonade. “I spoke with your father this afternoon. He seemed honored to bestow a dowry upon his only child. In fact, that was his exact word, honored.”
Amber stared opened mouthed at the man. She saw his blank expression and his long fingers where they held her glass. She saw his black attire and a stickpin for his cravat shaped like a flame. It was the pin that jarred her out of her shock, for it was one she had fashioned herself.
“I made that pin,” she said stupidly. “Did you buy it today?” It was a ridiculous thing to focus on, but he was wearing something of hers. Something she had fashioned with her own hand, and for some reason, that stood out as significant to her.
“Actually, your father gifted it to me. When we spoke about your marriage.”
“My marriage?” she echoed dumbly. Then her heart abruptly beat triple time in her throat. “You spoke to my father about marrying me?” He words came out as a kind of squeak.
His eyes widened in surprise, and he swallowed convulsively. “Well, um, as to that—”
“You don’t want him,” Diana inserted before he could finish. “He’s only interested in politics. But as soon as we are home, I shall make a list of the best gentlemen to consider.” She was about to prattle on further, but Elliott interrupted.
“I have had a couple men ask me about your particulars after our ride in Hyde Park. I spoke with your father, and he has given me leave to assist him with this task.”
The blood was still rushing through her ears and throbbing in her temples. “My marriage is a task?” she asked, her tongue as thick as her muddled thoughts.
Diana patted her hand. “Your dowry is. The marriage contract.” She squeezed Amber’s fingers. “I am thrilled that we can be true friends now. You can marry a respectable man, and we can visit one other every day if we like.” The excitement in her voice was palpable.
“We weren’t friends before?” Good lord, she was being completely muttonheaded. Of course, they weren’t real friends. The difference in their station precluded that. But if she married well, then Lady Dunnamore and Mrs. Whomever She Became could become dear friends without a word of censure from anyone.
“Twenty thousand pounds,” Diana breathed. “I had no idea.”
Neither had Amber. And the idea made her sick to her stomach. It felt like she had been branded with a pound note and then set in the stocks to sell as a prize cow. Until this moment, this had been a holiday from the cage. A time to dance and wear pretty dresses, knowing for certain that at the end of it all, she would return to her home, her family, and her friends. And yes, the damned gray cage. But that was all part of the package of her life.
And now she was to be sold off in marriage? Certainly, she knew about marriage contracts, but she never thought that she would have one. Never thought that her father would negotiate for the best value in a husband as he would a lot of uncut stones.
She abruptly stood up, nearly spilling the lemonade that Lord Byrn still held in his hand. “I need to talk to my father,” she said tightly. She needed to know where he had found twenty thousand pounds. And why he wanted to be rid of her so desperately. Who would sit in the cage with her grandfather? Who would fashion jewelry for the store? Who would see that there were coals in the grate in winter and heavy blankets to keep them warm?
Those were things she did for her family. She had always done them since before her mother passed. And now they didn’t want her anymore? It couldn’t be. And yet the pain in her chest told her it was true.
“Miss Gohar. Miss—Amber! Wait!”
