“That would be fine,” Griffin said. “But I don’t see him. There’s no reason to pass by others just to go looking for him.” He turned to Esmeralda. “Are you ready, Miss Swift?”
“Yes, Your Grace,” she assured him.
The earl and his wife were delighted the duke chose them to be the first introduced to his sisters. While they chatted with Lord and Lady Daundelyon, Esmeralda stepped back and scanned the ballroom, looking at each male face to see if she could identify any of them as her cousin, Viscount Mayeforth. If he was present, she didn’t recognize him.
After hearing some time ago the viscount was in ill health, she didn’t expect to see him at the ball, but there was no way of knowing for sure. It had been almost fifteen years since she’d seen him, but she didn’t think he could have changed all that much. Though it was his father who’d banished her mother from the family, she didn’t expect her cousin to acknowledge her if they should come face-to-face. Still, she felt a sense of relief that she hadn’t spotted him in the crowd.
Immediately after Lord and Lady Daundelyon said their good-byes and moved away, the Earl of Hatterston walked up and bowed. “Good evening, Your Grace.”
Griffin returned the bow and said, “My lord.”
And so began the formal and tedious introductions all over again.
The widowed earl was a pleasant-looking fellow with dark brown eyes and a square chin. He had a full head of slightly graying hair and a robust build, but he was at least twenty years older than Lady Sara and Lady Vera. His wife had died more than a year ago. He’d already made it known in Society his mourning had passed and he was looking for a new bride.
Esmeralda didn’t know if the earl could sense it, but she certainly could see the twins had no interest in the older gentleman no matter that he carried a title and great wealth along with his name. That made no difference to the sisters. As far as they were concerned, there was only one prize in the room, Lord Henry, and it looked as if they were prepared to fight over him.
Once securing the promise of a dance from Lady Sara and Lady Vera later in the evening, the earl excused himself. That started an avalanche of people standing in line to be introduced to the twins. Twins were such an oddity to begin with, and these two encouraged attention by wearing their hair in the same style and similar gowns of ivory lace over a pale melon underdress.
But that wasn’t their only draw. There was the added attraction of the recent gossip concerning them, not to mention the fact they were the daughters and sisters of a duke. Not many young ladies could boast having that many reasons for someone to seek them out at the first ball of their first Season.
After each time Esmeralda was introduced as the chaperone, she would step back on the conversations so as not intrude, and let the others talk pleasantries. Not only was it the right thing to do, but she wanted to make herself as uninteresting as possible so no one would question her too closely about her position or about herself. It wasn’t difficult. Everyone’s interest seemed to be solely on Lady Sara and Lady Vera.
Esmeralda took special notice when the beautiful, blue-eyed Miss Irene Froste approached with her father. The young lady couldn’t keep her eyes off the duke, and Esmeralda couldn’t keep her gaze off Miss Froste. Like the twins, it was her first ball, and Esmeralda quickly surmised that the young lady had made up her mind that Griffin was the one she wanted, much like Lady Sara and Lady Vera had set their sights on Lord Henry.
Miss Froste had been schooled well in how to be charming. The duke was her main focus of interest, but she took time to talk with both twins and promised to pay a visit in the next few days, which thrilled Lady Sara. Griffin didn’t appear to have a problem listening to every word she said either.
Esmeralda tried not to let the young lady’s overinterest in him invade her thoughts and fill her with envy, but she failed miserably. Miss Froste glowed with charisma, confidence, and a smile that invited the duke to call on her. Regrettably, Esmeralda couldn’t find one thing to dislike about the young lady—except that she wasn’t wearing gray!
At last Miss Froste and her father moved on and the onslaught of other attendees wanting introductions continued. Only a few sets of eyebrows were raised when Griffin introduced Esmeralda as the twins’ chaperone, but none higher than when she was presented to the Dowager Countess Norwood. That concerned Esmeralda a little. The elderly countess could very well remember the scandal of Esmeralda’s mother eloping with the poet almost fifteen years ago. In all her years of being a governess, Esmeralda had never heard a whisper of gossip about her mother, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t occurred. Thankfully, the lady excused herself without asking any probing questions.
Esmeralda made mental notes on all the bachelors who stood in line to meet the twins, including Lord Henry when he approached. Lady Evelyn hadn’t been wrong about the man. He was divinely handsome. Esmeralda, who had no designs on him whatsoever, felt an uptick in her pulse at the sight of him. He reminded her of Griffin in that he wore his handsomeness as comfortably as most gentlemen wore their everyday coat. He stood tall, like Griffin, but maybe not so wide in the shoulders. His dark blond hair was thick and full of waves that fell attractively to the top of his neckcloth. To add to his handsome looks, his light brown eyes were full of merriment and his smile could have charmed a wild boar. It was no wonder he set all the young ladies’ hearts to swooning.
She thought Lady Vera might faint when she was introduced to him, and Lady Sara was positively besotted by him too. But what must have been a huge disappointment to both girls was that Lord Henry didn’t ask either sister to save him a dance before he left. It niggled at Esmeralda’s mind as to why he didn’t. All the other young bachelors, and the older ones too, had asked for a dance. Perhaps reticence was the way Lord Henry kept the young ladies interested in him. Maybe he liked to lead them on a merry chase.
The evening wore on and the crowd thinned. Mr. Albert Trent and Sir Charles Redding finally made their way over to meet the twins. Esmeralda and Griffin had made eye contact when the two approached. If they had gotten wind that Griffin had narrowed his search for the mischief-makers to them, they showed no signs of it. Esmeralda looked both over carefully as they smiled and bowed to the duke and his sisters. She’d expected to see something sinister or devilish in their manner, but they appeared as friendly and interested in Lady Sara and Lady Vera as had all the other bachelors.
After over an hour of formal introductions of the twins, Esmeralda was happy when Lady Sara strolled off to the dance floor with Mr. Lambert and Lady Vera walked away to dance with the Earl of Hatterston.
Griffin turned to Esmeralda and said, “It’s time for a glass of champagne.” He stopped a passing waiter, took two glasses from a tray, and handed one to her. He clinked his glass against hers and said, “May the Season progress quickly.”
She’d never tasted champagne, though she’d always wanted to. She lifted her glass and took a very small sip.Hmm,she thought. It was really quite tasty. She took a larger sip.
“I noticed you wore my least-favorite color tonight,” Griffin said.
Esmeralda saw a twinkle in his eyes and suddenly felt warm all over. It amazed her that just a look from him could do that to her. She lowered her glass.
“Did you?” she asked innocently.
“You know I did.” His lips crooked into a captivating grim. “It’s the only color I’ve seen you wear.”
“It’s the only color I have,” she said. “It’s serviceable.”
She looked down at her gown. A delicate pink lace lined the scooped neckline, which fell a respectable three inches below the hollow of her throat. A drawstring of pink satin ribbon cinched the high waist and the cuffs of the sleeves.
“And it’s a light shade of gray,” she argued. “Silver really.”
“It’s gray.”
