Her voice was cool and subdued. “It’s not as if you haven’t made that mistake before.”
Like a venomous snake, tension curled around the table. Seger made a fist on his lap. “You are correct, Quintina, and there were disastrous consequences.”
His stepmother’s cheeks flushed with fury. “Seger, for eight years you have refused to take a respectable wife and produce an heir. Don’t you think you have punished this family enough for those consequences that no one could have predicted?”
Seger tossed his napkin onto his empty plate and stood. “I believe I am finished. If you will excuse me.” He bowed politely to Gillian, left the dining room, and went upstairs to reply to the Wentworths’ invitation. He would let the duchess know that he would be most pleased to accept.
Chapter6
Dear Adele,
That splendid gentleman I told you about? I hope to see him again tonight....
Clara
By nightfall, the anticipation ofbeing in the same room with the marquess had reached a fevered pitch. Would he even come? Clara wondered as she moved about the crowded drawing room. He had accepted Sophia’s invitation to the assembly, but it was getting late and he had not yet arrived. Perhaps he had reconsidered, changed his mind. It wasn’t every day, after all, that a man re-entered a society that had rejected and expelled him.
A gentleman stepped up to the door. The majordomo announced, “His Grace, the Duke of Guysborough.”
James and Sophia greeted him, then invited Clara to join them. The duke bowed elegantly. He was one of the peers under consideration as a potential husband, at least by Sophia and Mrs. Gunther, and this made Clara pay attention.
He was, she supposed, a handsome man. With dark hair and mustache, he possessed a certain impressive maturity. There was something about him, however, that made her feel ill at ease, as if she would always have to sit up straight while in his presence.
As soon as he moved on to mingle about the room, Clara glanced at Mrs. Gunther who was sitting forward in a chair, watching Clara’s every move. She sat back, however, after the duke turned away.
“It’s getting late,” Clara whispered to Sophia when there was a free moment. “Do you think he changed his mind?”
“I don’t know. I hope not.”
At that moment, an older woman approached the door with a younger lady at her side. The woman was of medium height and proud looking. The girl appeared shy and nervous.
The majordomo announced: “Lady Rawdon and Miss Gillian Flint.”
Clara’s stomach wentwhoosh.It was Seger’s stepmother.
Sophia greeted her warmly. “Lady Rawdon, welcome.”
“Your Grace. May I present my niece from Wales, Gillian Flint.” She gestured toward the girl behind her, who curtsied.
Sophia smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She turned toward Clara. “This is my sister, Clara Wilson.”
They exchanged light pleasantries, but when Lady Rawdon moved on, she scrutinized Clara’s extravagant gown from top to bottom and gave her a cool glare. The younger Miss Flint admired Clara’s jewels enviously then followed with her head down.
Pulse pounding, wondering if the marquess would arrive next, Clara watched the top of the stairs, but a group of ladies ascended. No wild-looking, wavy-haired gentlemen in sight.
Another half hour went by and the frequency of arrivals began to diminish. Clara’s feet were getting sore.He’s not coming,she thought.He changed his mind.
The disappointment was difficult to keep at bay, though she did her best not to show it. She glanced at Lady Rawdon across the room, speaking with a group of older women. At that moment, Sophia nudged her. Hard.
Knocked slightly off balance, Clara stepped to the side, then turned to the door just as the majordomo announced, “The Marquess of Rawdon.”
The world seemed to stop turning. All Clara heard was the noisy, thunderous rush of her blood in her ears.
He was here. At last.
Her gaze went first to his eyes, for she’d never seen them without the mask. They were deep green, large and expressive. She had known before that he was handsome, but this was mind-altering. He was everything she had imagined, and more, with the divine presence of a Greek god. Her body pulsed with sizzling, nervous excitement, and her stomach whirled with butterflies.
It wasn’t until a few seconds later, as the marquess was shaking James’s hand and saying something that made James laugh, that Clara noticed he had cut his hair. Though it was by no means short, it was not wild about his shoulders any longer.
