Patience deferred as Faith helped herself to a lemon biscuit. Their gazes followed Hope when she came back into the salon, the scent of roses wafting in with her.
“I am glad I did not walk here today,” she said with a grin. “There is no way I could carry all those roses home with me.”
“I wonder if I’ll ever receive roses from Chamberlain,” Lucy said as she helped herself to a biscuit and allowed Adeline to refill her teacup.
Her gaze darting to the door, Adeline discovered her mother was no longer hovering beyond it. “You might mention Waverley’s betrothal gift when next you see him,” she suggested. “He might not know you like roses.”
“I would prefer tulips this time of the year,” Lucy said as her eyes rounded. “I shall have to remind him of the fact at thesoiréethis evening.”
The conversation turned to the other eligible bachelors who attended the ball, with each woman sharing her opinions and observations. They giggled and sighed, like schoolgirls in love, all while Ertugrul sat and sipped tea. All at once, Lucy seemed to remember he was still there.
“Oh, we’re probably boring you with all this chit-chat,” she claimed on a giggle.
“Not at all,” he replied. “This has been a most educational day,” he added. “Might I ask, though, what is Chiswick?”
The girls all exchanged quick glances before they tittered. “It’s a town southwest of here,” Patience explained. “Where the hothouse nurseries grow all the flowers for the florist shops here in London.”
“Ah,” Ertugrul replied, a second before the clock chimed.
“We must depart to dress for this evening,” Faith said as she stood. “It wouldn’t be good for Patience and me to be late seeing as how our Uncle Benjamin is married to Lord Torrington’s sister,” she added, referring to Angelica Grandby Fulton and the hostess for that evening’ssoiree.
“They’ll be prompt if only because they live next door to Worthington House,” Patience reminded her. “We’re off.”
The rest of the young women reluctantly rose to leave, promising to meet again at the Ariley ball.
Left alone in the salon, Ertugrul helped himself to the last biscuit as he pondered the upcoming entertainments and all the relations he had learned about during the ball and that afternoon’s tea.
Other lists might be growing shorter, but he had only one name on his.
