Harred took his place at the back of the line and slowly made his way inside. The entry hall exuded grandeur, with its opulent dark blue-papered walls and rich wood paneling. An intricately painted mural adorned the ceiling, and the polished marble floors added to the overall sense of magnificence of this townhouse.
It wasn’t long before he arrived at the parlor and he saw chairs set up in front of the pianoforte. His eyes roamed the room but he saw no sign of Octavia. Drats. He had arrived too early. He could have spent more time at home, reviewing the accounts, instead of standing around in a crowded hall, waiting for her to arrive.
The room suddenly went quiet. Too quiet. He turned to see what had caused everyone to stop speaking and he saw William and Ruth walking further into the parlor.
To Ruth’s credit, she held her head high and kept her face expressionless. She may have looked the part of a lady with her elegant blue gown and diamond-encrusted headpiece positioned in her stylish coiffure, but she had to know that it would take much more than her marrying William for her to ever be accepted into theton’s good graces. And it didn’t help that William’s reputation was one of ill-repute.
William, on the other hand, didn’t appear to be bothered at all by theton’s reaction to them. He led Ruth over to a table and retrieved a flute of champagne for himself. He didn’t even bother to offer one to his wife.
“What a gentleman,” Harred muttered under his breath.
Several of the women had retrieved their fans and begunspeaking in hushed tones to their companions, all the while continuing to openly fix their gazes on William and his wife.
Harred didn’t feel bad for William, but his heart lurched for Ruth. She didn’t deserve such a poor reception. But what could he do? It wasn’t as if he could demand thetonaccept Ruth. Members of high Society looked down on people that were different than them, and Ruth was a daughter of a merchant. A rich merchant, but a merchant, nonetheless.
As he debated about what he should do, Octavia stepped into the parlor on her brother’s arm. She was dressed in an alluring jonquil gown that hugged her figure perfectly and her hair was piled high atop her head. She looked radiant, but he had expected nothing different from her. But her beauty was not just skin deep; it penetrated deep into her soul.
Octavia’s astute eyes scanned the room until they stopped on Ruth. She said something to her brother before they walked straight over to Ruth, causing a stir amongst the other guests. It was evident that they thought the daughter of a marquess shouldn’t speak to someone so beneath her.
He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he watched as Octavia spoke to Ruth as if they were well acquainted. And Ruth seemed to visibly relax as she spoke to Octavia. A smile even graced her lips a time or two.
Harred heard a few disapproving huffs from the people in the parlor but eventually they went about their own business.
Octavia dropped into a curtsy before she walked away. Ruth then turned towards William, but he appeared disinterested in whatever it was she had said to him.
With a shake of his head, Harred disapproved of his brother’s behavior towards Ruth. His poor wife was trying, and he wasn’t doing anything to help her. If anything, his aloofness to his new bride was causing more of a scandal.
But, once again, his brother only seemed to care about himself.
Regardless, he was not here to watch over his brother andRuth, but he came to spend time with Octavia. He watched as Fredrick led his sister to the back of the parlor and they came to a stop next to a pillar.
It only took Harred a moment before he found himself walking towards Octavia. Frankly, he cared little about this soiree. He had used it as an excuse to be able to spend more time with Octavia.
As he approached her, he looked for any sign that she was pleased to see him, but she gave nothing away. Which was odd. She usually was very expressive with her emotions.
He stopped a short distance away and bowed. “Lady Octavia,” he greeted.
Octavia dropped into a curtsy. “My lord,” she greeted.
Harred wished that they could forego the formalities but he couldn’t risk being too familiar with Octavia. Thetonwould start speculating what that meant and he didn’t want to open her up to any gossip.
After he acknowledged Fredrick, Harred turned his attention back to Octavia. “Thank you for what you did for Ruth.”
Her face softened. “I felt bad for Lady William and I knew I needed to do something for her. Besides, she seems sweet.”
“Quite frankly, I don’t know her well enough to make a determination but I can contest that she doesn’t deserve theton’s ill-treatment of her.”
“No, she does not,” Octavia readily agreed.
Fredrick spoke up. “I never thought I would see the day that your brother got married.”
“I’m afraid he did it for all the wrong reasons,” Harred shared. “William just wanted to be rich and not have to work for it.”
With a shake of his head, Fredrick remarked, “That is awful. When will your brother understand that nothing is worth having in this life if you don’t have to work hard for it?”
“I’m afraid he missed that lesson when he regularly skipped his classes at university,” Harred joked.
“What a shame,” Octavia said. “I wish I had the opportunity to go to university. That is something that I would have never taken for granted.”
