‘Yes,’ Drake replied, regretting what he was certain would soon be asked of him. ‘She did.’
‘I would be honored to have you join our family in attendance.’
That was exactly what he’d been dreading. He’d never been interested in the social activities that the London elite held insuch high esteem. ‘Tomorrow evening?’ he asked, searching for the excuse that for the life of him wasn’t forming in his mind.
‘Yes.’ Chesterfield leaned forward and braced his elbows on the desktop in front of him. ‘You were able to make my sister Meridith smile today, and I’d consider it a great favour if you could do that again tomorrow evening. She’s the baby of our family. We all adore her and worry that she’s become a bit of a recluse since arriving home from Bath. Seeing her enjoy the croquet game was delightful. I believe the two of you also have the zoo in common. That is the one place she enjoys visiting. She is in charge of the family donations to the Royal Zoological Society and is very serious about fulfilling her duties.’
Drake could believe she took her duties seriously. He was just as serious about not wanting to attend a ball, but his need for a partnership left him with no choice. ‘I would be honored to attend the ball with your family. Shall we meet there?’
‘No, let’s meet here, at eight tomorrow night? We can travel to the Montgomerys’ together.’
Drake felt as if he was falling in a hole, one that just kept getting deeper. Yet, he smiled as he stood. ‘Very well. I will see you tomorrow night, eight o’clock.’
Chapter Three
Once again, Meridith found herself dressed in a fashionable gown, chosen for her by one of her sisters. The dress was uncomfortable and hard to walk in, covered with lace and ruffles, with a long train that dragged behind her and was sure to be stepped on. Worst of all, the padded bustle hanging low over her backside would make sitting practically impossible.
Sea green in color, the tight-fitting bodice of the dress extended to her hips, where layers of white lace alternated with silk, each one decorated with wide bows and gathered in swooping folds down the back of the skirt. Another layer of lace was stitched to the short collar and fell around her shoulders, extending down to her elbows like a miniature cape, and matching lace made up the cuffs that fell from her wrists to cover the back of her hands. Roses made of pink silk were sewn amongst the skirt’s white-and-green layers. Looking in the mirror, all Meridith could think was that she looked like a walking rosebush.
If she’d seen the dress on others, she might have found the ability to admire the beauty of the silk or appreciate the handiwork that had gone into creating the design, but that was difficult while wearing it. She would never understand why women went to such lengths as impeding their movements just to be fashionable.
That was if being a rosebush was considered fashionable.
Wearing this, she was sure to stand out in the crowd, one more thing she hated.
She was able to find an ounce of solace in the fact that she needn’t deal with a matching hat that was sure to have slipped and slid about all evening. Instead, after painstakingly curling her long brown hair into fashionable locks, Clara had forced the curls to stay in place atop her head by pinning matching silk roses into her hair. Which, ultimately, added to the rosebush look.
Letting out yet another sigh of frustration, Meridith slid on the wrist-length white gloves and turned away from the mirror. The gown would soon be the least of her worries, for her family was sure to have arranged for her to meet yet another young man of outstanding reputation from a family of good breeding at the Montgomerys’ ball this evening. Meaning there was absolutely nothing for her to look forward to for the next several hours.
Life would be so different if her father hadn’t died, but he had, and she had to abide by her promise to him and obey her siblings. She would meet their prospective grooms, even if she was determined never to choose one.
On her way to her bedroom door, she picked up the matching silk hand fan and looped the tasseled string around her wrist. Heaven forbid that she should forget that. It would have meant a trek back up to her room to retrieve it.
Taking smaller steps than usual, due to the tightness of the skirt around her hips caused by the huge bustle, she made her way across the hall, then, with the help of the banister, carefully manoeuvred her way down the steps of the sweeping staircase that ended in the foyer of her brother’s home.
She couldn’t help but remember how she used to run down the same steps as a child, carefree and happy.
A wave of poignant emotion washed over. It wasn’t that she was unhappy, nor ungrateful that Peter and Alena allowed her to live with them. She loved them and knew that they loved her. She just felt out of place. And bored. It had been that way since she’d returned from Bath. She’d been ecstatic about being back home, until it had become blatantly clear that much had changed during her absence. Try as she might, she just hadn’t fit in. She didn’t have a spouse like everyone else, and she was too old to be considered one of the children. She’d gone to Chesterfield for several months, thinking that would help, but everything had changed there, too. She’d ambled about in the big country estate, alone, with nothing constructive to do, until she’d returned to London, where there was at least family. And the zoo. That provided something to fill her otherwise endless hours of tedium.
Her return from Chesterfield was when thefind-her-a-husbandmission had started. In the last few months, it had escalated. And now… All of her self-pitying thoughts came to a halt as she rounded the curve in the stairway and looked into the foyer. There, upon the white-and-black tiled floor, stood none other than Captain Drake Taylor.
Meridith’s grip on the banister tightened, and she did her best to continue downward without tripping. Now, besides the constriction of the dress, she had to contend with her heart pounding unusually fast. Drake had been on her mind for most of the day, but she’d never imagined seeing him again so soon.
His tailcoat was black, with grey piping on the lapels, hem, and collar. A piping of grey silk extended the length of his pants on the outer seam, and the vest covering his white shirt was grey, with black embroidery. His ascot was black, with stitched white embellishment.
All in all, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
‘Lady Meridith,’ he greeted her, moving to meet her at the bottom of the stairway.
‘Good evening, Captain Taylor,’ she said, surprised at how normal her own voice sounded.
He extended a hand in her direction. ‘I regret having missed you at the zoo this morning.’
Her feet glued themselves to the second to last step. ‘How do you know that I was at the zoo this morning?’
‘Mr Andrews informed me,’ he replied. ‘Unfortunately, you had departed an hour before I’d arrived.’
Heat rushed into Meridith’s face as she remembered how she had spent most of the morning at the zoo, questioning Mr Andrews about Drake and the animals he’d delivered over the years.
