Mr.Malcolm Brown was the man from her dream.
Well, she reasoned, he wasn’texactlythe man.Largely because the man in her dream had always been rather vague.But he did bear quite the resemblance to that figure who so haunted her.
Large.
Handsome.
And a bit rough around the edges.
Perhaps even a bit of a rogue.
Not the type of man one was likely to meet in society, now that she thought of it.
She had never imagined the man from her dreams as a brute.It wasn’t that.But he was a bit gruff.He would be unable to keep from showing her how much he wanted her.
He was always gentle with her, or he tried to be.But he could never conceal completely that bit of roughness inherent to him—and that she drew out in him when she let him—
Ohgod.
She was flushing anew, as the man from her dream and Mr.Malcolm Brown melded further in her mind.
She shook her head.No, the man from her dreams wasnotlike Mr.Malcolm Brown.Because Mr.Malcolm Brown didn’t want her at all.He had made that much clear.
Still, the realization of the similarity disturbed her.Now, when she tried to imagine the man from her dream, all she could see was Mr.Brown.To the point that she had become increasingly uncertain whether the man from her dreamlookedlike Mr.Brown or if she had merely just convinced herself that he did.
“Well, I am sorry you have to bear him,” Tilly said, breaking into these indecent thoughts.“I suspect you may be paired tomorrow night at dinner as well.”
“It’s no matter,” she said with a sigh.“He doesn’t offend me.He is perfectly adequate, if not equal to our usual London gentlemen.”
She said the lie as lightly as she could.Mr.Brownhadoffended her.And he had been a good deal better, before he had done so, than the gentlemen she usually met in London.
“Ah, the gentlemen are coming in.There’s George,” Tilly said, grasping her hand.
She knew why her sister was excited.This moment was truly the first of the day when she could speak to her suitor.Every other moment of the party thus far had been choreographed by custom.Now, and only now, could George declare his preference for one of the visiting girls.
George stopped to speak to Miss Wallington, and she felt her sister grow tense beside her.Scarlett did as well.She couldn’t bear to see her sister humiliated—or worse, have to actively compete for the man she had traveled all this way to secure.
But both sisters were able to exhale shortly.George gave a bow of adieu to Miss Wallington and came over to their sofa.
“Miss Perkins,” he said to Scarlett, bowing, and then turning to her sister, “Miss Tilly.May I sit with you?”
“Of course,” Tilly said, beaming.
After that, Mr.George Salisbury seated himself by no other lady for the duration of the evening.And Scarlett’s work turned to that of chaperone.
Slowly, as the minutes wore on, the guests began to filter out of the drawing room and to bed.Not wanting to crowd her sister and her lover, Scarlett moved over to speak to Vera and Mrs.Salisbury.
Scarlett had not had many opportunities to converse with Mrs.Salisbury in society, but she warmed to their hostess upon further acquaintance.She made sure to help her stepmother in thanking her for her hospitality, and Mrs.Salisbury accepted the thanks with such humility that Scarlett had to admit she would have never known her daughter was a marchioness.
And the older woman also said something curious.
“Thank you, Miss Perkins,” she said.“For keeping our Malcolm company this evening.He is unused to society, but I saw how you set him at ease.”
Startled by the baldness of this pronouncement, Scarlett could only accept the thanks and say, with some confusion, that she was very glad to have had the chance to meet Mr.Brown.This characterization was much more of a piece with the shy, ill-at-ease man she had thought him for most of dinner—but there was no mistaking, either, the tenor of his insult.In short, she did not know what to think and could only conclude that Mrs.Salisbury was mistaken about the character of her quasi-stepchild.
Eventually, most of the guests had exited the drawing room.Tired after their travels, many wanted to rest.
Scarlett herself was growing drowsy.But she knew her role.She had long ago bid Vera goodnight.
