A Spinster No More by Rose Pearson
Prologue
July 1819, London
It was a perfectly lovely wedding.The bride looked radiant. The groom had a smug and contented smile. But Everton Cormick was struggling to find pleasure in it. He forced himself to smile, and he dutifully danced with everyone he should. The food was excellent, which was at least something to be glad of. He congratulated the happy couple with as much enthusiasm as he could, but his heart was elsewhere.
“You are thinking of her, aren’t you?” Lady Gertrude St. John said as she sidled up next to him and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. The younger sister of one of his oldest friends, Lady Gertrude was an unusual girl. Still young, barely sixteen, but very astute, she saw things many did not. There was not much anyone could hide from her.
“It is hard not to,” Everton said. “We would have been wed for three years now, had she lived.”
“Do you miss her so very much?”
“Every day,” Everton admitted as the Master of Ceremonies called the next dance. “But now is not the time to be dwelling upon my dear Katherine.” He stood up straight and smoothed down his jacket. “I believe we are to dance the quadrille.”
He offered Lady Gertrude his arm and she took it with a smile. It was hard to believe that this poised young woman had just survived her first Season. Beautiful, accomplished and the talk of the Ton, Lady Gertrude had been the belle of the Season – but to him, she would always be his dear friend, Claveston St. John, Earl of Wycliffe’s little sister. She was far too observant for her own good though and seemed to have grown up almost overnight. They stepped out onto the dancefloor and took their places.
Lady Gertrude grinned at her older brother as he and his new bride, Lady Sophie took their places beside them. “Wycliffe, you look positively like the cat that got the cream,” Everton said to his friend, then bowed to Lady Sophie. “You look lovely, Lady Wycliffe. I only hope you will not come to regret your choice.”
“You must call me Sophie,” she urged, her delightful, but subtle, French accent as warm and inviting as always. “Are we not friends?”
“I believe we are,” Everton agreed, “and I shall be delighted to do so.”
The music started and the couples on the floor began to dance the steps, moving around the floor. “I thought, for a moment, that dear Sophie had caught your heart, Everton,” Lady Gertrude said with a soft smile as she watched her brother and his new wife over Everton’s shoulder. “I think Claveston did, too.”
“She is very lovely,” Everton admitted. “But…”
“You still don’t see anyone that way?” Lady Gertrude said gently.
“No, and I doubt if I ever will.”
“That is sad, and I doubt what Lady Katherine would have wanted for you. She always seemed to be so full of life and living - but I did not know her all that well.”
They finished their dance. Everton bowed politely as Lady Gertrude dipped him a curtsey. “Do you have any dances free?” she asked him as he escorted her from the dance floor.
“I think so,” he said. “Well, I have one. The waltz.”
“Oh, I am so glad,” she said as she led him towards a very pretty looking young lady with dark ringlets, ruddy cheeks and bright blue eyes who had been standing in the corner of the ballroom, looking nervous, throughout the entire evening. Lady Gertrude beamed at her. “This is Miss Anne Knorr,” she said nodding towards the petite young lady. “I’m not sure if you were introduced at Lord William and Lady Mary’s nuptials, but Miss Knorr was Mary’s companion, before they were married.”
“Delighted to make your acquaintance, Miss Knorr,” Everton said as he gave her a deep bow. “Everton Cormick, at your service.” She flushed prettily, her rosy cheeks glowing an ever-brighter shade of red. She dipped her head as she curtseyed, keeping her eyes down as if to hide it, which Everton found rather sweet.
“Honored,” Miss Knorr whispered.
“Should you like to dance?” he asked her as the Master of Ceremonies called everyone to the floor for the waltz. She glanced nervously at Lady Gertrude before nodding. He offered her his hand. She placed hers over his and he led her onto the floor.
The waltz was an intimate dance. It had been decried by many as lascivious and licentious but had grown popular despite its reputation – or perhaps, because of it. Everton placed his hand in the center of Miss Knorr’s back and smiled as she rested her hand upon his shoulder. The music started and he stepped forwards. She followed his lead perfectly, her steps light and graceful. But neither of them said a word as they whirled around the floor, just one couple among many.
He escorted her back to Lady Gertrude’s side once the dance was done and took his leave of the pair. There was a game of cards underway in the library, and Everton was tired of dancing. He took a seat at the card table and was dealt into the next hand. The stakes weren’t high, it was a wedding after all, but enough to make the game interesting. Everton stayed in the game until the end of the evening, sometimes winning a hand, sometimes losing – but he never let himself get in too deep that he couldn’t pay his debts on the night.
His old friend Captain James Watts sat across the table from him, Lord William Pierce, Earl of Cott to his right. It was good to be with them, and the conversation flowed as freely as it ever did. From time to time, they looked up and into the ballroom, where the fourth member of their quartet was forced to dance throughout the night with his bride, his sister and other members of his family, and grinned as Wycliffe mugged behind his unwanted partner’s backs and gave him teasing looks as he lost himself in his wife’s embrace.
“Who’d’ve thought it,” James said shaking his head as they watched the happy couple. “Claveston St. John, the biggest cad amongst us all, settled and devoted.” James had a large scar over his face from his time in the army. For a time, it had seen him shun all society – including that of his now wife, William’s sister, Charlotte. Thankfully for them both, it seemed that she had convinced him that those who truly cared would always see him for the man he was. It was good to have him there.
“I know we all thought it impossible,” William added. “But to tell you the truth, I always expected Cormick here to be wed before all of us, he was ever the most loyal of us and the most romantic. And here we are, all of us settled as he continues to remain free.”
Everton had to disguise a grimace, as he heard the words. He knew William meant well, that he was only teasing. But it hurt that his friend could have forgotten Katherine so easily – and how much her death from influenza, just three weeks before their planned wedding three years ago, had broken Everton into pieces. But as he looked at William’s face, he could see that he regretted his words as soon as he’d uttered them. “I’m sorry, old friend, he said softly. “I spoke out of turn.”
“No, you did not,” Everton assured him. “You meant nothing by it. It is true enough, that had things gone the way I had planned them, I would have been wed long before all of you – though it turned out that all of you were hot upon my heels. It has been quite the few years for us all.”
They all nodded their agreement at that. “So, who is prepared to make a little wager on how long it will be before there is an heir to the St. John name?” Everton said doing all he could to change the subject and move it away from himself and the loss of the woman he continued to mourn.
“I doubt it will be long,” William said, warming to the wager. “I’ll guess within a year, and stake fifty pounds.”
“I’d give them no more than 10 months,” James said. “I know Sophie well. She and Charlotte are as close as sisters. I know how much she longs for a child.”
“Which gives me little to work with, my friends,” Everton joked. “But I shall say within eighteen months. We shall all have to watch to see which of us is right.” The three men shook upon their wager and returned to their card game. They had been friends since school, and he could not imagine better men to have by his side. Even Wycliffe, though he had seemed to blow easily in the wind until he met his bride, would have done all in his power to support any one of them. It was a pleasure to be able to share their happiness with them, though he also couldn’t help feeling a little envious of them.
* * *
“When do you leave us?”Lady Gertrude St. John asked as they sipped at their cups of fruit punch.
“Tomorrow,” Anne replied, dabbing at her lips as she set down her now empty cup.
Lady Gertrude tucked an arm through Anne’s. “I cannot tell you how jealous I am of Caroline Spencer, that you are to be her companion. If I had known that I would be looking for a new one myself at the end of this Season, I should have tried to snaffle you up.”
Anne smiled. “I did not know until very recently of Lady Jacinda Ardern’s engagement; she kept it quiet from everyone, even me. I did not know that I would be moving on again myself until just a few days ago. It was Lady Jacinda that found me the position with Miss Spencer who is the daughter of one of her Mama’s dearest friends. I shall go to the family seat in Northumberland and spend the coming months there with her, preparing her for her first Season.”
“And here I am, companionless,” Lady Gertrude said dramatically. “Can you not change your mind? Oh, do say you will, and will come back to Compton with me? Northumberland is so terribly far away, and I shall be so terribly lonely with Claveston and Sophie away in France for their wedding tour.”
Anne laughed. She knew that Lady Gertrude was just being kind. The two of them had little in common, but she feared she had even less in common with Miss Caroline Spencer, who was as outgoing and vivacious as Anne was quiet and reserved. A position in the St. John household would possibly have suited her better, but she was not in a position to be choosy. She did not doubt that the Duke and Duchess of Compton would be looking for a companion for Lady Gertrude of the highest caliber and breeding. Anne Knorr, though her father was a minor baronet, could not claim such attributes.
She was saved from answering though, by the arrival of a young captain, who clicked his heels and bowed sharply, offering Lady Gertrude his hand, and escorting her to the dancefloor. Anne smiled then ducked out of the ballroom. She snuck outside onto the terrace for some peace and quiet. To think that she had begged her father to let her leave Tulilly, so she might experience some excitement. She had barely been gone a few years and was already sick of London and the social whirl that being in Society entailed.
She wished that the Lady Mary had been able to attend this evening. Being her companion had been easy. Lady Mary was as quiet and bookish as Anne herself was, though she was more than capable of acting well in Society. But Lady Mary was heavy with child and had remained in the countryside, in her beloved Alnerton, for the sake of her and her unborn baby’s health. Yet Anne was flattered to have been invited to Lady Sophie and Lord Wycliffe’s nuptials. It was an invitation she had not expected, though she had come to know Lady Sophie well during her time in Alnerton with Lady Mary.
Footsteps behind her made Anne turn abruptly. The gentleman who had been kind enough to ask her to dance stood by the French doors, looking a little sheepish. “I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly. “I should go back inside. I didn’t know anyone was out here.”
“You needn’t,” Anne said. “I just wished for a little air.”
“Me, too,” Mr. Cormick said with a wry smile. “I’m not always too keen on merriment at weddings.”
“You don’t believe in marriage? In love?” His comment surprised Anne. He had seemed to be very much involved in the events of the day, and always had a beaming smile for everyone. She’d watched him dance with many of the young woman present, making each and every one of them feel special. She had seen it in the way their eyes lit up when they were around him.
“Oh, I believe in them alright,” he said. “Just for everyone else.”
“Not for yourself?”
“No,” he said, narrowing his eyes a little and taking a step closer. “It’s Miss Knorr, is it not?” Anne nodded. “We danced a waltz earlier, I believe.”
“Yes, Mr. Cormick, we did,” she said. It had been one of the highlights of her evening. So few people ever noticed her – which made her an excellent companion, but was a little hard on her. It often made her feel invisible, unwanted – and unloved.
“You are a very fine dancer,” he told her solemnly. “Quite the best I have had the pleasure of partnering in many years. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Anne said, flushing puce at his compliment. “I… I doubt I am any better than anyone else, but I practice hard.” She paused and looked around. There was nobody there to see them, but somehow being out here alone, in the dark, with a handsome man seemed to be very wrong indeed. Her position existed to ensure her charges never found themselves in such a predicament – one that could ruin a girl’s reputation in a heartbeat – and yet, here she was herself. “I should go back inside before I am missed,” she added awkwardly. “Thank you again, for the dance.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said, as he watched her dart towards the door. She tried to keep her distance from him, but he was right there, and as she went for the door, it meant she had to brush past him. She looked up at him, her eyes wide. He looked down at her and for a moment, their eyes held, as if they recognized something in one another. Anne felt as though she had gooseflesh all over her body, yet no bumps were raised upon her skin while every inch of her tingled. She wanted to pull away, knew she should pull away, yet she could not. His blue eyes were deep, like the ocean, and she felt as though she were lost in them.
But the moment passed as quickly as it had come. Mr. Cormick stepped out of her way. Anne shook her head almost imperceptibly and turned the door handle. She hurried inside and into the ballroom, where she could hide amongst the happy revelers, who never seemed to notice her much anyway. But that moment played on her mind, far too much in the weeks to come.
