Earl Lessons by Valerie Bowman
Chapter Nineteen
The Milfords’ ballroom was blazing with the light of a thousand candles hanging in the chandeliers high above the dance floor when David stepped in with his sister on his arm. He and Marianne had come alone tonight in his grandfather’s—his—finest coach.
“You’re taller than me, David. Do you see Annabelle or Lady Angelina?” Marianne asked soon after they’d made their way toward the dance floor.
David had already been scouring the ballroom for any sign of Annabelle. He and Marianne had come alone tonight because Lady Angelina and Lady Courtney had decided that after the previous night’s incident in which David cut in on Annabelle’s dance with Lord Murdock, it would be less grist for the gossip mill if they didn’t arrive together again.
“I don’t see what it matters,” David had grumbled in the coach on the way to the party, as Marianne had been explaining it all to him. “You’re going to be Lady Angelina’s daughter-in-law soon and Lady Annabelle’s sister-in-law. That’s why we all came to the party together last night.”
“Yes,” Marianne had replied, “and that would have been a perfectly lovely explanation, if you hadn’t cut in on Annabelle’s dance last night.”
“I thought it was all the rage,” David pointed out.
“So did I,” Marianne replied with a sigh, “but when Lady Angelina paid me a call this morning, she explained that it still might be cause for gossip. You must remember they do things quite differently here than we’re used to.”
“I remember,” David groaned. “Wait. Lady Angelina paid you a call? This morning?”
“Yes, why?”
“No reason other than she was supposed to be at my dinner table lesson this morning.” He shook his head, dismissing the thought. David plucked two flutes of champagne from the serving tray of a passing footman while continuing to search the crowd for Annabelle and her mother.
“I don’t see them,” Marianne said after a few more moments of searching herself. “But I do see Lady Elspeth. She’s coming this way.” Marianne gave David a conspiratorial grin from behind her flute.
David barely had a chance to turn to look before Lady Elspeth and her mother were upon them. “There you are, Lord Elmwood,” Lord Elspeth said. “Good to see you again this evening.”
“The pleasure is mine,” David replied, bowing. He couldn’t help but wonder if Annabelle would be proud of him for remembering to bow. In Brighton men nodded to ladies and treated them cordially, of course, but bowing and curtsying was a more formal London requirement.
There were several moments of excruciating small talk while Marianne asked after both Lady Elspeth and her mother’s health, their enjoyment of the ball so far, and some mention of the weather before Marianne not-so-subtly elbowed David in the ribs, a clear indicator that he was expected to join the conversation.
“Yes, my lady. I, too, find it unseasonably warm today,” he managed, as he continued to search the crowd for any sign of Annabelle. Perhaps she’d decided not to come after all. Perhaps she’d taken ill. Why was he so worried about her whereabouts? He could act perfectly gentlemanlike without her. He’d done it before, and he would do it again. Besides, Marianne was here to keep him in line if his behavior strayed at all.
“Who are you searching for, Lord Elmwood?” came Lady Elspeth’s whisper.
He glanced down to see the young woman looking up at him with adoring hazel eyes. Damn. He’d been rude to not give her his full attention. Poorly done of him. “Oh, er, no one. No one in particular.” He ensured that his gaze remained fixed on Lady Elspeth while he spoke. Marianne and Elspeth’s mother were engaged in their own conversation beside them.
A sly smile tugged at Lady Elspeth’s lips. “You’re looking for Lady Annabelle, aren’t you?”
David nearly spit his champagne. “What? No. Why would you ask that?” He smoothed his hand down his shirtfront, somewhat rattled by the accusation.
Lady Elspeth rocked slowly back and forth upon her heels. She shrugged and brought her own champagne glass to her lips. “Rumor has it that you’re smitten with Lady Annabelle.”
He arched a brow. “Rumor, is it?” he asked, doing his best to sound nonchalant. “From what I understand, ‘rumor’ is filled with inaccuracies.”
Lady Elspeth continued to meet his stare in a most disarming manner. “Perhaps,” she allowed. “But at times rumors prove to be true.”
“Lady Annabelle is soon to be my sister’s new sister-in-law,” David added as if that connection explained everything. “She and her mother have graciously offered to help my sister and I navigate Society.”
“So you aren’t smitten with her?” Lady Elspeth ventured.
David swallowed more champagne. This time it was nearly a gulp. “Not in the least.” There. That had sounded convincing. Hadn’t it? Too bad it was a damn lie.
Another sly smile spread slowly across Lady Elspeth’s face. “I’m ever so pleased to hear that, my lord.”
He gave her an encouraging smile. That settled it. Perhaps Lady Elspeth would tell the others and the gossip about him being smitten with Annabelle would go away. He really should spend more time with pretty Lady Elspeth. The young woman seemed interested, unlike a certain dyed-in-the-wool spinster.
“But if you were looking for Lady Annabelle,” Elspeth added, nodding toward the dance floor, “she’s just over there dancing with Lord Murdock.”