as well, and Jonas was clearly heading towards them deliberately, but his gaze seemed to be more on Ambrose than on Georgiana.
“Ambrose! There is someone I want to introduce you to,” Jonas said as he neared them.
Ambrose hesitated as he glanced at her. “And who is this important person?” he asked, clearly not wanting to leave her side.
“He is a prominent London horse breeder. I know you have that mare you are wanting to breed, have you not? Well, he is just the man to go to for a good sire for the foal.”
“Perhaps we could—”
But Georgiana cut him off, “Oh, go on, Ambrose. I will just sit here for a while and watch the next dance. If I do decide to get up, I will come and find you.”
“Yes, do come with me to meet him,” Jonas encouraged. “In fact, if you are worried about leaving Georgiana alone, I believe I know where Adelaide is. We can ask her to come and keep Georgiana company.”
Ambrose clearly still did not like the idea, but he finally relented. “You will come and find me if you need me?” he asked anxiously.
“Yes, of course. Now, go,” she told him.
Even then, he glanced back at her repeatedly as he walked away. She found his protectiveness endearing. He knew the evening was not going to be easy for her, and was doing everything in his power to protect her…
While she knew there was a risk Walter might approach her in Ambrose’s absence, she was not afraid of it. In fact, she rather wished he would find her, so the matter could be done with.
Ambrose would not be pleased to learn she planned to forgive Walter, but he would make the best of it. She wondered why she had gotten the impression Ambrose was strongly against her talking to Walter at all. There were moments when she felt there was more to his behavior than simply looking out for her.
Chapter 20
Walter had not particularly wanted to come to Lady Jane’s debut at Dalwater Manor, but he hadn’t complained. Even when his mother found herself unable to attend because her head had started to ache earlier in the day, he did not even try to get out of it.
He could tell she was mildly impressed at him for not showing any signs of wanting to stay home when he had last checked on her before leaving. He hoped she would be able to rest and would feel better the following day.
Now he was at the ball, he was almost glad he had come. He had forgotten Georgiana was related to Lady Jane and, therefore, was bound to be in attendance.
He was determined to try once again to apologize to her; he simply had to find the right opportunity to do so. With that in mind, he watched her, hoping Rowley would leave her side at some point during the evening.
True, he could technically still apologize to her with Rowley present, but he got the strong impression it would be doubly difficult if that were the case…
Fortunately, Miss Rutherford and her family were not in attendance that evening, so he did not have to spend any time trying to entertain the young lady or be questioned by her as to why his gaze drifted to Miss Montgomery so frequently.
He thought for a moment, Georgiana was about to come to him. It was while she had been dancing with Ambrose that her eyes met his own, as he stood by the punch bowl. It reminded him of the time when he had first met her; the way their eyes had locked…
Finally, he saw his chance. She was sitting alone on the other side of the room, with Rowley nowhere in sight. Moving quickly in her direction, he lost sight of her for a moment, but soon spied her again.
His heart was thudding in his chest, with what he was certain was nervousness, as he drew near. Somewhat regrettably, her aunt had now joined her, but he was not about to stop now.
As he finally reached her, the orchestra struck up the chords of the next dance, which proved to be a waltz. Her conversation with her aunt ceased the moment she noticed him. His heart thumped louder in his chest when she didn’t immediately turn away, and he noticed her glare was not so cutting as it had been outside the theater a few nights ago.
He could not have said what possessed him to do it, but he