Abandoned to the Prodigal - Mary Lancaster Page 0,60
her.
“Actually, now I think about it,” Juliet murmured as he sat beside her at the massive table, “it makes perfect sense. As Lord Myerly’s heir, you are an important man and quite worthy to take the earl’s daughter into dinner. And yet, you will not be insulted or alarmed by being obliged to talk to me.”
“What rot,” Dan countered. “You are obviously here to tell me which cutlery to use.”
The meal was long and magnificent, and Juliet was glad to see her sister smiling and contented. Ferdy was making up shamefully to the squire’s daughter. Jeremy, seated with her cousin Anne, cast Juliet occasional glances, perhaps because she was laughing too much for someone not engaged. She also caught several curious and shyly admiring glances cast by young women—married and otherwise—at Dan.
But it was Barden’s observation that made her flesh crawl. So much so, that Dan drew her attention away by asking, “Are you sure you don’t want me to take him outside and punch him?”
“Not yet,” Juliet said hastily. She glanced at him. “Besides, I’ve never thought of you as violent.”
“I’m a peaceable man for the most part,” Dan agreed. “But I’m happy to make an exception for the oily, the weasely, and anyone else who upsets you.”
“Oily George,” she remembered, almost with fondness. “That seems so long ago, and it is only about ten days!”
He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then politely turned to speak to the blushing girl on his other side.
A little later, he turned back to Juliet, asking, “So what happens after this?”
“You will not be encouraged to linger over your wine, for Mama has hired a fiddler, and there is to be dancing.”
“Will you dance with me?”
For some reason, the casual question made her blush. “Of course.”
*
The partition between the small and large drawing rooms had been folded back and both cleared of excess furniture. The result was a miniature ballroom with seating for chaperones and others not dancing. The room connected to the large drawing room had been set up for card players. Candles blazed in the chandeliers and in several wall sconces.
The overall effect was a fine balance of splendor and coziness, although it was all on a rather larger scale than Kitty had wanted.
“What utterly charming rooms,” Mrs. Cornwell remarked, sitting unexpectedly beside Juliet. “And what a delightful way to mark your sister’s engagement.”
“You’re very kind, ma’am. I believe Kitty is enjoying it.”
Kitty was the center of a group of young ladies, including several old friends they had both known all their lives. Normally, Juliet would have been part of the same group. Now she felt awkward and unwanted, as well as bound by her parents’ strictures that she stay in the background.
“Ah, here are the gentlemen,” Mrs. Cornwell observed. “You must be looking forward to dancing.”
“I love to dance,” Juliet admitted, looking toward the door. She couldn’t see Dan at first and then was glad to glimpse him laughing with Ferdy and Lawrence King, before they all sauntered off in different directions.
“Lady Juliet,” Colin Cornwell said in front of her, and she looked up to see him bowing. “Mama.”
“Mr. Cornwell,” Juliet replied, smiling. “I hope your evening is agreeable so far?”
“Most agreeable. Charming company, an excellent dinner, and dancing to follow—what man could ask for more?”
The inviting scrape of a fiddle struck up from the corner of the room, and Colin bowed again. “Perhaps, Lady Juliet, you would honor me with the first dance?”
Surprised, for Colin struck her as something of a high stickler and he must have known about the scandal breaking over her head, Juliet said, “Thank you, of course I would.”
The country dance was just what she needed to lose the tensions of the evening. Colin smiled and chatted, as did everyone in the set, and when it was finished, she was quite happy to take his arm and go in search of refreshment, which the footmen were offering.
“I should escort you to Lady Cosland,” he observed as they sipped champagne.
“Oh, the party is too small and informal to worry about such niceties,” she replied. “In this setting, everyone is a chaperone.”
Rather to her surprise, they were joined by two neighbors’ sons, old friends who seemed delighted to see her. She wondered cynically if they would be so happy to escort her to their sisters. However, this situation was even less their fault, so she merely asked after their families and their latest news, while Colin tried to look interested but didn’t, oddly enough, excuse himself.