The Last Eligible Bachelor - Ashtyn Newbold Page 0,9
with my hair slipping from Jessie’s coiffure and smelling like the inside of a stuffy carriage. “I feel rested enough, thank you. I should be glad to meet the guests.” For the sake of my health, I could not allow my stomach to twist and my heart to pound for much longer.
Mrs. Ollerton gave me a knowing smile. “You have every reason to be eager, my dear.” She still wore her wistful expression as she led me toward the drawing room door. “Mr. Hill is a most handsome and amiable gentleman.”
“So I have heard,” I muttered to myself.
“Speak up, Miss Sedgwick. Men cannot abide mumbling. You must do all you can to make a favorable impression on him.” She turned to face me, her thin brows arching, as if to convey the seriousness of this situation. Little did she know that I had every wish to not make a favorable impression. I was to be invisible. Silent. Unnoticed.
“I will try.” I gave a weak smile, one that Mrs. Ollerton studied for a long moment before giving a huffed breath and turning toward the footman. She nodded, and he opened the door, revealing the quaint and heavily decorated drawing room. From the doorway, the entire room was visible. The floral wall papers, multiple vases and flowers, a large pianoforte, the small brown dog beneath it, and the five people who sat on an assortment of red sofas and gilded chairs surrounding the empty tea table.
Two young ladies flanked both sides of a gentleman, who could only have been the infamous Mr. Hill.
He was much younger than I had expected. Considering the desperation he seemed to have to be married off by Mrs. Ollerton, I had expected a man with at least a bit of grey in his hair, or perhaps a slight hunch to his shoulders. Instead, the man sitting at the center of the room couldn’t have even yet been thirty. Between his broad, squared shoulders and firm jaw, he immediately struck me as handsome. He glanced up at my entrance, and even from across the room I could see that his eyes were blue. Sharp, inquisitive, and framed with dark brows and lashes. His golden hair was combed neatly, contrary to most styles I had seen among fashionable men in London. It gave him a striking appearance, one that breathed with all the confidence and assurance that I lacked.
My feet stopped, and I was suddenly tempted to hide behind Mrs. Ollerton.
Her full skirts would hide me quite nicely if I crouched.
The ladies in the room seemed every bit as entranced with Mr. Hill as I was. I shook myself, feeling a slight flush on my cheeks for staring at him for so long. His gaze only lingered on me for a brief moment before flitting back to the young lady beside him, with whom I seemed to have interrupted a conversation. He finished with a few short words, unintelligible from where I stood, before rising. He walked closer, and thankfully, Mrs. Ollerton spoke.
“Mr. Hill, may I present my final guest, Miss Sophia Sedgwick.”
He offered a bow, and I curtsied, wobbling a bit with the motion. It was somewhat of a relief that Mr. Hill seemed so refined and handsome. Sophia was right. It was highly unlikely for any man to take notice of me, and certainly not a man the likes of Mr. Hill.
I met his gaze. The color of his eyes was even more piercing from a closer proximity, a deep blue streaked with multiple tones of grey, like the blurred connection between the sky and an unsettled sea.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sedgwick.” Mr. Hill’s voice wrapped around me like a melody, giving a weightlessness to my feet that was both unfamiliar and terrifying. Even though he had only spoken a few words, the other four ladies watched from behind his tall frame, looking me over with hints of warning in their gazes. All four ladies had very different appearances: two blonde, one brunette, and one auburn haired. But I had already found one commonality among them. They all watched me in the same competitive manner, as if to say, Mr. Hill is mine.
I swallowed, turning my attention back to his much-too-handsome face. How easy would it be to blend into the background among such eager participants, and how entertaining would it be to watch them fight over him? A slight smile pulled on the edge of my mouth, and my nerves almost entirely