Murder on Charles Street - Leighann Dobbs Page 0,37
and coriander as she peered at the offerings on the tray. In keeping to the theme of this evening, Lord Penhurst’s cook had created a series of Egyptian-inspired dishes with what looked to be ground beef, lentils, and pastry. Although the foods were foreign to her palate, Katherine helped herself to one. It couldn’t be worse than the foods Harriet cooked.
In fact, it was delicious. Her eyes fluttered shut as she chewed. The moment she swallowed the mouthful, she chased the footman to the next knot of people and helped herself to another pastry. Then another, and another.
Where is Lady Dalhousie? If Katherine hadn’t had time to spare while she waited for dark to fall—and with it, the opportunity to enter Dr. Gammon’s house—she would have been irritated.
She examined a broken shard of painted pottery as she nibbled on another pastry. It was sweet rather than savory, filled with dates, honey, and almonds. How much blunt would it take to bribe Lord Penhurst’s cook away from him? Katherine suspected she would be worth the expense.
“If you don’t chew, I suspect you’ll choke.”
When Katherine glanced up into Miss Ball’s laughing gaze, she smiled sheepishly. She swallowed and fished out a handkerchief to dab at her mouth before addressing the young woman properly. “I find that if I keep my mouth full, no one will ask me my opinion of the items Lord Penhurst has on display.”
Miss Ball giggled, delicately opening a fan to cover the lower half of her face. “I hear there’s to be a dinner, too.”
Thank heavens! Katherine could use a hearty meal. “Where is your aunt?”
Miss Ball lowered her fan long enough to scour the gathering. “She must still be speaking with the host. She spent ages choosing just the right dress for this evening.”
Katherine smiled, but said nothing more. Lady Dalhousie was the type to want all attention on her—which had likely been why she’d arrived late. “Let’s speak of you. I need to learn more about you to properly match you to a gentleman.”
Learning more about Miss Ball felt like trying to unravel a knotted string. She spoke very little of herself, detailing the songs she had learned for the piano and other instruments in great length, but leaving her taste in her future husband’s disposition to the imagination. As Katherine battled the urge to stopper her ears, lest she hear more about sonatas and preludes, Lady Dalhousie approached on Lord Penhurst’s arm.
A footman knocked briskly at the door. “Dinner is served.”
Lord Penhurst removed himself from Lady Dalhousie’s grasp. “Excuse me, my lady.” He extended his hand to Katherine instead. “Lady Katherine, I believe I owe you the honor. How is your father?”
“Very well, thank you.” Had he invited no one of higher rank than an earl’s daughter? Perhaps Lady Dalhousie’s rank no longer signified, since her stepson had taken the title upon her husband’s passing, even if he hadn’t yet taken a wife to displace her as lady of the house.
Lady Dalhousie pulled Katherine back from accepting Lord Penhurst’s escort. “Penhurst, you cannot seat Lady Katherine at the head of the table! She is very partial to my niece, Genevieve. It would not do to separate them. No one else present is of an age with these two younglings.”
“Well, there is Mr.…”
Lady Dalhousie batted her eyelashes at the man, who was at least twenty years her junior.
Lord Penhurst cleared his throat. “If you would not take offense?”
Katherine heartily hoped that if she were to be seated next to Miss Ball, she would not have to listen to her aunt throughout the entire evening. She smiled grimly. “No offense taken, I promise.”
“Then if you’ll give me a moment, I’ll find you a suitable dinner partner.”
Katherine would have happily skipped to the dining room under her own power. Instead, she held herself still until Lord Penhurst returned with a cousin. The moment he did, Katherine urged her escort toward the dining room.
For such a small, intimate gathering, the commotion as everyone sought to claim favorable seats in the tidy dining room was chaotic. Katherine let her escort lead her to a chair squarely in the middle of the long table. Seating herself in front of the lavish place setting, she salivated as she stared at the row of covered dishes arranged in the center of the table in the French style.
One by one, the other ladies sat. Lady Dalhousie was assigned a spot diagonally to Katherine’s left; Miss Ball was diagonally to her right.
In between them, directly