Page 42 of The Lord who Seduced Me
Eden nodded and walked over. Hugging her tightly. “Have fun tonight.”
Rose smiled, remembering the talk she had given herself. “I will. Thank you.”
Then she walked out the door and to the carriage.
* * *
When they arrived at the ball, Rose was immediately swarmed by men wanting to dance with her and by the time she had pushed Persephone’s wheeled chair across the room, her dance card was filled reminding her all too much of the night she had with Cabe.
Rose was swept into a dance by a Lord she danced with before and while he did nothing for her, he was kind at least and probably one of the men who did not make her want to cringe.
He never made horrible comments in her ear and he never grabbed her buttocks on ‘accident’ when they were twirling.
Which she appreciated. “You look beautiful this evening my Lady.” He said in a quiet voice.
“Thank you, my Lord.”
He blushed and looked down at where they held hands as they danced. It was not really a dance for much talking as it was a country dance and was fast moving, but he tried, nonetheless.
“I was,” he cleared his throat, “wondering if I may call on you? You see, my mother has told me it is time for me to find a wife, and I want to find a suitable one.”
Rose’s eyebrows lifted, “Oh, um.”
He pushed on, “I think you are beautiful and soft spoken. You have obviously been brought up by a governess who knew what she was doing. I see the manners you possess. Your family has something to be desired, but it can be easily overlooked as your brother is a Duke, but I am certain we won’t have to see them much.”
Rose looked once again bewildered and was rendered speechless.
He pushed on again, “My mother has no love for your family, but has told me I can select my own wife, so long as she possesses a title and knows how to behave in public. She said that my wife also must be a girl that has not had a scandal attached to her name. While your family does have a scandal that has left the ton in an uproar, you do not. I know that you are getting older and must not have a lot of prospects available to you, but I do not mind that. I like that you aren’t a young girl.”
The dance ended and Rose took a step back from the Lord and tried valiantly to move away from him, “I will escort you to your next dance. Let me call on you? Please?”
Rose shook her head, “I apologize my Lord if you thought I was available for courting. I am only here to serve as a chaperone, and that is all. Goodnight.”
He was spluttering and Rose walked past the man who she was supposed to dance with next. “I am afraid I need to find the retiring room. Please excuse me.”
The man also spluttered but she hurried from the ballroom and to the retiring room without an incident.
How dare that man speak to her that way? How dare he say things about her family. He knew nothing of how she was raised.
They did not have governesses come to the family. Jacob. -no, that was not truly Jacob. - She meant Edward was always trying to get into their beds and often succeeded.
After the third one was found with Edward, Lydia put her foot down and did not allow them to come anymore.
Plus, by then Edward had scared people away from their household with how evil he was. How he raped young women and Rose thought that must have been the case with at least one of their governesses.
She hated Edward, but also loved that their mother had been the one to teach them what they needed to know.
While she did not have a conventional upbringing, and while she knew more about healing and cooking and cleaning than most girls in the ton would ever know, Rose was also taught language, arts, piano and much more.
All while they cooked and cleaned. Lydia would often have them go over French vocabulary, or sums, or many other things while they mopped the floors or while they swept or changed the sheets or cooked with Ida.
Rose, Lily, Cole and Aidan were fluent in French and Latin. They were taught a great many things by their mother who had once been most sought after for her many accomplishments.
They also knew how to do many things that had nothing to do with schooling. They were the ones that had gotten Aidan whipped over. Had gotten the girls punished more than once.
Edward had always hated that neither of his sons went to Eton, or to Oxford. Lydia had put her foot down and not let them go. She did not want to see her sons at the school. And though Jacob had once talked about his education there, Lydia knew that she could not bear it for them to be gone for so long.
And Rose knew that Lydia had felt awful about it because their mother said that she was selfish in her reasons to keep them home.
