Page 46 of The Duke's Last Dance
They had finally reached the manor, and Catherine got out of the carriage. They had been one of the first carriages to arrive, shortly after her brother and sister-in-law had arrived. Edward had insisted they be right behind them, and she watched as Edward helped Juliet out of the carriage.
“I am glad to see you made it with time to spare before the other carriages arrived,” Edward said. “I wanted to thank you, Catherine, Mother, before everyone else arrived for the wedding breakfast. You have both been a tremendous help during the planning, and even today.” He smiled widely at them. “Thank you so much.”
“’Twas nothing, Edward,” their mother said, waving her hand dismissively. “We are all incredibly happy that the day worked out well for you and for your bride.” Her mother looked over at Juliet. “We are glad to have you in the family, Miss Juliet, and we welcome you with open arms.”
“Thank you, Countess,” Juliet said, giving a soft curtsey. “My thanks especially to Catherine. You have been such a help, and I know I said as much this morning, but I could not help but say it again. You have been so wonderful to me through all of the planning, even when it was more tedious than I thought ‘twould be.”
“You are very welcome, Miss Juliet,” Catherine said, echoing her mother’s sentiments.
Then they all heard the rolling wheels of another carriage arriving at that moment.
“Well, we ought to get inside before the other guests arrive,” Edward said. “We will see you at the wedding breakfast.”
“Of course, Edward, of course,” Catherine said.
Their mother rushed them inside while Catherine walked behind with Miss Amelia near her.
The carriages started to arrive, and couple by couple, the carriages unloaded. Guests made all manner of congratulations as they passed Edward and Juliet. Catherine could hear them behind her. She took her seat, and she started to watch as the rest of the guests flowed into the dining room.
She recognized most of the people, as the wedding and the breakfast were both events meant to help publicize the marriage of a happy couple. The guests were usually people close to the family, and even then, there were still a few people that Catherine did not recognize. They must have been part of Juliet’s guest list instead of Edward’s.
Then, she saw Lord Lockhart walk into the dining room. He was dressed in a dapper suit, three pieces with a silver pocket watch chain draped across his chest. He looked as handsome as ever.
Her eyes trailed down from his face to his arm… and then she realized that he had brought Miss Alexia Balfour to the wedding breakfast. In that single moment, she felt her heart crack again. First, he had left her without word, and now… now he had brought someone else to the wedding breakfast…
Chapter Twenty
All through the wedding, he had stolen glances at Catherine. She had been sitting a few rows in front of him, and she had not noticed him at all through the ceremony. He did not want to have brought Miss Alexia, but his father had insisted, and he had had nothing he could say to him in response to that.
What his father wanted, his father got right now, and even his mother had pressured him to bring Miss Alexia. His father was not well enough to come to the wedding, so his mother had come alone.
On the other hand, Miss Alexia stood out against all the other women. She had chosen a dark purple colored dress, and the rest of the women were wearing pastel colored dresses. Lord Radcliff had chosen an early spring date and there was still a little bit of snow on the ground in some places, but the majority of the snow had melted away by now.
Catherine had chosen to wear a pastel pink gown to the wedding and the breakfast, and Nicolas thought it looked absolutely gorgeous on her. There was no way anyone else would have been able to wear such a light shade of pink with the hair and eye colors she had, but whomever had made the dress had balanced all the colors and shades perfectly.
Nicolas sat in the carriage with his mother and Miss Alexia on the way to the wedding breakfast as he thought about Lady Catherine. He still wished he had been able to talk to Lady Catherine at the tea party, but he had not thought of any other way that he could’ve convinced her he needed to talk to her about something important.
Regardless, as the carriage pulled up to Camberton Manor, he hoped that Lord Radcliff had been able to keep his word. He had not seen a man sitting close to Lady Catherine, or close enough to be a possible partner for the wedding breakfast, and that was a good sign. The only thing that might have ruined it was now that he was supposed to bring Miss Alexia to the wedding breakfast, and he knew that Lady Catherine would see him with her eventually.
She had an eye for details like that, and she did not like to admit it when it did not suit her. If she had any inkling of his feelings for her, then she would be willing to overlook what was going on – especially after he told her what was going on. Even if he had to find Miss Amelia to tell her, he would tell her what was going on today.
He had promised himself, and he would keep himself to that promise.
He got out of the carriage, and then helped Miss Alexia out. She moaned about her dress getting wrinkled, but Nicolas only kept his mouth shut. He did not want to feed her ego, and he knew that talking about her ‘ruined’ dress would only do that.
It was not ruined because it had got wrinkled on the ride to the manor. Besides, the wrinkles were all in a place where no one would notice them once she sat down again.
It did not matter to Miss Alexia. She had to be perfectly poised for everything, regardless of how many people would be able to see her in such a state.
Nicolas held his elbow out to her, and then, they all walked inside.
“Congratulations, Lord Radcliff, Miss Juliet,” Nicolas said with a big smile. His friend’s smile was enough to tell him that Lord Radcliff appreciated the congratulations, and even thought that he was going to be the best husband in the world to Miss Juliet. Miss Juliet’s smile mirrored that of her husband’s, and Nicolas could tell without any other words that they would be a happy couple all their days.
“Congratulations,” Miss Alexia mirrored. However, her tone was not a good one; he could tell that Miss Alexia was only here to be the center of attention, and he hoped that Miss Juliet had been warned not to let it impede on her wedding breakfast. That was simply how Miss Alexia was, and if Nicolas had had any say in what was going on, he would not have brought her to the wedding breakfast.
“Thank you. I do not believe we have had the pleasure,” Miss Juliet said. “I am Miss Juliet Radcliffe.”
“Miss Alexia Balfour,” Miss Alexia said, nodding to Miss Juliet softly. “I must say, you have quite the dress. ‘Tis something I would wear myself.”
