Page 9 of The Duke's Last Dance
“I am simply wondering if Lady Catherine will be joining us,” Nicolas replied. “I have not seen her in three years, and I am anxious to rekindle the friendship that I left so suddenly.”
“I am not sure what my daughter’s plans for the night are, but I do believe she will be joining us shortly,” the Earl added his thoughts before Lord Radcliff could say anything more. “I suppose I could have asked, but there are six chairs set up. I see no reason for her not to come to dinner.”
“Neither do I, Father.” Lord Radcliff nodded slowly. “Besides, she quite likes Lady Andrews. I do not believe she would leave my fiancée to have this dinner with my family alone.” He laughed.
Nicolas smiled. He had forgotten how much like family the Radcliff family felt sometimes.
The conversation stopped abruptly when there were footsteps coming into the room. The three men stood up, as was polite to do for women entering and leaving the room.
First, the countess entered. She wore a simple dress and matching gloves, of course. A wide smile softened the hardened wrinkles that time had brought to her face, and a sparkle in her eyes lit her face up.
“Lord Lockhart, what a pleasure to see you again!” She greeted him. “I hope you have been well while you have been away from Town for whatever reasons you have been gone for three years.”
“I have indeed been well, Lady Radcliff. How have you been while I have been away?” He replied, knowing that she would answer with some variation of being well enough while he was away.
“I have been well enough, and that is all I can ask for in my older age,” the Countess joked. “’Tis absolutely wonderful to see that you will be joining us for dinner, Lord Lockhart. Absolutely wonderful.” He did not need to worry about saying anything more because she promptly turned to her husband and greeted him.
As the Countess was making her greetings, a young lady walked in. He did not recognize the face, so it had to be this Miss Andrews that Lord Radcliff was now engaged to. She was not an awful face to look at. She had a rounder face, with a full head of beautiful black hair that had been twirled up and around to frame her face. There were no curls framing her face, specifically, but Nicolas thought she could do without them.
“Hello, Lord Radcliff.” She turned her attention to Lord Radcliff.
“Miss Andrews,” he started, “may I introduce my friend, Lord Lockhart?” He motioned to Nicolas.
“’Tis a pleasure to meet the woman that Lord Radcliff will be marrying,” Nicolas said, bowing to the young woman softly. “I am glad to see that he has come to find such a beauty in this world. You will be well taken care of with him, I am sure.”
“Thank you, Lord Lockhart, but the pleasure is mine,” Miss Andrews replied, smiling. “Lord Radcliff has spoken highly of you, and I was afraid I would never get to meet the man that inspired such words. Now that you have returned, I am glad to see that Lord Radcliff was not making you up.”
Lord Radcliff’s cheeks colored at the remark. Nicolas laughed softly.
“Well, I am glad to see that I have saved some part of Lord Radcliff’s reputation tonight, even if that was not my intention in accepting the dinner invitation,” he joked with Miss Andrews.
The young woman smiled.
“You have good taste in friends, Lord Radcliff. I quite enjoy his company already, though we have scarcely been acquainted five minutes!” Miss Andrews turned to her fiancé.
“Lord Lockhart has a way of being good friends with anyone and everyone he meets,” Lord Radcliff said. “I suppose it to be what his mother has taught him, but since I have some of the same disposition, I cannot be entirely certain that it was only his mother’s teachings.”
“Well, whatever the reason for it, I am glad of it.” Miss Andrews then turned back to Nicolas. “I am glad you have come to dinner tonight. The pleasure really is all mine.”
“Thank you, Miss Andrews, but I believe the pleasure mine,” he replied. “I hope you have a wonderful marriage.”
“Thank you,” Miss Andrews replied.
Lord Radcliff was about to say something, but stopped upon seeing another woman walk in.
This time, Nicolas recognized the woman. It was Lady Catherine Radcliff. Tonight, she was dressed in a champagne colored dress, the bodice rather low-cut, and matching lace gloves.
Nicolas could not say a thing. He had not expected her to wear such a beautiful dress, nor for her to have her hair done up so beautifully. She wore no baubles in her hair, as this was a family dinner, but she was still beautiful.
He could hardly believe that the woman in front of him had once been the young girl of his childish attraction. Now that she was grown up, he could barely pull his eyes off of her. Her eyes had only boldened with age, the sparkle that he had always liked still there and much brighter now than it had been in childhood.
He could only wonder what had brought such a sparkle to her eyes tonight, but there was nothing more he could do.
Then, he saw something on her dress that made him even more speechless. It was an old brooch, obviously faded with time and love. But, he recognized it immediately. It was the brooch he had given her so many years ago as a token of his promise to marry her.
He could not believe that she still had it, much less still wore it. It was so faded, old, and not quite what a woman of her age ought to have been wearing. Now, he only wondered if she noticed that he was standing there, speechless, and with a good reason to be so.
She walked towards him, and then he realized that she would be sitting next to him.
