Daniel smirked, surveying his master.
“Then the best advice is to get the night started,” he said. “Not drag your feet about it.”
Albert glared at his valet, but he knew the man was right. He hated socializing with his family, especially since he had spent so much time in the country. Worst of all, however, it was with his aunt, uncle and cousin, James. Albert thought he would rather endure a dinner alone with his father, with him in the same mood he was in that morning, than to interact with them. But that was what was happening. And Daniel was right, he reminded himself. The sooner the night began, the sooner it could end.
He lucked out in his timing in meeting the rest of the family before dinner. They were just filing out of the drawing room and heading for the dining hall, just heading to dinner. Albert gave polite smiles and murmured greetings. But the newly arrived family members barely afforded him a glance, and his father only gave him an icy glare. He fell back at the end of the line, rolling his eyes when he was sure no one was looking.
As he suspected, he was suffocated by the conversation at the table. Everyone around him wanted to discuss the Season. He had just begun to hope that he could, in fact, get the meal finished quickly and then excuse himself to his chambers to prepare for his outing the following day. But then, his aunt looked at him, giving him one of her grimacing smiles.
“Uh, so, Albert,” she said. “Which events have you chosen to attend this year?”
Albert looked up at his aunt, chagrined to see everyone staring at him, waiting for an answer. Everyone, that is, except for his mother, who looked away, and his father, who rose.
“I had planned to make this announcement at dessert,” he said. “But since you’ve so kindly asked, I shall make it now. Albert is courting Miss Martha Elwood.”
Albert’s heart stopped as the eyes of all his extended family members simultaneously widened. They all stared long enough for it to be uncomfortable, and then another moment longer. His uncle was the first one to speak, and he began his statement with a guffaw.
“Well, isn’t that some news,” he said.
His aunt nodded, giving him another strained smile.
“Wonderful,” she said. “Simply wonderful.”
James said nothing. But Albert watched as he turned his face away, and Albert was sure he was laughing. It infuriated Albert, and he vowed that he was leaving the table without a word as soon as it was possible.
But after dinner, the gentlemen retired to the billiard room. Albert was just thinking of his excuse to go to his chambers early when James put an arm, which clapped Albert a bit too hard, around his shoulders.
“Come, Cousin,” he said. “Play a round of billiards with me.”
Albert was about to decline when he saw his father glowering at him. He gave his cousin an uncomfortable shrug. He had never liked James. Of the rest of his family, James was the least tolerable. He constantly hazed Albert about his scars, and Albert knew that he was very much a rogue. But he was left with no choice. So, he nodded, gesturing to the billiards table.
“Set them up, Cousin,” he said with a bitter tone that went completely unnoticed.
As James racked the game, Albert noticed that James kept glancing at him. Specifically, at his scars. Albert groaned silently, wishing that purgatory would open beneath James and eat him alive. But when he finished setting up the table and took his first turn, Albert gave up the hope.
“Your turn, Cousin,” James said when he missed the pocket for which he was aiming. “It is a wonder to hear that you are courting someone. I would say congratulations, but you must be very conflicted about that decision now.”
Albert raised an eyebrow, missing his shot on purpose, hoping that James would hurry up and beat him so that Albert could leave.
“Why’s that?” he asked.
James paused, holding his stick off to the side as he gave Albert a smirk.
“You mean you don’t know?” he asked.
Albert shook his head, feeling his frustration with his smug cousin rising too quickly.
“Know what?” he asked.
James took his time taking his next shot. He made that second one, but he paused before taking the next one.
“According to a friend of a friend, Cordelia is in London,” he said.
Albert felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. Last he knew, she had moved overseas, never to return. He studied James, trying to discern the truth in his words. Was Cordelia really back in London? Or was James just trying to get a rise out of him?
Chapter Thirteen
The next day, Martha awoke, surprised that she’d slept at all. She had done nothing but think about Lord Billington, his sudden change in personality, and his invitation to the Elgin Marbles. She had hidden herself away in her studio, working on various paintings she had started. But she didn’t make much progress on any of them, as she couldn’t get her future husband off her mind. And as she rose from her bed to call for Lily, the trend continued.
