Page 41 of Scales and Sensibility
“How was your journey, Miss Armitage?” Elinor asked hastily.
“Oh, well, if I can forget all the many miles of my brother’s complaints about the road…” Miss Armitage rolled her eyes but aimed a fond smile at her sibling. “He is on fire to make improvements to his own estate, you see, and the first thing he wants to put money into is the road that leads to it from London.”
“Well, we can’t have people claiming it’s too difficult to get there for a weekend, can we?” Mr. Armitage turned to appeal to Penelope. “What do you say, Miss Hathergill—isn’t the best use of a good country house to hold the most popular house parties imaginable?”
Penelope’s face glowed with delight. “Oh, I should so love to attend a house party! I have never been to one, you know. But then…” She aimed a reproachful look at her father. “I have never been to London, either, if you can believe it.”
“One more month, kitten,” said Sir John. “Then you’ll be able to enjoy your Season.”
“But we’ve had the good fortune of meeting you early!” Mr. Armitage gave her a smile that could only be described, Elinor thought, as intimate. Even from four feet away, it gave her a reluctant tingle of appreciation, especially as his voice deepened. “You wouldn’t deny us that opportunity, would you, Miss Hathergill?”
Penelope’s eyelashes fluttered; her face flushed lightly pink. “Oh, well, if you put it that way…”
“Do you two live in London for most of the year, then?” Millie asked breathlessly. “It must be such a wonderful place! The balls and the theater and the—”
“—And the routs, and the Venetian breakfasts, and the opera, and the masquerades…” Mr. Armitage laughed. “Oh, yes, London is beyond anything. Don’t you agree, Hawkins?” He tossed a careless glance at Benedict over his shoulder. “But come to think of it…I’ve never seen you there. Are you one of those fellows who prefers the tedium of the countryside?”
Benedict’s laugh sounded forced. “I wouldn’t put it quite that way.”
“Oh, no,” Miss Armitage agreed, with a warm smile. “The countryside can be delightful. On a beautiful day, with the lilacs flowering and the sun shining above—”
“On the one day of the year it isn’t raining, you mean.” Her brother rolled his eyes. “Give me a ballroom crowded with five hundred people and a thousand candles, with all the ladies’ diamonds glittering like stars. Wouldn’t you agree with me, Miss Hathergill?”
“Ohh…” Penelope’s face softened into a look of true yearning. “It sounds utterly perfect.”
“It is,” he said, and looked at her with an intensity impossible to mistake. “I cannot wait until you experience it yourself.”
Millie’s long, wistful sigh filled the room.
Miss Armitage smiled indulgently and turned to ask Sir John a series of polite questions about the history of Hathergill Hall.
Gazing into Mr. Armitage’s eyes, Penelope fluttered with delight.
Lucinda’s eyes narrowed with ill-concealed envy.
Sir John beamed proudly at his daughter and her newest suitor.
Elinor couldn’t stop herself from giving Benedict Hawkins a sympathetic look, despite everything that had passed between them that day.
He wouldn’t have an easy time of his pursuit, after all.
Chapter 17
The party broke up an hour later. The newcomers were escorted to their rooms to rest from their journey, Penelope retreated to her bedroom to begin her preparations for the evening, and Millie and Lucinda left for their own homes with open reluctance.
Elinor rose to leave, too, but Benedict held out a hand to stop her.
“If you wouldn’t mind, Mrs. De Lacey…” He aimed a frowning glance at the door, which had been left half-open to preserve the proprieties. “We still have some time before we need to prepare for supper. Would you care to take a turn around the garden with me first?”
Elinor hesitated. The correct answer, of course, wasno. On the other hand…
No, she told herself again, more firmly. She was not going to make a fool of herself over Benedict Hawkins, no matter how much she might be tempted. It would be ridiculous enough in her own guise—plain, uninteresting and impoverished—but it would be even worse now, when she was disguised as a woman more than ten years older than him…a woman he’d already accused of being unethical and mercenary.
She raised her eyebrows and forced her voice to sound as cold as he deserved. “I seem to recall a rather unpleasant encounter in a garden earlier, Mr. Hawkins. Perhaps we’d better not repeat it.”
He grimaced, but humour danced in his eyes. “Believe me, Mrs. De Lacey, I haven’t forgotten that incident either. But if you wouldn’t mind, I’d prefer to make my apologies outside, where no one else can hear me.”
Elinor had to fight to repress the smile that wanted to escape, as something tight inside her chest relaxed for the first time since their argument. “What a cowardly admission to make.”
