Page 35 of A Wicked Viscount's Stormy Affair
Sophie blushed and giggled. “I am not too sure about that. But I am certain that we will have a good time.”
“Well, we should get going, darling, because the carriage is already waiting for us.”
Sophie’s heart was racing, and it continued to do so the whole journey to the manor house which was housing this ball. Another fancy London home which screamed of opulence. This was one of the most thrilling things about this city and the Season for Sophie. Seeing how everyone else lived.
Immediately, Sophie could see Katherine and Victoria as they headed inside the building. She was relieved and excited. Not having her friends there in Hempstead park had left her talking to Gregory for a very long time, with no real way to escape. No one else to garner her attention.
At least if she had her friends here tonight, she would be able to gossip and have fun as well.
Excitedly, Sophie entered the glorious ballroom which looked equally as stunning as the last one she’d been in. High decorated ceilings, beautifully painted walls, a lovely oak floor which was going to be wonderful to dance upon. She could not wait to make at least some of her dreams to come true.
“Lady Sophie, you are here!” Katherine could not have looked more thrilled to see her friend. “Come and stand with us, we are going to head to the refreshments table because we can get a good view of the room there. We can see who is arriving.”
That was absolutely perfect for Sophie because she wanted to get a glimpse of George the moment that he arrived. Since she had been dreaming about him so much, especially with the spiciness of the dreams, she wanted to adjust to seeing him in person first.
Then she would be more than happy to be in that man’s arms once more.
“Have you seen Lady Smith’s dress?” Victoria asked the group with a hint of judgment on her tone. “I do not think that color does her any favors.”
“It is the same color that Lady Black was wearing at the last ball,” Katherine observed. “I sense that the competitive element to their friendship is amping up another level.”
Much as it was fun to gossip with her friends, Sophie could not engage in the conversation because she was too busy trying to seekhimout. It was as if she had become obsessed with George, and she could hardly think about anything else. As an increasing number of people entered the ballroom, she could not stop her heart from sinking every time it was not George.
Why was he not here? What on earth was happening? It filled her with a sense of dread to imagine him already being on a ship back to Sweden.
It was hard for her to believe that he would leave without saying goodbye, but what would she do without him here? She would hate it.
“Oh, look, Lord Harrington is here to see you.”
Sophie’s heart skipped a beat.
Had she somehow missed him entering the room?
“Oh, I see.” But of course it was Gregory. She knew that he was here, she just had not thought about the prospect of him approaching her which may well have been naïve. “So he is.”
“I think he is going to ask you to dance again. Me and Victoria will take a step back.”
That was the last thing that Sophie wanted them to do, but she did not have a choice in the matter. If Gregory wanted to dance with her, then she would have to agree.
“Please,” Gregory said as soon as he was in ear shot. “Lady Dashwood, do me the honor of dancing with me.”
She smiled through gritted teeth and took his hand, allowing Gregory to lead her out on to the dance floor. Once they were in position, she could not help but wonder what on earth they were going to have to talk about now. Had they not covered everything possible when they were at the park?
“It is wonderful to see you again, Lady Dashwood. You have a rather ravishing gown on tonight.”
Ravishing. There it was… the same compliment as always. Did he really not have anything else to say?
“This ball is quite lovely too, is it not?” he continued. “It is a shame that not everyone is here tonight.”
Sophie furrowed her brows in confusion. “Who are you talking about?”
It seemed like Gregory delighted in answering this question. Almost as if this was the reason that he had asked her to dance at all. “My brother has not managed to make it tonight, because he is taking care ofbusinessagain. Whatever that means. With my brother,businesscan mean all sorts.”
Sophie’s heart sunk.
She had spent such a long time getting dressed tonight, excitedly thinking about what it was going to be like to dance with him, just to be let down.
He had to know that she wanted to dance with him. She had been assuming that he wanted to dance with her, so this left her a little shell shocked.
