Page 95 of Duke of Emeralds
Could Mama be right?she wondered.
The question circled her mind as the clock chimed out the hour, neither answered nor dismissed.
CHAPTER 38
“Try to enjoy yourself, Hester. You are among friends, not magistrates.” Anna nudged Hester through the archway and into the blazing warmth of the Copperton ballroom. “Besides, if you manage to look any more miserable, my husband will think I am bullying you.”
“I am quite well,” Hester lied, and her voice—flat, small, and entirely unconvincing—made Anna’s lips purse. “I am simply tired. It’s been a long Season.”
“If it’s a long Season, then take advantage! Tonight is not an execution, darling. It is a soiree in your honor.” Anna guided her past the array of guests and the truly magnificent ice sculpture in the shape of a swan.
Hester marshaled all the fortitude in her body and produced a smile so wan it might have wilted Anna’s ice swan. “Thank you. I am here for you, Anna. And for the oranges.”
Anna patted her hand then spotted someone across the room. “Ah! Lady Avingdon beckons.” She gave Hester’s arm one last squeeze and swept away, leaving Hester to drift alone in a sea of high color and higher voices.
Hester told herself she would keep to the fringes where she could blend in with the potted plants and the decorative vases. She managed to reach the edge of the crowd before the floor seemed to tilt beneath her feet. For a moment, she thought her stays had been tied too tightly, but the sensation passed—leaving a coldness in her chest that no amount of air could dispel.
It was not the lacing, nor the heat, nor the press of bodies that had weakened her so. It was him.
Thomas Green.
She saw him the moment he entered—every inch the Highland conqueror in severe black, his tawny beard trimmed just so, his height making the cluster of English peers around him look stunted. He did not scan the room, did not pause to see if she was in attendance. He simply greeted an elderly Lord with a tilt of his head and was quickly engaged in conversation.
He has not even looked for me. Not once.
Hester could not decide whether this fact was a relief or a wound. She moved to a chair at the edge of the room and sat, her reticule clutched in white-knuckled fists. She forced her gaze away from Thomas, only to find it drawn back again, over and over.
He looked untroubled, as if abandoning his wife to her fate was the most natural thing in the world. As if her heart were not breaking every hour of every day since he had left her at Lushton House with barely a proper explanation.
The pain of it was exquisite, and Hester pressed her lips tight, determined not to cry here, not now, in front of London’s merciless eyes.
“You are staring,” Anna whispered, materializing at her side with the subtlety of a general surveying a battlefield. “Do not deny it.”
Hester’s cheeks heated, but she kept her gaze on the swirling dancers. “I was admiring the orchestra’s precision. The strings are particularly lovely tonight.”
Anna snorted. “Liar. You are watching your husband pretend he hasn’t a care in the world.” Anna’s eyes softened. “Hester, surely you did not think I would invite you and not the Duke? One or the other alone, and rumors would breed like rabbits. And it does not matter that you arrived separately so long as both of you appear.”
“It is thoughtful of you to arrange my public humiliation so delicately,” Hester said, the words tasting of ash in her mouth.
“Public humiliation? Darling, if I wanted to humiliate you, I’d have let you loose in the garden maze with all the eligible bachelors.” Anna squeezed her arm. “Besides, I feel like you twoneed to be thrown in each other’s paths until you get back to your senses.”
Hester’s throat tightened. “Is that what this is, Anna? A setup?”
Anna’s mouth twitched. “If you choose to see it so. But do you not want him to speak to you?”
“I do not know what I want,” Hester lied. She wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and not emerge until the world forgot she existed. But more importantly, she wanted her husband.
Anna’s gaze sharpened, but she did not press the matter. “Well. If you decide, you know where to find me.” With a nod, she slipped back into the crowd.
Hester was left to watch her husband from afar. Thomas had now collected two more peers, both of them laughing heartily at something he had said. He smiled.
God help her, but she missed him. She missed him with every fiber of her being, missed him so much she feared she might dissolve right here.
He’s probably forgotten he has a wife somewhere in this little world,she thought savagely.That is how insignificant I am to him.
She found herself blinking rapidly, fighting tears she thought she’d vanquished weeks ago. Suddenly, her vision swam. Theroom pressed closer, the lights blurred, the sound of the orchestra grew distant.
Hester reached for her reticule, hoping the tactile sensation of silk and metal might anchor her. Her fingers cramped, and she found herself digging her nails into the embroidery.
