Page 27 of Defying the Earl
“I’m sorry, my lord, but everyone has been most kind this evening.”
“Are all your dances taken, then?”
She didn’t appreciate how incredulous he sounded. While it was true that this had never happened to her before, he shouldn’t sound so shocked about it. No woman wanted to hear that. She lifted her chin to defy him. He must have realized how he had sounded.
“My sincere apologies; I didn’t mean to sound rude. I am merely disappointed. I had hoped we could share a dance.”
Beatrice relented. “I do have one,” she finally admitted. She had been withholding it and didn’t really want to offer it to him, but what was she to do? “It is the supper dance, if you want that one.”
His chin lifted and it appeared as though his eyes actually gleamed with triumph. Beatrice sighed. It was exactly the reminder she needed to keep her heart intact. This was all a game for Braxton. A challenge. Even a competition now. It was almost as though he had forgotten that it was a temporary farce to protect her reputation.
But it didn’t matter. Now that she was on notice as to his feelings, or perhaps intentions was a better word, she would be on guard. And since she had accepted that she might consider marriage, being given other opportunities wasn’t a terrible thing. She just hoped the other gentlemen weren’t looking at her as some competitive prize as well.
Bea glanced around at all the men who hadn’t even noticed her before and sighed again. They likely did all view it the same way. They hadn’t noticed her before. And now she was suddenly popular. It had nothing to do with the beautiful new gown she was wearing. She had worn many fine frocks in the past. It wasBraxton’s interest in her that had spurred the others. What a farce. Just as she had always thought, thetonwas filled with silly people. She would be well off away from them.
“I will collect you then, my dear. In the meantime, enjoy your dance.”
The orchestra was striking their chord for the next dance after a brief lull in the music. Bea turned as Viscount Henley bowed beside her.
“I think this is to be our dance, my lady?” He said it as both question and statement. Bea quite liked the slight hesitancy. Braxton appeared far too sure of her. Or perhaps that was just his innate arrogance. She didn’t love that quality. She widened her smile at the viscount.
“Thank you, my lord,” she said as she took his offered hand.
“You dance well,” Henley commented a moment later, and Bea tried not to bristle over how surprised he sounded.
“Thank you,” she answered simply and then turned the topic. “Do you attend balls often?” she had never met him before or noticed him when she had attended with the Ladies, but they didn’t attend many balls nor did they spend time near the dancefloor. It was entirely possible they had never crossed paths despite being in similar realms.
“This is my first Season to be so regular at such events.”
“Do you enjoy them?”
Viscount Henley’s smile was tight, as though he didn’t want to answer honestly. “The company can be congenial,” he finally said, making Bea bite back laughter.
“What made you decide to become a regular?” She could probably guess, but she wondered how direct he would be. It looked to her as though he were probably of the age tohave finally accepted he needed to start thinking about the succession.
“It is just time,” he finally answered. “And of course, the congenial company,” he added with a smile.
Beatrice couldn’t help the wide smile that stretched her face in return. He was a pleasant man, it seemed. She found she could appreciate his reticence. They didn’t know one another. She liked that he wasn’t so free with telling all to someone he had just met, even if he was potentially thinking he might court her.
“Have you been in London long?” he asked. “It is rumoured you are Lady Frampton’s companion.”
“That is true. We have been in Town for a few weeks but haven’t been as active in the social whirl until now.”
“Have you been with Lady Frampton for long?” he asked, frowning, as though wondering why he hadn’t met her before, Bea supposed. Or perhaps he was reconsidering why he was dancing with a paid companion. Amusement prevented Beatrice from becoming irritated.
“Since I left school almost four years ago.” She didn’t go into the details of her life. Like him, she didn’t intend to share everything until she was certain she could trust a person.
His frown continued, as though he were puzzled. “Do you enjoy such work? Do you have no family that could take you in?”
“Lady Frampton and her sister, Lady Charlotte, feel like my family, to be honest. They were dear friends with my grandmother, so even though we are not related by blood, we are in the heart, if you know what I mean.” She added a pleasant smile at the end of her statement, and she could feel his confusion grow. Bea tried not to sigh. She supposed a titled gentleman who was only a regular at balls because he neededto secure an heir would have little understanding for family of choice. He needed a son of his own genealogy. Choice wasn’t really part of the equation. Except maybe the choosing of who the mother of said son would be.
What an oddity she was, Bea thought with a smile. She really didn’t fit in here. But she didn’t truly mind too intensely. It was better than being all alone in a cold cottage by the sea as she had originally thought she wanted.
Bea realized now that she wouldn’t enjoy the solitude. She would have to continue to entertain the possibility of wedding with a noble. So she ought to try not to offend this seemingly pleasant gentleman with her plebian ideas.
“What is Henley like, my lord?” Bea asked as a way of turning the subject. “I apologize for my ignorance, but I am unacquainted with it.”
“No need to apologize. I’d like to think it’s the most beautiful estate in the realm, but it isn’t actually all that large or important as to cause a great deal of talk. And I quite like that trait so I shan’t complain about it.”
