Page 37 of Awakening a Lord's Desires
With delight, she took it, and they glided towards the floor to join the other dances. It was a delicate country dance, but there was time to speak as they moved around one another.
“I wonder, My Lord, have you set your sights upon anyone yet?” she asked as they stepped together.
Charles was amazed at the audacity of the woman.
No wonder Caroline is unhappy at home. After hearing what the baroness told me at dinner about her stepdaughter, it seems as though she is quite confident of being critical and forward to everyone’s faces.
“That remains to be seen,” he settled for after some thought.
He did not want it to get back to Caroline that he did not think of her as a man thinks of a woman, but he also did not yet want to reveal their secrets. Caroline seemed disposed to hide it from her stepmother for now.
“My, aren’t you a mysterious man,” she said with a glimmer of mischief in her eye. “I know that many of the young women and their mothers at the ball this evening are interested in that information.”
“Ah, well, I do pride myself on my privacy, My Lady.”
“What a virtue, then,” she replied, only slightly chastened.
Where was Caroline? Was she watching this interaction with displeasure? He knew that the baroness was a married woman, and yet it seemed that she had asked him to dance with her for a particular reason. What could it be?
“I hope my dear nephew has luck in finding himself a proper bride. That is his goal, now that he is living with us in the countryside. His Season was not what he had hoped.”
“I wish him luck then,” Charles said calmly, although he was very eager for the dance to be over.
“Perhaps if you befriend him, that might bring the other ladies to see his virtues.”
Ah, so that is why she wished to dance with me.
With a well-practiced smile, he said back to her, “But Lady Wentworth, surely you already know that your nephew has many charms at his disposal. I have seen many a young woman look his way at each of the parties we’ve been to. He is well-informed and interesting as well. He will not suffer for want of interest.”
The baroness bloomed with pride and joy. “You are too kind, My Lord,” she said, and the dance finished. She curtsied low and smiled at him. “You would be most welcome to call at our home, at any time. Any friendship with someone such as yourself is a boon to the heart.”
“Thank you, Baroness,” he replied with a short bow.
Then they parted ways, and Charles was now even more eager to find Caroline.
Chapter 37
Caroline watched the dance with confusion as her stepmother and the man she was growing to care deeply for danced together. They seemed in earnest conversation about something, and Caroline wrung her hands together, trying to figure out what it could be.
Is Penelope warning him of all my foibles? Or telling him that there are women better worth his time?
The fear that her stepmother would try to work against her was great. She had done nothing to assist her during the Season, and had only desired that Caroline do her best not to embarrass the family in any way. She had never tried to help her find a proper match. And now, she had hurried to ask to dance the one man Caroline had set her sights upon?
But she does not know. She couldn’t possibly know, could she?
It seemed an age until the dance ended, and the two of them parted ways. She could see Charles leaving Penelope, and she hoped he would come to find her. But before he arrived, another young man came to ask her for the next dance, and she had to leave her place.
Once that dance was over, she could not find Charles yet again, and the excitement she’d had earlier in the evening was now slowly fading. She had been excited for the chance to be close to Charles and speak with him in public.
She wanted to dance and to laugh, and to imagine them kissing out in the garden as they had done a few nights before. But the crowd was much greater than expected, and she wove her way through it only to find her father sitting in a chair in the corner, looking slightly pale, his skin covered with a sheen of sweat.
“Father,” she cried, rushing up to him and holding his shoulder. “You do not look well at all.”
In fact, he looked nearly gray, and his breathing was labored.
“Let me help you.” She assisted him to his feet. “We must go home. I shall take you to the carriage, and then I will find Penelope.”
“No, no, I do not want to ruin anyone’s night,” he croaked. “Penelope will not be happy if she cannot showcase Max in some way.”
