Page 56 of An Offer for a Spinster
Lord Barwood sniffed, displeased. “Hm. Well, I came to see if you wanted to dance tonight, but I have just recalled that Lady Amelia will almost certainly not have dancing, or indeed anything fun, at this dreadful party of hers. I had better go.”
He rose to his feet, and the two women politely rose along with him.
“I’m sure we’ll keep each other entertained,” the Duchess said, but Lord Barwood would not be soothed. He grunted a goodbye and left at once. When he’d gone, the Duchess rounded on her daughter.
“Why did you say all that nonsense about Timothy? You know how jealous men get!”
“It’s not my concern.”
“Do you really want to spend the whole evening talking to Timothy? No, you do not! So, Katherine, I would advise you to hold your tongue, and don’t you dare drive Lord Barwood away! Sometimes I think you are entirely too stubborn for your own good.”
The Duchess sat down with a thump, sniffing in annoyance, and began to angrily stab at her embroidery. Katherine sat too, but now she felt dizzy and strange.
The simple answer was that shewouldlike to spend the evening talking to Timothy. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about, or ever really feel uncomfortable with each other. In fact, he was the only person she was looking forward to seeing at the soiree tonight.
She was not entirely sure what to do with this revelation. Swallowing hard, Katherine turned her attention back to her embroidery, but barely got beyond lifting the needle.
Am I falling in love with Timothy?She wondered, with a flutter.And if I am, what on earth am I going to do?
Chapter Eighteen
The relief on Amelia’s face when she saw Timothy made him glad that he had come after all.
“Oh, Timmy, you’re here! You came! I’m so pleased!” Amelia whispered, fluttering towards him.
The guests weren’t meant to be arriving for another half hour or so, but the house was already prepared for them. In the background, Timothy saw Rebecca lounging in the drawing room, with Christopher and his wife looking bored beside her. Lady Rustford was there, of course, but no sign of Lord Rustford.
That made sense. He would never lower himself to attend a party thrown by his spinster sister-in-law. No doubt he’d taken himself out to his club as early as possible and was congratulating himself on a lucky escape at this very moment.
“Of course I came,” Timothy said, hooking his arm through his aunt’s. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I can never tell with you sometimes, Tim. Come on, come through to the library, that’s where we’re sitting. Some of the ladies seemed quite excited about the literary discussions this evening, what do you think?”
“I think that sounds interesting. Can I assume that the ladies of your book club are coming?”
“Indeed you can,” Amelia said, laughing. “Now, come on and take a look at the library, and tell me what you think. I spent hours on it.”
Timothy followed his aunt into the library, which was alight with candles, decorated with flowers and garlands, books laid out invitingly on tables. She had arranged groups of chairs so that people could sit together in small groups, and the pianoforte stood on a platform in the corner, the piano stool pulled out justa little in case anybody fancied playing music. A fire crackled invitingly in the hearth.
“What do you think?” Amelia asked anxiously. “Does it look pleasant enough? Constance stuck her head in and laughed. She said that it looked like a spinster’s paradise.”
Timothy briefly entertained a fantasy of upending a jug of wine over his sister-in-law’s head.
“Constance wouldn’t know a pleasant-looking gathering if it landed directly on her head. This is lovely, Amelia. And I know that you don’t host very often, so everybody will be excited on that account, in any case. This is all lovely, thank you. Is the dinner all prepared?”
“Oh, yes, I had a long talk with the cook yesterday. Nothing too heavy, and I thought we could start with that delicious soup she made the other week, the one that…”
Amelia trailed off into a long discussion of the food they would be eating, and the various courses she’d decided upon. Timothy listened good-naturedly, grinning down at her. It was good to see Amelia so animated. All too often, the poor woman seemed almost overshadowed by her overbearing family. Timothy knew exactly how that felt. The difference was that Amelia did not have the opportunity to move away and start up her own life.
Unlike Timothy, she truly was trapped.
Amelia paused for breath, and he glanced down at her, a lump rising to his throat. She smiled uncertainly up at him, and he wondered whether she knew what he was thinking after all.
“It’s lovely, Amelia,” Timothy said at last. “I’m looking forward to it very much.”
Amelia beamed, something like relief tinging her features. “I’m so glad, Timmy. I’m so glad. Oh, is that a knock at the door? People must be arriving! I’d better go and greet them. You wait here!”
She scurried along the corridor, leaving Timothy alone. He drew in a deep, fortifying breath, and pasted on a polite Society smile to greet the guests.
