Page 36 of A Brilliant Match
“Did you hear that Lord Throckmorton has become the Earl of Pembroke?” Anne whispered, pulling her closer. She glanced over to where Maryann stood, and Dorothea knew why. That was where his particular friends were. She would likely have wondered at Lord Throckmorton’s absence if Miles had not been there distracting her.
“Indeed? That is fortunate for him,” Dorothea said. She wished she could summon more interest over the matter and think about his potential as a suitor, but the news felt flat.
“His grandfather died two days ago, which is why he is not here,” Anne added. “He will be in mourning now, which takes him out of the sphere of eligible bachelors for this season.”
“Do you know if he was close to his grandfather?” she asked, testing her heart. No, she felt nothing for Lord Throckmorton. She did not care whether he pursued her or not, despite being handsome and supremely eligible.
“I do not know. I hope the loss will not weigh on him too heavily. And you know, of course, what that means?” Anne waited until Dorothea shook her head and met her gaze for enlightenment.
A crease appeared between Anne’s brows. “Do you not? I was sure you would, as you and Mr. Shaw are particular friends, I believe. It means that Mr. Shaw is now the next heir to the earldom should anything happen to his cousin.”
The shock was too great for Dorothea to comprehend. “Why…what can you mean? Mr. Shaw? Miles Shaw?”
Anne pulled away to look at her. “Of course! Did you not know, then, that he and Lord Throckmorton—that is, Lord Pembroke—were cousins?”
Dorothea swallowed over a dry throat. “I did not know it. He never mentioned such a thing.” It shouldn’t have come as such a shock that he would withhold the information from her, but she had thought them better acquainted. It was…disappointing to know they were not.
“Are you quite sure?” she asked.
“Quite. I understand he has an aversion to boasting about his relations and does not think a great deal of the peerage.” Anne pulled her away from a woman who had drawn near, seemingly for no other reason than to eavesdrop.
“My godmother has told me everything,” Anne leaned in to whisper. “Apparently she and his mother were quite close when they were younger. His mother was the Earl of Pembroke’s daughter, and she married an impoverished gentleman for love. Her father cut her off without a groat. Can you imagine such a thing?”
Dorothea had trouble finding the words and just shook her head as she bent to listen, so Anne went on. “Indeed. It was the talk of the town. Lady Isabelle Shaw disappeared from Society. By all accounts, Lord Throckmorton could have given Miles the cut at Harrow when he discovered they were related. Instead they became inseparable. You must have noticed that they are forever in each other’s company.”
“I have never once seen them together,” Dorothea said in little more than a whisper. She glanced at Miles now. He was the grandson of an earl. How could she not have known it? So their station was not so very removed after all. This must be why he seemed to have such an ease in Society, and why he appeared to know everyone. But why had he not told her as much if he was so bent on winning her heart?
Would it have made a difference?she asked herself.
The fact that it would have done so filled her with shame, for Miles was no longer a faceless peer—or heir to a title—that she was attempting to win. He was a gentleman she esteemed, though she had not considered him suitable as a husband. He was still impoverished, she reminded herself. But the conditions and restrictions she had imposed upon herself for what she declared suitable were becoming increasingly difficult to remember.
At that moment, Miles glanced her way. She could not take her eyes off him as he came over to them. Had he been laughing at her when she refused him over his supposedly low station?
“Good evening, Lady Dorothea, Miss Kensington. I shall hope to persuade each of you to dance with me, if I may.”
Dorothea held her breath. At last they would have a chance to talk about this amazing development and what he thought of it. She might be tempted to give him a piece of her mind.
Miles pulled his gaze from her to Anne. “Miss Kensington, are you free for the next set?”
Anne sent Dorothea a quick, hesitant glance. “I am.”
She set her hand on his arm and allowed him to lead her over to where a few couples were waiting for the next set to begin.
A stab of pain went through Dorothea, and she swallowed, turned up the corners of her lips, and lifted her chin. She pasted an artificially bright smile on her face and looked around for her sister. All that was needed was a little time to recover, and everything would be well. It was natural that he should wish to dance with Anne when she had turned down his proposal. Of course he had every right to set his sights elsewhere.
It was only that the rejection of being overlooked by Miles was compounded by the fact that his promise to dance at some point in the future seemed more an attempt to appease than a real desire to dance with her.
There was Sophia. She would go to her and steady her nerves in her sister’s quiet company.Ah!But no. Sophia was being led over to the dance floor. With nowhere to go, Dorothea’s smile faltered, and she had the terrifying sensation of being on display.
A few feet away, Maryann Stanley was—surprisingly—not dancing and had just dismissed one of her suitors. After a second’s hesitation, Dorothea went over to join her.
Maryann fanned herself vigorously. “Dorothea, are you not dancing either? I made up my mind that I shall not dance tonight, but now that I have turned the gentlemen down, I am already beginning to regret it.”
She seemed to be waiting for a response, so Dorothea obliged. “Why is it you are not dancing?”
“I wanted to do a little test to see which one of my suitors would be the most distraught over my refusal. But my ploy has fallen flat.” She stamped a little foot and laughed. “I had most hoped that Mr. Shaw would wish to stay by my side, but he has taken Anne Kensington to dance. And she is so plain!”
Dorothea wrestled with displeasure over Maryann’s wish for Miles’s attention and also disliked the dismissive way she spoke of Anne. She could not voice any objection to the former, but she did address the latter.
