Page 46 of A Marriage of Convenience with a Rake
“I don’t know yet. We haven’t heard the musicians,” Eleanor told him with a chuckle.
“We should be able to,” Sebastian reminded her with a smile. “They appear to be playing. There are far too many mirthful expressions and excessive chatter in this room.”
“Indeed, there are.” Eleanor’s eyes roved to the corner where the musicians had set up. They were indeed playing vigorously, but it was almost undetectable in the noise of the hall.
“Mayhap we can go over there,” Sebastian suggested. The musicians’ corner was slightly more secluded than where they stood near the stairs and having a few private moments with herwould be so much better than standing at the front, trying to make themselves heard over the vast noise in the ballroom.
“Mayhap,” Eleanor replied.
Sebastian bent his arm at the elbow, and she slipped her hand through it. His heart thudded as she rested her fingers on the arm of his dark navy-blue coat. The touch of each fingertip seemed to burn, so aware was he of the touch of them, despite the velvet that separated his arm from feeling them directly.
They walked to the corner.
“It’s a terrific event,” Sebastian commented again. The room was full of people, the laughter and chattering still deafening, though standing by the musicians, they could at least hear the sweet violin music alongside it. The scent of perfume mixed with the muskier smell of pomade and the sweet scent of cordial. Women wore white or pale pink gowns, or, in the case of the married women, vibrant scarlet and ocher and golden yellow. Men wore brown or navy or, here and there, maroon-red or green. The colors seemed to swirl about as people moved here and there, the sounds as deafening as the colors were clashing and vibrant.
“Thank you,” Eleanor answered with a smile. “I had a great deal of help in organising it.”
He grinned. “You’d never done it before, and yet you managed to organise such a grand ball.”
“Not without help,” Eleanor demurred. “Oh! Is your papa all right there?” she added, gesturing to the easterly side of the hall, where Papa was taking a seat.
“I’m sure he’s quite well,” Sebastian replied, but Eleanor was already hurrying in that direction.
“I’ll just check on him,” she told Sebastian, her light steps already carrying her across the tiling towards him.
Sebastian sighed. He watched her walk across to his father, feeling already as though he missed her.
“Such a long face, eh?” Matthew asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere beside him.
“Not a long face,” Sebastian contradicted him, feeling a bit annoyed.
“I’m sure not,” Matthew agreed. “If I were wed to such a fine creature, I’d be too busy to have a long face.”
Sebastian glared at Matthew, whose grin suggested something indecent.
“I was merely bothered by the excessive noise in here,” Sebastian countered, feeling irritated by Matthew’s indecent implications. As it happened, he had not had a chance to be busy in any of the ways that Matthew seemed to suggest.
“It is noisy,” Matthew agreed, evidently sensing Sebastian’s irritation.
“It is. And hot,” Sebastian answered, glad that they were talking about another topic. He was aware of the high-necked shirt he wore, the sweat already trickling between his shoulder-blades.
“I’ll go and open a door,” Matthew suggested. “It would be nice to have some cold air.”
“Thank you. That would be most pleasant,” Sebastian agreed.
“On my way.”
Matthew wandered to the doors at the back of the hall, and Sebastian waited where he was, staring out across the ballroom. The candlelight glittered off the champagne glasses and gleaming silverware. The sound of talk was more murmurous now, and less loud. He gazed over to where Eleanor was crossing the hallway again. She caught his eye. She beamed. Her smile seemed brighter than anything else in the hall. He swallowed hard.
It was worth all the nerves and discomfort, and he knew that he would give a thousand such balls just to see her smile sobright.
He grinned back, delighted simply to be in that moment.
Chapter 18
Eleanor swallowed hard. She was walking briskly across the ballroom towards Sebastian, aware of his gazing across at her as she crossed the floor, walking a little awkwardly between the groups of people. Her skin prickled as she looked across at him again, her palms sweating.
Why is he staring at me? she asked herself nervously.
