Page 57 of A Marriage of Convenience with a Rake
“Please, Lord,” she whispered under her breath. “Please, keep him safe.”
She hurried down the stairs, shivering with cold.
“My lady!” The butler’s voice rang out in alarm. “There youare. The guests were wondering about your disappearance.” He was on the stairs, a lamp in his hand. His eyes widened, in concern, as he saw how she was shivering in her evening gown.
“I’m certain they are,” Eleanor said in a small voice. “His lordship had to ride to London urgently. I was speaking with him,” she explained to him. “It is an incident connected to my brother, who arrived without telling us earlier.”
“Yes, my lady.” The butler looked concerned, his mouth a thin line.
“I must organise that the guests depart now,” Eleanor added, her stomach queasy with tension. “Might you help me?” She looked up at him without trying to hide her fear.
“Of course, my lady.” He bowed low. “I will make an announcement at once.”
“Thank you,” Eleanor breathed. “Tell them his lordship had to ride off on emergency business.”
“Yes, my lady. As you wish.” He turned in the hallway, hurrying down the stairs.
“Thank you,” Eleanor said softly.
She hurried down towards the ballroom.
As she slipped in through the side door, the butler was clearing his throat, making the announcement.
“Ladies and lords,” he announced grandly, standing on the stairs. He had evidently said it several times, because the noise had already lessened considerably in the hall, and as Eleanor slipped in to stand beside a tall man in a dark coat, they all fell silent. “I must apologise for the interruption, but his lordship, the Earl of Glenfield, has been called away on urgent business to London. It is an emergency matter in the family.”
Muttering broke out as people whispered about what the emergency might be. Around Eleanor, nobody dared say anything.
“I regret to inform you that this ball must be concluded earlyas a result,” the butler continued, when there was relative quiet again in the hall. “Her ladyship required me to ask you if you might all make your way home.”
Muttering broke out again and Eleanor took a breath. She needed to be a good hostess. She walked towards the doors, back straight, shivering less now that she was in the ballroom, which was still warm. On her way up the stairs, she could feel the stares of more than two dozen people burning into her. She walked slowly and steadily to the front door, standing there to thank the guests as they departed.
She waited, aware of the stares still on her, the noise lessening as she stood there, the tension of waiting holding her stiffly straight.
She could only see the hall from the corner of her eye, as she stood in the doorway, facing the door that the butler had opened. The wind blew in and she gritted her teeth, shivering again in the cold.
“Here, my lady.”
She stiffened, then relaxed, as one of the footmen dropped a thick, fluffy mantle around her shoulders. She breathed out in a sigh of relief and smiled up at him.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Of course, my lady.” He hurried off.
She gathered the mantle around her with her right hand and stood where she was, her mind searching to see if she could remember the name of the footman. She was sure she had seen him before, but she couldn’t recall if he was one of the men the butler had hired for the evening, or whether he was one of the household staff.
Focusing on the name distracted her from the feeling of being stared at, and a small sound made her turn around. Lord Emsley, the tall man who had stood beside her while the butler announced his news, was walking up the stairs.
“Thank you, my lady,” he murmured, bowing low. “It was an enchanting party.”
She curtseyed, smiling gratefully at him. If he was managing to exit politely, the guests who had been muttering could not do much less. She smiled at Lady Emsley, who was behind him. A short woman, with a soft heart-shaped face and butter-colored curls, she beamed at Eleanor.
“A terrific ball, my lady. We had a lovely time.”
“I’m so pleased,” Eleanor said sincerely.
They went out of the door into the hallway beyond, where the footmen were handing out cloaks and hats. More people wandered up and Eleanor curtseyed and exchanged pleasantries, glad that nobody seemed to be upset.
“Good evening, my lady.” Lady Anselm sounded distinctly shy.
