Page 21 of The Duke's Scandal
Isobella glanced at her friend, then, seeing Lord Broughton hurrying to join them, only smiled. It did not matter if Lord Ryelandwasan excellent fellow, she could not let herself trust anyone again.
“There we are, then.” Lord Broughton took his betrothed’s arm and then smiled at Isobella. “You have more than one dance this evening, yes?”
“And you are still waiting for the Duke of Exeter,” Lady Amelia said, with a slight lift of her eyebrows. “You will be much in demand, I am sure.”
Even if I do not wish to be.Isobella opened her mouth to say something, only for a loud cry to catch not only her attention but also the attention of many near to them. They stopped in their progress across the ballroom, each head turning in the direction of the French doors. A young lady rushed out of them, her hands flailing, tears pouring down her cheeks, with another young lady following thereafter. Isobella saw her catch the first young lady, throwing her arms around her while the first began to sob.
“Goodness gracious, whatever has happened?” Lady Amelia exclaimed, looking wide-eyed at the scene before them. “I do hope both of those young ladies are quite all right?”
“Indeed,” Isobella murmured, watching them both still as other gentlemen and ladies began to come inside, walking through the French doors in groups of two or three. Somewent to speak to the young ladies, others moved away quickly but glanced over their shoulders as they did so.
“There!”
One of the young ladies – the second one who had come in – pointed at the doorway as three gentlemen walked through it, one after the other. She immediately began to sob, the first joining her as she began to weep also.
“They cannot be pointing at the Duke of Exeter, can they?” Lord Broughton’s voice was low, his brow furrowed, and catching her breath, Isobella realized that one of the three gentlemen who had walked through the door was, in fact, the Duke of Exeter. He was walking through the crowd now, seemingly nonchalant, but, at the same time, many guests were turning their heads to look at him.
“He would not have done something dreadful, would he?” Isobella asked, her heart beginning to clamor as Lady Amelia began to frown. “He is aDuke.”
“And dukes can very often do as they please, if they so wish,” her friend said, darkly. “Let us hope he is not responsible for whatever it is that has taken place.”
Isobella watched the Duke walk away, her heart thudding wildly. Had she misjudged the Duke of Exeter? Thus far, he had seemed like an excellent gentleman, but, mayhap now, his character was a good deal less than it had seemed.
I should not care,she told herself, turning away from the scene and beginning to walk across the room again to find her brother.I should not care one jot about the Duke of Exeter.
Her eyes closed briefly as her heart twisted. Yes, she might tell herself repeatedly that she had no need to care about anything that the Duke of Exeter did or said but the truth was, shedid…and that was a very concerning thing indeed.
Chapter Ten
Iwonder where Lady Isobella is?
Amos made his way through the ballroom carefully, nodding and smiling at various acquaintances but quickly ignoring any young lady beckoning at him to come and join their conversation. He did not want to stop at any conversation, did not want to linger with anyone. The only person on his mind was Lady Isobella.
After their walk together in the park, he had come to the determined conclusion that he was going to seek to court her. His question, however, had been left unanswered, that strange awkwardness building between them – an awkwardness that he had struggled to comprehend. Thus, even though it was perhaps not the right course of action, Amos had decided he would seek her out and apologize for his forwardness, in the hope that she might not pull away from him. If the thought of him coming to call upon her was so troubling, then mayhap he should linger only in conversations here and there before moving any further forward. The last thing he desired was for her to move away from him.
It is strange just how quickly she has taken hold of me,he thought to himself, making his way to the French doors in the hope that she was out in the gardens.Suddenly now, I can think of no one else other than her.
“Oh, Your Grace! Good evening. How pleasant to see you again.”
Amos was forced to stop, bowing low so that Lady Clara would not see the grimace crossing his face. “Good evening, Lady Clara.”
She set her hand on his arm, coming a little closer to him – closer than she might have dared had they been inside the ballroom. The darkness here hid a good deal more than otherwise might have been accepted. “Let me introduce you to two of myverydear friends. Your Grace, might I present Lady Sara and Miss Abernathy.”
Amos bowed again, wishing he had not been forced to stop and speak with Lady Clara. He most certainly did not need to have two more young ladies fawning over him, not when he had already one young lady in mind. “A pleasure, of course.”
“Miss Abernathy is sister to the Viscount Hodgeson and Lady Sara’s father is the Earl of Dumfries.”
Putting on a smile, Amos nodded to both the young ladies. “How very good to meet you both.”
“And to meet you,” Lady Sara said, her voice a little soft, her eyes glinting in the moonlight. “Pray, tell us, are you to dance this evening? Miss Shelton has told us that, on occasion, you have chosennotto do so, greatly disappointing a good many young ladies!”
Are they both just as forward as she?Amos’ smile faded. “I am not certain as yet,” he said, in clipped tones, hoping this would dissuade them from asking him anything further. “I have only just arrived, and there are one or two acquaintancesI very much wish to speak to this evening. That is my goal at present.”
The ladies all glanced at each other, with Miss Abernathy the first to speak. “Might I ask who they are? Mayhap we would be able to assist you.”
Having no desire to reveal that he was eager to speak to Lady Isobella, Amos forced a smile, beginning to move slowly away from them all. “Thank you for your offer of assistance, Miss Abernathy. I am sure I will find them soon enough! Do excuse me.”
The disappointment wrote itself on their faces in an instant, leaving Amos with an even greater urge to rush from them. Miss Shelton had already reached out once to grasp at his arm, and he could have no assurance that she would not do so again! Moving to the other side of the gardens, Amos ran one hand over his face, letting out a slow breath as he set aside his frustration. Miss Shelton and her friends were persistent, determined, and more than a little forward! He had to pray that they would not come to spy him out again later that evening.
