Page 8 of The Uncompromising Marquess
The thought came upon him unexpectedly, and Joseph, instead of accepting it, frowned heavily and rubbed at his forehead so he might remove it from himself. He had no desire to eventhinkupon Lady Florence any more than he had done already, and to consider her beautiful held no purpose.Throwing it aside, Joseph looked out at the crowd of guests, looking at the young ladies closest to him and trying to remember if he had been introduced to any of them. One way or another, he was determined to find the very best young lady in all of society to marry, but given what he had only just experienced, he feared it would take him nearly all of the festive Season to find her.
4
Helena looked at Florence with a sympathetic smile on her face. “Are you quite all right?”
She managed a rueful smile. “It looks quite dreadful, does it not?”
“No, it is not all that bad.” The catch in Helena’s voice told Florence that she was not being entirely truthful, although Florence appreciated her cousin’s support. “Your maid has done the best she could in covering it, I can see that.”
“Unfortunately, it does not take the pain away.” Florence shivered as the carriage continued through London, the bruise on her head aching gently, reminding her of her foolish actions the previous evening. “Goodness, it is very cold indeed today!”
“But we shall be at the soiree very soon,” Helena reminded her, although she shivered visibly also. “Lord and Lady Wessex are sure to have a roaring fire in the drawing room, and we shall be quite contented there.”
This brought Florence a little relief, although the thought of setting foot into another social gathering after the way she had injured Lord Chester at the ball brought her a fresh wave of anxiety.
“You will be quite all right,” Helena assured her, seeming to be able to read all that Florence was thinking. “I know that you will feel embarrassed and a little upset, but there is no need to be so. Not everyone will have heard of what happened, I promise you.”
Florence let out a slow breath as a wave of mortification washed over her. “I should not have dropped my dance card.”
“Oh, that was quite all right,” Helena replied, with a quiet chuckle. “What you shouldnothave done was bent down to pick it up! That is a duty for a gentleman, and I know Lord Chester would have done such a thing, had you given him opportunity.”
Heat crawled up into Florence’s neck. “He was very good about it, but I am very sure I will see him with a bruise on his forehead this evening.”
“You did not mean to do such a thing.”
“Just as I have never meant to do anything foolish,” Florence sighed, clasping her hands tightly together, the cold still seeping in through her fur-lined muff. “I become so very flustered and then… well, I do something ridiculous like that.”
Helena shook her head. “It was not ridiculous. Only an accident.”
“At least my mother was not present to see it.”
“Andshe is not here this evening.” Helena, who had spent at least half an hour convincing Lady Grangemouth that Florence would be much better suited attending this afternoon's soiree than walking through Hyde Park in the wintertime, grinned as Florence laughed softly. “That must bring you some relief.”
“Mayhap it shall.” The carriage drew to a stop, and Florence, her heart beginning to quicken, looked out of the window to the front of the townhouse. “I do hope the soiree is not overly busy. I always find it a little more difficult when there are so many gentlemen and ladies that I donotknow.”
Helena patted her hand and then climbed out of the carriage, with Florence following after. She swallowed at the tightness beginning to close up her throat, forcing it down. Surely this evening, she would do nothing to embarrass herself? There would be no dancing, so she would not forget her steps or step on a gentleman’s foot. There would be no prolonged conversations, not if she did not want to, for it would be easy enough to extract oneself from a group of gentlemen or ladies and move to another part of the house. There would not be the requirement for her to sing or to play the piano forte, for there would be many others well able to do such a thing, she was sure. So what, therefore, did she have to be worried about?
“You look quite terrified, but we cannot stand out in the cold,” Helena told her briskly. “Come along. Remember that I am here with you… and that your mother is not!”
That brought a hint of a smile to Florence’s face as she nodded, taking Helena’s arm and stepping up towards the front of the house.
“There now,you see? It is not as dreadful as all that, is it?”
Florence looked all around the room as she took in the ivy wreaths, the candle light and the ribbons that hung in beautiful strands all around them. “It is certainly beautiful,” she said, as her cousin nodded. “And there are not as many guests as I had expected.”
“That is because it is the little Season and there are plenty of gentlemen and ladies who arenotpresent in London,” Helena reminded her. “I must say, I think I prefer the little Season, however. There is something so lovely about the mistletoe and the holly and the wonderful scents that fill the air.”
This made Florence smile, chasing back the nervousness that still threatened to overwhelm her. “That much is true, I willadmit. I have not been in London during the festive Season before.”
“I was, only once.” Helena, her arm still looped through Florence’s, began to meander around the drawing room. “My eldest sister was desperate to return to London one year, because a gentleman who had shown an interest in her – a gentleman who had been forced to return home unexpectedly – had every intention of returning to London during the winter.”
“Oh?”
Helena smiled. “They fell quite in love and have been wed for five years now.”
A small sigh escaped Florence. “That is quite lovely.”
Her friend tipped her head, a question in her eyes. “Do you wish to marry for love, Florence?”
