The rest of the gentlemen at table began to look hopeful. That they would clutch desperately at any idea, Hampton did not doubt. Hehadbegun to doubt the rightness of exploiting Miss Knightsbridge’s ill-advised words. He did not like gossip in general and had never been the means of spreading it.
Though, after all, without knowing him the lady had informed him she did notwishto know him. In fact, she claimed there might be no end of people who did not wish to know him. Further, nobody had forced her to own that she wielded a shotgun.
He supposed she could be left to her own devices.
Chapter Four
Lord and LadySedway’s dinner was to be a cozy evening for only thirty guests. Of all the invitations that had piled up on her aunt’s silver tray in the hall, Cassandra felt most comfortable considering this one. All of her childhood, she’d known Lady Sedway as Anne Hamilton. Though Anne was five years older than herself, the lady being a close neighbor meant that the Hamiltons had been often at Trebly Hall.
When she had been younger, Cassandra had gloried in Anne coming into her bedchamber and advising her on her hair or showing her the latest fashion. Cassandra might not have understood half of what Anne said or cared much for the parts she did understand, but she was very admiring of Anne’s confidence. Anne had been like an elder sister and, though so unlike herself, dearly loved for it.
Anne was all hairstyles and clothes and whispers about balls and the gentlemen who could be found at them. Cassandra, being raised in a male-dominated house, rather looked upon her older friend as some exotic creature who was mystifyingly privy to the secrets of an unknown world.
Now, Anne Hamilton was Lady Sedway, having married an earl. She still wrote her old friend and had been delighted to hear that Cassandra would come for her first season. Cassandra had been promised a dinner and Lady Sedway was as good as her word.
Cassandra supposed her old friend would be surprised to see her appearance after four years’ absence. Back then, it would be unlikely that she’d manage an entire day without soiling her dress from climbing over a fence or ripping her riding habit on a loose nail in the stables. Now, she was to arrive a proper-looking young lady.
They entered the house and Lady Sedway rushed to greet them. “Dear Cass!” she said, “goodness, look at you. I do not know what I expected, perhaps that you would turn up with mud on your cheek as I was so used to seeing you, but you are positively grown! And Lady Marksworth, how good of you to come. I do not believe I have seen you since that last Christmas at the Viscount’s house the year before I married.”
Lady Marksworth graciously nodded.
“Lady Sedway,” Cassandra said, “you cannot imagine how cheered I am to see you.”
“You must still call me Anne, just as you do in your letters,” Lady Sedway said, laughing. “I cannot be addressed so formally by the girl I used to experiment on with curl papers.”
As Lady Sedway led them into the drawing room, Cassandra thought her friend had not changed much, only become even more elegant than she had always been.
The lady’s butler announced them and they went in.
The drawing room was already peopled with various guests. Cassandra was introduced to Lord Sedway, who she found a friendly sort and surprisingly knowledgeable of her long-standing friendship with his wife.
She was cheered to see Lord Burke on the other side of the room, talking to Miss Penny Darlington, a pleasant lady she’d met on a call to Mrs. Darlington some weeks ago.
Cassandra was further cheered to see that none of the gentlemen of the pact were in the room. Now that she’d seen them all go into Lord Dalton’s house, she was certain she could recognize them.
Behind her, she heard the butler say, “Lord Hampton and Lord Ashworth.”
Cassandra’s heart sank. Why? Why must two of the pact attend? And worse, why must one of them be Lord Hampton? She dearly wished Sybil to be at her side, but her friend attended a dinner elsewhere. Lady Marksworthdidstand next to her, but she suddenly felt very alone.
Lady Sedway guided the two gentlemen to Cassandra and her aunt. “I do not know if you have been introduced—Lord Hampton, Lord Ashworth, may I present Miss Knightsbridge and Lady Marksworth.”
The gentlemen bowed. Lord Hampton said, “We met at the Bergrams’ ball, I believe.”
Cassandra knew that to be the snub it was intended to be. To say he “believed”they had met was to say she had not made much of an impression. She supposed she was meant to be insulted by it, but she was far from it. She would be very grateful to be forgettable, including all she had said, in the lord’s mind.
Lord Ashworth said, “Miss Knightsbridge.”
Cassandra thought he said it almost as a question. He had such a quizzical look that she began to wonder if Lord Hampton had seen fit, after all, to repeat her unique views expressed over supper.
Lady Sedway led the gentlemen away to introduce them to Miss Darlington.
“Well,” Lady Marksworth said softly, “I see the pact gentlemen have taken their fathers seriously. Theywillattend everywhere they are invited. I imagine a small dinner such as this would not generally attract their notice.”
Cassandra did not answer and Lady Marksworth went on.
“Of course, I believe Lord Hampton is a cousin to Lord Sedway somehow or other so that might account for it. In any case, the circumstances are fortuitous for our hostess; it is often hard to balance a table for a dinner.”
Cassandra did not particularly concern herself over whether the table was balanced. She only concerned herself with the wish that Lord Hampton be seated far away from her at that table.
