“I enjoy the evening very well, Lord Burke,” she said. “I have come through entirely unscathed. Had you knocked me to the floor, I am confident we might have passed it off as the latest figure from Mr. Wilson.”
“You understand thetonall too well,” Lord Burke said, laughing. “If Brummel says tie it this way, it is tied. If Wilson says step this way, it is stepped.”
Cassandra smiled up at Lord Burke. She found she had a great appreciation for his wit. And, for all her consternation during her first dance with Lord Hampton, she could not deny that the ball had been pleasant since then. In truth, she felt positively lighthearted—her card had been filled and a few gentlemen turned away on account of it. She supposed she’d carried on quite creditably.
The dining table was already crowded. Lord Burke pointed to a few empty chairs and said, “Just there, and good luck too. There is my friend Hampton.”
Chapter Three
While Cassandra wouldhave gladly chosen any other chair than the one empty across from Lord Hampton, she had not been able to posit an excuse before Lord Burke had led her there.
Ever jolly Lord Burke did not seem to note the coolness with which both she and Lord Hampton confirmed that they had been introduced. Lord Hampton’s dinner partner, the beautiful Miss Daisy Danworth, her blond curls charmingly escaping her lady’s maid’s best laid plans,didseem to note it. The lady looked amused.
“Dashed inconvenient thing, that pact, eh, Hampton?” Lord Burke said. “I’ve some kind of luck that my own father does not conspire so.”
Cassandra was surprised to hear of the pact spoken of so openly to one who was affected by it. Lord Hampton appeared filled with consternation to hear it mentioned. He said, “Perhaps we should not discuss it in front of the ladies.”
Lord Burke laughed. “Good Lord, there is no end of things that ought not be discussed in front of the ladies, it’s a wonder they hear anything at all.”
“Nevertheless,” Lord Hampton said, beginning to look dark as thunder.
“My friend,” Lord Burke said, “there is not a chimney sweep or fish wife in London who could not recite you a version of that letter backward and forward.”
“I think it is very unfair to the ladies,” Miss Danworth said. “The moment one of us shows the trifling amount of interest we shall be pegged as the most determined title-hunters.”
“Though,” Cassandra said, unwilling to resist the remark dangling before her, “I do not suppose it will be very difficult to remainuninterested, thereby nullifying the problem.”
“Ah,” Miss Danworth said, “Miss Knightsbridge speaks very decidedly. Have you met and dismissed all six gentlemen of the pact?”
Cassandra smiled. “I have not and have no need of it. I have no wish to be a duchess, I would find it rather boring.”
“Boring?” Lord Burke said. “Now you must elaborate, Miss Knightsbridge, as I am very sure that is a unique opinion.”
With a small smile, Lord Hampton said, “Yes, do enlighten us on the boredom of it all.”
Cassandra had not meant to let slip her real views on such things, but she’d gone and done it, and there was no turning back now.
“I am sure it is only my own eccentricity,” Cassandra said, “but it seems to me that the higher one goes in the strata of society, the more one is stared at. I’d prefer a bit more freedom than that. I’d prefer to gallop my horse over hill and dale, leaving my groom far behind, and have nobody comment upon it.”
Lord Burke said, “Gad, I see what you say. My mother is forever telling my sisters what people will think about this or that. They barely make a move without her informing them of it. I do not suppose they’ve ever galloped in their lives.”
“You are in the habit of wild rides, Miss Knightsbridge?” Miss Danworth asked.
Cassandra very much thought Miss Danworth sought to make her seem foolish. She had met such women before, and she thought she knew how to manage them.
“Miss Danworth,” she said sweetly, “a horse who is never given its head is an unhappy creature. It is only a kindness to give them leave to see what they can do. I hope I have enough sense to keep my father’s stables in contented good order.”
“What I believe Miss Danworth means to point out,” Lord Hampton said, “is that ladies galloping round the countryside, sans groom, is not exactly the done thing.”
Cassandra felt herself flush. Who was this man to inform her of what she ought to do and what she ought not to do? Her own father did not dictate in such a manner.
“Apparently,” she said, “itisthe done thing by some, as I do so often.”
“If that is so,” Lord Hampton said, “one wonders what else might be on the list of done things in Surrey. I suppose you shoot pheasant and go round in trousers if you have a mind.”
“If there was a practical reason for going round in trousers, I might very well do it,” Cassandra said, anger rising in her chest, “and anybody might take a shot at a bird.”
“Gosh,” Lord Burke said, “I cannot quite imagine my own sisters taking up a shotgun—I’d be afraid of who would end up dead on the drive.”
