“Ah, Alvanley,” the Prince said cheerfully.
He was a large man with a distinct paunch. Though, Caroline thought,paunchmight be a very kind description. Her father would say he appeared to have swallowed the world. His clothes were very fine and did an equally fine job of holding in the swallowed earth.
“Miss Upton,” Lord Alvanley said, “I present you to His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent.”
Caroline curtsied as low as she could possibly manage without falling over.
“Charming,” the Prince said. He looked around at the sea of faces who leaned toward him and said, “Is she not charming?”
There were various nods and affirmations, as if they were all in agreement regarding Miss Upton’s charms.
Caroline, herself, only smiled and hoped she did not blush under such scrutiny. She was not at all in the habit of that feminine art, but there were times her cheeks got away from her despite her best efforts.
“Easton,” the Prince said, “you bring to us a lovely addition to our party.”
Lord Easton bowed and said, “It is my pleasure to escort Miss Upton this evening, Your Royal Highness.”
“Everyone?” The Prince said, peering around, “Miss Upton is lovely, is she not?”
Again, the crowd was in full agreement with the Prince.
“Your Royal Highness,” Lord Alvanley said, “might I suggest I take Miss Upton around to meet your friends?”
“Excellent notion, Alvanley,” the Prince said. “Easton, let us discuss the private matter between us in the library.”
Caroline was certain the matter between the two gentlemen was the lost bets to her father and sponsorship of herself as partial payment of the debt. Fortunately, she did not believe anybody else would know it.
With that, the prince set off with Lord Easton while Lord Alvanley held out his arm. Between introducing her to this person and that and letting all know the prince had named her charming and lovely, Lord Alvanley amused her with his comments.
“I thought to get you away once the deed was done,” the lord said. “One tends to stay in the Prince’s good graces by notoverstaying.”
“The deed being to publicly wrest a few compliments on my person, I presume?”
“Precisely,” Lord Alvanley said. “Now that all of Brighton has been told what to think, Miss Upton will be invited everywhere.”
“He was very kind to do it,” Caroline said.
“I have been wondering, of course, why he was so set on it. Do not mistake me, you are everything charming and lovely, but he does not generally take such an interest in a young lady being introduced to society.”
Caroline very well knew why the Regent took an interest but would hardly own it. Rather, she said, “It has been my experience that any man keen on horses is just as keen on my father. Perhaps the Prince does the baron a favor?”
“Ah, yes. How stupid of me to forget you are Baron Dunn’s daughter. He is a talented fellow when it comes to horseflesh. And witty too. Rather pleasant to be around.”
Caroline smiled. “And then, I did hear that he has a lovely and charming daughter, so that’s something.”
Lord Alvanley laughed. “I had thought, when I was sent on the errand to find you in the line of carriages, that I would come upon a blushing miss who could hardly account for how she got there. I am glad to be mistaken.”
For some reason, his words stung just the smallest bit. It reminded her of the celebrated duke’s daughter who was described as demure. She did not wish to be a blushing miss, or demure either. Why did people expect it?
The pinprick drove her to speak, as pinpricks often did.
“Lord Alvanley,” she said, “if those ladies exist who are so unsteady that they have trouble understanding where they are and attempt to remedy the situation with pink cheeks, I can only celebrate that I am not one of them. It seems a tedious existence.”
“Brava, Miss Upton,” Lord Alvanley said, appearing surprised. He paused for a moment, then he said, “I am holding a small dinner on Tuesday, my dinners are generally held to be amusing as we always have a few wits at table, why don’t you and Easton come?”
“I am not certain I could keep up with a wit,” Caroline said.
“Oh, I think you’ll do just fine, and as for Easton, he’s a rather wonderful audience. After all, what would be the point of wit if there is not an appreciation of it? Easton’s always been an enthusiastic appreciator.”
