Page 34 of Waiting for Love

“Ah! Switch with me, Benjamin,” Crispin said, taking Olivia’s hand in trade for Alice’s and whirling her away. Olivia blinked, then tried to keep the reproach from her expression as she quickened her steps to match his.

“That was not kind to Alice,” she said, hiding the true source of her annoyance.

Crispin snorted. “It was not unkind. We aren’t at a ball. And I wanted to tell you something.” His voice dropped low. “In confidence.”

“What is it?”

“I’m leaving before daybreak.” He squeezed her hand. “I don’t want everyone fussing, but I wanted to tell you goodbye.”

“Oh, Crispin.” At once, the world seemed a little darker.

“Chin up!” he commanded. “Don’t pout or everyone will guess something is wrong. And I hate long drawn-out farewells.” He gave her a long sympathetic look, then a scolding tsk. “You have a tendency, Olivia, to wear your heart on your sleeve. Step lively!”

He waltzed her gaily around the room.

*

After the dance, Vanessa asked Jasper to retrieve a large box from behind the drapery. The men gathered the chairs and circled them in front of her, and the ladies sat. Olivia was still warm from exertion and now felt a silly thrill of excitement. She loved presents. Vanessa opened the box and began passing out beautiful boots to the women, including Miss Jamison, who blushed and thanked her over and over. Lastly, Vanessa pulled out a tiny pair for Hannah.

“Oh, how sweet!” Georgiana cried, then they all exclaimed over the cheerful little daisies engraved in the leather.

“That is very kind,” Benjamin said, his hand on Hannah’s dark hair. He looked touched. “Thank you.”

Olivia frowned, peeved not that he graciously thanked Vanessa, but that he had excoriated her for letting Hannah have a hairpin. To her embarrassment, Benjamin caught her frowning. His chin dropped and a light flush rose in his cheeks. Guilt, she imagined. He was thinking the same thing.

When Vanessa finished her gift giving, Jasper passed out boxes to the men. Reg received a dusty old book that made his eyes light up. Crispin’s box held a new greatcoat. Sorely needed. Olivia suspected it had been Vanessa’s gift for Jasper, quickly repurposed. For Benjamin, there was a bottle of whiskey.

“Irish,” Jasper said. “I could not locate a bottle from America.”

Benjamin gripped it by the neck and held it up like a prize. “I expect you will want me to share.”

Jasper laughed. “If you can bear my society.”

Crispin and Reg laughed too. Olivia wished they would explain their little jokes. She understood she was female and a good deal younger, but she hated when they left her out.

Peters appeared just then to announce, “The villagers, my lord. They are in the drive.”

“Ah, excellent,” Jasper said, turning to Vanessa. His voice changed. From laughing to solicitous. “Are you ready, love?”

Olivia felt a catch in her throat. She’d heard that commoners could be brutal when one of their own defied conventions. Just like the ton.

Vanessa rose. Her features were resolute. “Yes, I am.”

And then, all the Taverstons stood.

Chapter Thirteen

Such a brave woman, Benjamin thought, as Vanessa prepared to face the masses in her new role as the Countess of Iversley. Half the celebrants, more than half, would be less interested in the festivities than in setting eyes upon the scandalous commoner who had snared herself a lord.

Naturally, the Taverstons showed their mettle. They rose and closed ranks. The dowager, who could easily have used mourning to excuse herself, hovered at Vanessa’s elbow. Georgiana, who must be dragging after the long day, walked arm-in-arm with Reg, even though her appearance in public, in her obvious condition, smacked of impropriety all by itself. And Olivia and Alice, unmarried gentlewomen who should have shied away from any scandal lest they harm their own prospects, followed close upon Vanessa’s heels. Benjamin started to wonder if even Crispin’s unexpected presence was a sign of solidarity.

Miss Jamison slipped away with Hannah, but Benjamin was expected to attend the wassailing. He entered the reception hall several steps behind the united Taverstons.

Painted wooden screens were grouped near the back wall. These were generally set in a line near the hearth in order to trap warmth and make the vast hall feel more intimate. But with the anticipated size of the gathering, they would be in the way if left in their usual spot. Benjamin went to the screens and stood discreetly in the shadows.

Everything was in place. A fire crackled in the hearth. The buffet table offered cakes, roasted nuts, medlars, and oranges. There were three bowls of pungent rum punch, one at each end of the table and one in the middle. Footmen and housemaids passed cups into the crowd as quickly as they could fill them, while guests swarmed into the room. The villagers were dressed in their warmest and finest, red-faced from the cold, and boisterous with holiday cheer.

By now, Benjamin knew the inhabitants of Iversley, having interacted with many of them frequently, others less so. He would have to make a point to speak with the Danforths before the night’s end. But he had no desire to circulate. He noted, with a flicker of unease, that there were several young misses the right age for courting. It brought to mind Jasper’s suggestion he look for a wife and Reg’s admonishment to find a mother for Hannah. He hoped none of the girls were thinking along the same lines.