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‘Oh, it’s quite easy.’ With a beaming smile, I turned towards Lady Caroline. ‘I stand in front of the mirror every day and tell myself “I shall not behave like a horrible hag today.” You should try the method some time. It might do you a world of good.’
The friendly smile bled from Lady Caroline’s face.
‘You don’t actually think you have a chance, do you?’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘A chance with what?’
‘Not what. Whom.’ Her eyes narrowed to slits. And hers weren’t the only ones. All around, gazes turned predatory. Guess who was the prey? ‘You can’t honestly think he’ll pick you!’
He already has, you witch! In more ways than you can imagine.
I shrugged. ‘Well, you never know. As they say in Spain ¡Vete a freír espárragos!’[19]
Her brow furrowed. ‘What?’
I only smiled.
‘Don’t fool yourself.’ That was Lady Caroline again, her voice like venom. ‘A girl like you, with no title, no money, no nothing - he won’t go near you with a ten-foot pole at that ball. Leave now, and spare yourself the humiliation of standing alone in a corner all night.’
‘Excellent advice. Why don’t you take it yourself?’
Blood rushed to her cheeks. Huzzah! My comeback reflex was still working as well as ever.
Unfortunately, it didn’t do much good. They started to encircle me, approaching slowly, their fans drawn as if they were weapons.
‘We are only concerned for your feelings and your reputation,’ another lady told me with a smile you could have used as a bone saw. ‘Wouldn’t it be better for you to leave this place now, before you completely embarrass yourself?’
‘To be honest…’ Leaning forward, I slid my hand under the coffee table that stood between us. Invisible, it shot forward under the table top, grabbed her hand and bent back her forefinger. A quick twist was all it needed.
Her face paled.
‘I think I’d rather stay. I can handle anything that comes at me. Don’t you agree?’
Sweat appeared on her forehead. She gave a jerky nod. All her friends stared at her as if her hair had suddenly turned into spaghetti.
‘Well, this has been fun, ladies.’ Rising to my feet, I let go, and the hyena collapsed back in her chair, staring up at me with wide eyes. ‘But I’ve got to run. Goodbye, or as they say in Spain, ¡Vete a la mierda!’
And I walked away with my head held high. Dear me… my recently gained Spanish vocabulary was really proving useful.
*~*~**~*~*
My boost of confidence had disappeared by lunchtime. True, I could hold my own against the hyenas. If I wanted to, I could lie in wait for Lady Caroline, hold her at gunpoint, tie her up and take her to the nearest farmer who needed a new scarecrow. But what good would that do?
Well, it would be tremendous fun.
All right, it would, but apart from that what good would it do? What did she or Lady Dorothea Asquith or Lady Eveline Maria Westwood or any one of those women really matter? After all, tonight, and every night after that, there would only be one person whose decision would count. And he was not wearing a dress or pelting me with snide little remarks. In fact, he hadn’t spoken a word to me since Dalgliesh had left. And right now at the dinner table, he seemed determined to continue this policy.
Lady Samantha - bless her optimistic soul - had seated the two of us next to each other. It felt like sitting next to an undertaker’s cold storage room - except that corpses would probably have been a lot more chatty. The arctic, ear-piercing silence radiating off of him was enough to make my bones shiver. If I needed an answer to the question whether he’d forgiven me for saying no to him - here it was.
Once or twice I glanced up at him, trying to catch his eye. I might as well have tried to catch a Siberian tiger with my bare hands. He didn’t even seem to notice I was there.
But I knew better.
He noticed. He just didn’t care to do anything about it.
Bloody hell! This can’t be happening! Is he really that angry? Is he really going to ask someone else?
I couldn’t bear to imagine him with any of these women. Dancing, holding hands, their bodies so close…
