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CHAPTER16
Neville wasn’tsure why he was attending Lady Mowbray’s St. Valentine’s Day Ball, especially after the way that Lady Henrietta — and, he suspected, her mother — had behaved at the Page Ball. Well, if he was honest with himself, there was one reason he was willing to risk attending, and her name was Miss Susan Wingfield. He’d enjoyed dancing with her again — being close to her and drinking in her presence again — a few nights ago, despite the awkward silence which had hung between them.
Almost the very moment that he set foot inside Lady Mowbray’s ballroom, Lady Middlebrook and Lady Henrietta rushed to his side with almost unseemly haste. He thought, just for a moment, about trying to duck away from them, or perhaps ignoring them outright – although giving them the cut direct would simply create even more scandal. He spotted Lord Middlebrook behind them and, despite what he sincerely suspected they had attempted to do to him at the Page Ball, he would not publicly embarrass Lord Middlebrook’s wife and daughter, especially not while Lord Middlebrook was right there, looking him in the eye. Middlebrook himself was a decent chap, and it simply would not do, no matter how much he didn’t want to see them or deal with them.
The thing Neville hated most was that he had not even considered the possibility that Lady Middlebrook and Lady Henrietta were schemers. It had never occurred to him that they might try to trap him. The very idea of it was horrific. He clenched his teeth so tightly that he was afraid they might break as the two ladies curtsied to him and greeted him with broad smiles, as if nothing at all had happened. It was infuriating. But Lord Middlebrook was close, and watchful, and Neville didn’t dare snub them.
So, Neville bowed politely and greeted them.
“Lady Middlebrook. Lady Henrietta.”
He said nothing beyond that, hoping that they would catch the hint and have the decency to leave him alone. Unfortunately for him, they did not appear to be capable of taking a hint, or they were actively ignoring it.
“We are delighted to see you again, Lord Seabury.” Lady Middlebrook gave him a smile which feigned innocence, then promptly moved in for the kill like the predator he was coming to realise that she truly was. “And I do hope you plan to make good on your word to dance with Henrietta and look out for her tonight, as you have at the Season’s other events thus far. I would hate it if something scandalous happened to her, wouldn’t you?”
Neville had no polite escape, no possible way out. Sweat beaded on his upper lip as he resisted the urge to bolt away from them. Lady Middlebrook was applying pressure exactly where she knew it would work best... on Neville’s sense of honour, and his fixation on people keeping their word.
Neville forced a tight smile which was more like a threatened animal baring its teeth, in truth.
“Of course I’ll ask Lady Henrietta to dance. I am a man of my word, as you well know.”
Lady Middlebrook’s eyes flashed with something akin to triumph at Neville’s words, and he forced himself not to visibly shudder in response as Lady Henrietta held her dance card out to him. He put his name on the first line and forced a smile, ready to excuse himself in time enough to enjoy a drink away from them before the first dance, but the musicians chose that very moment to strike up their instruments.
Neville silently cursed as he held his hand out to a preening Lady Henrietta and led her out onto the dance floor. She batted her eyelashes at him, smiling sweetly, and Neville took a deep breath, hating every second of leading her out onto the dance floor.
“How are you this evening, Lord Seabury? Enjoying the Ball?”
Neville wanted to snap that no, he obviously was not enjoying himself, especially not in her presence, but it wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do.
“Fine, I suppose,” Neville sighed as they faced one another on the dance floor and the dance began, everyone moving in unison. “And you? How are you this evening, Lady Henrietta?”
“I am very well indeed, Lord Seabury, now that I am being afforded the pleasure of dancing with you again.”
The phrase was almost a taunt, and Neville stiffened despite himself, tracking her gaze as it scanned the room, probably looking for Miss Wingfield so that she could silently preen and gloat that she had, once again, secured the first dance of the evening with Lord Seabury.
Neville tried never to hate anyone, but Lady Henrietta seemed to be doing her best to torment him, to bring out the worst in him and make him behave in a manner that he could not abide. She knew that he couldn’t stand rudeness, abhorred the idea of making a scene, and she had him bloody well cornered between her and her mother. He wondered, for a moment, whether they were world-class chess players, because they seemed to be thinking several moves ahead of everyone else in the ton.
Neville loathed that he was trapped dancing with Lady Henrietta. It was the last place he wanted to be, especially knowing that Miss Wingfield might arrive at any moment and see them together... again. It might give her the wrong idea. Now that he thought about it, he rather suspected that Lady Middlebrook getting him to agree to dance with Lady Henrietta before the Season started had been intended to give that exact impression. They had, he now realised, been planning all of this from the very beginning.
Neville’s blood ran cold, and he wondered if Lady Henrietta was scheming once again, at that very moment.
* * *
Edward had arrived justin time to change and attend Lady Mowbray’s St. Valentine’s Day Ball with his family, if they were willing to be a couple of minutes late as a result of waiting for him. Georgiana, Susan, Eliza, and his sister Eugenia -- who had chosen to get ready with Susan -- all agreed to wait for him because they would much rather attend with him than without.
When they arrived, the first dance set was just starting, and Susan couldn’t help spotting that Lady Henrietta had already succeeded in cornering Lord Seabury, and had somehow coaxed him into dancing with her, again, in the set which was about to begin. Susan balled her hands into tight fists at her sides and veered off towards the refreshment table. She needed to do something with her hands, and her back was conveniently toward the dance floor as she retrieved a glass of orgeat for herself. To her surprise, her family had all followed. Lady Eugenia, however, had been spotted by the Count D’Asti, who led her out onto the dance floor to join the first dance set. Susan was happy for her friend, and for the Count, too, but suppressed a groan as her gaze automatically snapped back to Lord Seabury and Lady Henrietta preparing to dance with one another.
Georgiana leaned over, then, giving Susan’s arm a gentle squeeze, and spoke in a low tone.
“I know it upsets you to see Lord Seabury dancing with Lady Henrietta, but you shouldn’t show it. Don’t give that wretched girl the satisfaction of seeing you in distress over her actions. She keeps shooting poisonous glances this way every time she faces in your direction, and she seems to be enjoying your distress far too much.”
Susan cringed, angling her face away from the dance floor until she could school her expression into a mask of calm.
“Do not worry, sister. I have a plan for how to best Lady Henrietta at her own game. Let her think I am upset. Let her think she is winning, for all I care. If she thinks that she has already defeated me, it will make her bold, and more than that, it will likely make her reckless, and I have every intention of using that recklessness to my advantage.”
Georgiana raised her eyebrows at Susan’s declaration, but smiled and nodded.
“You never fail to surprise me, Susan. I wish you the best of luck. You may need it with an opponent like Lady Henrietta.”
“If I have my way, before this night is over, she will reap what she sowed when she chose to meddle with my life, and with Count D’Asti’s, as well.”
* * *
