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She wished she were free.
“Of course I don’t want to do it all tonight,” she said, exasperated. “But tonight, I at least have a chance to enjoy the Season, and I don’t want to pass on this opportunity to go out and mingle and feel the romance of it all—oh, men simply do not understand!”
He set the book on the small table beside the chair. “Come on,” Anthony said, rising to his feet. “We men are not so bacon-brained as all that—especially when a young lady points it out to us. I am at your service for the evening, little sister. Let’s go through that exhausting pile of invitations on Mama’s desk and see if there is one among them that will suit your fancy.”
“Oh, Anthony!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. “Thank you. This means so much to me.”
“Apparently.” He chuckled. “Which means you will owe me a favor at some future point in time.”
“Anything! I promise.”
“A huge one.”
“Anything, truly!”
“I mean it, Weezy. You are forcing me to go out into the wilderness that is the ton and face its predatory creatures—dewy-eyed misses and their eager mamas.”
Louisa laughed. It felt good to laugh. It seemed like ages since she had. “Thank you, Anthony. I shall do my best to run interference between you and anyone who attempts to get their claws into you tonight.”
“I will hold you to it,” he said.
* * *
The only real invitation Louisa could choose for this evening was the one to join Lord and Lady Melton in their box at the theater. It wasn’t precisely what Louisa had had in mind; she’d wanted to mingle and dance with her peers, but since William would not be accompanying her, she realized it was in both their interests to keep the gossips at bay. Lord and Lady Melton were dears though, and when Louisa sent off a note asking if the invitation was still available to her and Anthony, the answer that had returned with the footman was a resounding yes.
“I’m so pleased you decided to join us,” the countess whispered only a few hours later, when Louisa and Anthony, who arrived after the performance had begun, seated themselves next to the Meltons in their private box. “Always so delightful to have young people about, don’t you agree, Melton?”
The earl, who was sitting on the other side of his countess, grunted softly, his attention remaining on the stage, where a line of dancers was pirouetting very prettily.
Louisa and Anthony turned their attention to the stage as well.
“I had thought,” Lady Melton whispered behind her fan, “that you might be escorted by young Lord Farleigh, but it is always a treat to have Lord Anthony with us.”
“My brother is good company,” Louisa said, not wishing to explain William’s absence. “Lord Farleigh and I intend to visit Vauxhall Gardens tomorrow evening. I have longed to visit the pleasure garden and am looking forward to it.”
Anthony elbowed her and gave her a look that said she was speaking more loudly than she should and was beginning to babble. She shut her mouth and smiled at Lady Melton, then focused on the dancing.
A tenor, whose voice was exceptional, followed the line of dancers. Since he was singing in Italian and Louisa didn’t speak Italian, her mind—and her eyes—began to wander.
She looked around the theater, spotting Alex and Kit and Phillip, along with a few other young gentlemen, down in the gallery—undoubtedly only their first stop in a night of revelry that would continue until dawn. Alex and Kit were a lively pair, with Phillip usually dogging along after them. Louisa half suspected Phillip remained with them solely to keep the other two out of mischief—much like Anthony tended to do.
Her eyes moved upward to scan the private boxes, taking in the elegance of all those in attendance. Gentlemen in black evening wear added contrast to the rich colors of the ladies’ silk and velvet gowns. She spied Lord and Lady Wilmington, with some of their friends, in their private box. Others of Louisa’s acquaintance, including Sir Frederick and Lady Putnam and their eldest two daughters, Harriet and Charlotte, were also here for the performance. Even Baron Moseby . . . She blinked rapidly.
“Goodness, Anthony,” she whispered, leaning toward him. “Who is that lady with Baron Moseby in his box?” She was a rather striking woman of middle years, with coal-black hair piled high on her head, wearing a burgundy gown scandalously cut to enhance a rather ample bosom.
Anthony’s eyes moved from the gallery, where he’d apparently spotted Alex and the others, and searched the private boxes until he spotted Baron Moseby and his guest. “Never you mind, Weezy,” he whispered back.
“Oh . . . I see,” she replied.
Lady Melton glanced at them to see if everything was all right, so Louisa smiled at her and returned her attention to the stage. The tenor finished his aria, bowed at the enthusiastic applause he received, and exited. It was intermission.
“I believe I would like to stroll for a bit and stretch my legs,” Lady Melton said as she and Lord Melton rose from their seats. “Would either of you care to join Melton and me? Or perhaps you’d rather remain here and take in the sights before you? It is nearly as entertaining to watch the people at the theater as it is the performance itself.”
“I believe I shall remain here, but thank you for the offer,” Louisa said, still reeling somewhat from the sight of what she assumed was Baron Moseby’s mistress. The baron had been attempting to court Louisa not so many days ago. She shuddered at the thought.
After the Meltons left the box, Anthony stood. “I think I shall find Alex and the others,” he said. “Since you pried me from my comfortable fireside and book, I may as well see what plans they have for the remainder of the night.”
“What about me?” she asked indignantly. “Are you intending to leave me to the Meltons and ask them to take me home afterward? It was kind of them to allow us to attend the theater and join them in their box on such short notice. If you dash off and I must beg their assistance in returning home as well, I shall be utterly mortified.”
