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“His Grace was just telling me about a bill you intend to sponsor in parliament,” the Earl continued, dismissing the remark of the lesser-titled gentleman.
His father had kept to his word, he realized. The Duke had gone ahead to engender support for his bill that was soon to be introduced to parliament, amongst this particular company.
It was a good thing he’d accepted his father’s proposal and come to this ball after all. The truth was, for such a bill to be entertained in the House, it needed a large support from a majority of influential Lords, one of which was the Earl of Somerholm.
“Yes, My Lord. Perhaps I can count on your support when the bill is ready?” Kenneth queried lightly in a bid to ascertain how much groundwork his father had done. The foundation had certainly been laid but he just had to probe a little further.
“But I most certainly can’t pledge my support when I haven’t been informed of the details of this bill,” the Earl remarked, raising Kenneth’s suspicion.
He couldn’t place it, but something in the way the Earl had made his remark on not knowing what the bill was about, had struck Kenneth as out of place. A sense of foreboding had definitely swept over him.
What is he up to?
His father might have communicated the bill to the Earl as promised.
However, this was a Lord who’d been his main political rival since he took his father’s place in parliament after his father’s resignation. Intuition made him wary of the Earl’s true intentions.
Maybe I’m overthinking it. Maybe there’s nothing to worry about.
Even as he told himself that, his worry persisted.
As he opened his mouth to respond, the cue to the music sounded all around the ballroom. Another round of dancing was in the offing. His gaze and that of the Earl’s daughter were united in the same moment. They’d both turned to face each other as soon as they’d heard the note cuing in the music.
“My Lord, perhaps we can continue this conversation at a later time,” he said in response to the Earl’s last comment.
Turning to face Lady Rose, he bowed for the second time that night. “My Lady, may I have this dance?”
As her smile spread, so did the confusion on the faces of everyone else. There were certainly other ladies he could have asked to dance. But asking Lady Rose to dance for a second time indicated to all observing that he had developed a strong interest in her.
He could literally hear the whispers on their lips as she stepped forward and joined him to walk toward the dance floor.
“I see that we are making an impression. We are suddenly the center of attention,” Kenneth whispered, loud enough for her to hear his comment.
“Well, the ball is in my honor, after all. I’ll have it no other way,” she responded, as they turned to face each other on the dance floor.
She was beaming and making no attempt to hide her smile. He smiled in response as he bowed and stepped up to her.
“So, you were telling me you read my paper. What did you think of it?” he asked.
“I’m a lady, My Lord. Surely you do not think I have an opinion on such matters,” she responded.
“A lady who has read my paper? One who prefers to stand in the company of her father and his peers instead of with her mother? Surely you have an opinion on such matters. And might I add that I’ve never met anyone like you.”
His comment made her blush.
“Well, when you put it that way, I can’t deny the fact that I have an opinion.”
After waiting for a bit and seeing she wasn’t commenting further, he remarked, “Well, are you going to tell me? Your secret is safe with me. It’s just me and you after all.”
“On the contrary, My Lord, we are not as alone as you would like to think,” she responded with a smirk, her eyes making slight darting movements suggesting he should look around them.
As his eyes followed hers, he saw what she was referring to. Besides the rest of the room whose focus remained on them, the other couples that had been dancing alongside them were clearly trying to eavesdrop in on their conversation.
“Well, I’m interested in knowing more about your opinions and about you. May I call on you tomorrow?”
The smile on her face vanished, causing him a brief moment of alarm.
“My Lord, there’s something I need to tell you.”
