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Chapter Three
Kenneth arrived unfashionably late on the night of the ball at the mansion of the Earl of Somerholm. Even though it was considered rude to show up this late, it was a slight that could be forgiven him considering his status. This was a fact he was fully aware of.
His decision to come late had been down to two crucial reasons.
The first was that he hated the usual wait to arrive at the door of the hosts’ residence, the streets full of carriages, as was the norm with such events. In the past, he managed to come late to avoid the wait until he discovered that the whole of London had learned that secret and had also begun coming late. He’d immediately then switched to appearing early, or right on time for events, in most cases beating the majority of the guests to the venue. As a result, his wait time in the carriage had been reduced drastically.
The second reason, however, was slightly more personal. He sincerely hoped that by the time he was arriving, the ball would have been winding down to a close. That way, the act of being graceful in the presence of his political opponent wouldn’t have to be maintained for long before he said his goodbyes and headed back home. Also, he would have escaped the usual melee of ladies that were always seeking his attention in earnest at events like this.
Pulling up to the door, however, his hopes that the ball was winding down to a close were dashed. Granted, there were no carriages waiting in line to get to the door and drop off their patrons. He could, however, see a lot of footmen hanging around the grounds, an indication that the ball was still in full swing as their patrons were still inside.
He sighed in frustration as he stepped down from his carriage. The groom had taken over the reins as soon as he’d alighted and began his arduous walk toward the front door. His plan had definitely backfired and coming in this late, everyone in attendance was going to notice his name when it was announced.
Well, better get to it then.
By some stroke of luck, the porter who received guests at the front door and made the announcements was missing from his post. He knew this was because everyone who was expected to make an appearance had done so, along with majority if not the entirety of the guest list, him excluded.
He immediately slipped in through the doors and headed for the ballroom, with the music and activity streaming from that room making it easy to find.
As soon as he walked in, it felt like all eyes in the room had fallen on him. This obviously was a phenomenon he was very well used to from his numerous socializing exploits. He wasn’t ignorant of his handsome facial features and the effect they had on the ladies, single and married alike. It also didn’t help that he was still a bachelor, and even more the son of a prestigious Duke. To the ladies of theton, that placed him amongst the most alluring prospects whose attention needed to be secured at all cost. After all, there were probably only a few bachelors who outranked him in the whole of London and England.
There were days were he would slow down and bask in the euphoria of the effect he exerted in a room whenever he walked in. Today, however, was not that day.
He immediately began scanning the crowd, looking for either of his parents. His preference was to sight his father first. The reason being that his mother was most definitely going to be frolicking with her peers, most of which would be more than eager to introduce him to their single daughters who were never far behind.
His father would most likely be in the company of other gentlemen, as well as the Earl of Somerholm, most of whom would be too proud or too preoccupied with political discussions for matchmaking him to their daughters.
Find Father, approach him, greet the host most graciously, spend a few minutes, and excuse yourself.
He made a mental list.
He spied his mother in the corner with other ladies suddenly beginning to congregate around her. He understood the migration patterns clearly as he’d seen it happen more than once on previous occasions. They were all trying to be in close proximity to his mother, awaiting his arrival.
Fortunately for him, he spied his father soon after in a gathering of gentlemen and began making his way toward the Duke. This didn’t stop people from trying to slow him down with greetings and salutations. He remained focused in his bid to reach his father, even as he felt most eyes in the room following his movement.
Moments later, he made out the features of the Earl of Somerholm as the person standing closest to his father, as he’d already figured the Earl would. Apparently, he was going to be able to kill two birds with one stone and be out of here sooner than he had anticipated. He continued his journey until the crowd parted and revealed a figure standing beside the Earl.
His breath caught in his chest as he sighted the most beautiful lady he’d ever seen. With mahogany curly hair and gorgeous facial features, she looked like a vision from heaven. She was decked out in a pale green ball gown and white gloves, while a gold bandeau confined her hair, thus enhancing her facial features.
Why she was amongst the gentlemen and not the ladies immediately crossed his mind. Yet the thought was fleeting as he noticed that this beautiful lady was also staring at him.
He doubled his pace with as much grace as he could muster in a bid to get to her quicker, before another gentleman asked her to dance. Suddenly, his thoughts to be in and out of the ball as soon as possible, faded into nothingness.
* * *
Rose spent the days leading up to the ball in a blur.
She’d gone through the preparations with an indifference that had earned her a scolding from her mother on numerous occasions. She felt she’d already been auctioned off by her parents. The ball was just a mere formality as far as she was concerned. The deal had been done and she would soon be shipped off.
When the ball occurred, the rest of the peerage would see that the Earl of Rockgonie had begun courting her and by the end of the season, she would most likely be married to him and bearing his title.
Her fate had been decided. All she could do now was watch the tides of destiny as they carried her along.
The day had arrived and her lady’s maid had prepared her for the ball, taking care to make sure that she was the star attraction as per her mother’s wishes. She’d just sat there like a log as a flurry of activities went on around her.
When she’d finally sashayed into the ball at the height of its activities, she’d taken one long look around and headed straight to her father’s side.
Her reason was simple. This was a mere formality and as such, she wasn’t bothered to keep up appearances with the assembly of ladies.
