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CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
As Edwina made her way into Somersby House, she breathed a sigh of relief. The soiree started later in the evening after the sun had started to dip below the sky. Her heart raced, thinking of traveling through the countryside toward Mayfair with the Monster of London still on the loose. Even worse, after the ball, she would have to travel all the way back.
However, as soon as she saw the house, her fears slipped away. Leticia must have slaved over the décor as the halls were filled with boughs of greenery and flowers. Candles flickered in chandeliers and candelabras everywhere she looked.
Edwina did not know many people, and for the first time, she attended a ball without a chaperone. She wandered through the crowd, smiling politely at strangers, who smiled back without engaging her in a conversation. Feeling out of place, she made her way to a refreshment table to find a glass of champagne.
“There you are!” Edwina heard behind her as she accepted a coupe of champagne from a server. She turned to find Mrs. Fenton behind her with Miss Beasley by her side. “We have been looking all over for you.”
“I only just arrived,” Edwina said with a smile, finding herself relaxing to find someone she recognized.
“There are simply so many people you must meet,” Miss Beasley said. “And I am very much in need of distraction.”
“What has happened?” Edwina asked, taking the girl’s arm.
“That Mr. Cowlitz has put her off,” Mrs. Fenton whispered in her ear.
“He is apparently courting that Burlingame girl!” Miss Beasley exclaimed dramatically. “Can you imagine?”
“I cannot,” Edwina told her, explaining, “for I do not even know who that is.”
Mrs. Fenton raised her glass to a pretty young girl dressed in white like a recent debutante. “Her.”
“He must be after her money,” Miss Beasley continued to lament. “I have heard her father has set aside a considerable dowry.”
“Oh, come now,” Edwina protested, turning the girl away from her nemesis. “Any man that would be distracted by money is of no use to you.”
“Hear, hear!” Mrs. Fenton cried.
“I like you much better than Lady Somersby,” Miss Beasley whispered to Edwina. “She told me it was my fault when Mr. Cowlitz started ignoring me.”
“What a cruel thing to say,” Edwina murmured.
“Speaking of,” Mrs. Fenton warned, looking up to a balcony above the ballroom floor. Leticia walked in, her hand on the arm of a much older gentleman. His blond hair was streaked with gray, and his mouth turned up in a smile.
“Welcome, honored guests!” the man called out.
“That is Lord Somersby,” Mrs. Fenton explained. She rolled her eyes, saying, “Leticia’s Albert.”
“He is much older than her, is he not?” Edwina observed.
Miss Beasley leaned into Edwina, whispering, “But still rather handsome, no? If I had to marry an older man, I would hope that he looked like Lord Somersby.” Edwina did not respond as she turned back to Lord Somersby’s speech.
“We are pleased that you have all joined us this evening for a night of celebration. Please enjoy the music, the refreshments, and revel in pleasure this evening!” he called out to the crowd, inciting a chorus of cheers and whoops.
“I would also like to add –” Leticia interjected, waving for the crowd to quiet with a laugh. “I would also like to wish my husband a very happy birthday. In honor of his forty-fifth birthday, I would like to present this portrait I had commissioned of him.”
She gestured to the far wall of the ballroom where two footmen pulled a velvet curtain away from a large frame, revealing a large portrait of Albert, standing in a forest with a hunting gun, a pheasant in his hand, and a pack of hunting dogs at his feet. The crowd erupted in a round of applause.
When Edwina looked back up to Leticia and Albert, Albert had taken Leticia’s hand and raised it to his lips. He looked over her knuckles as he kissed them, his eyes smoldering with desire for his wife. Leticia smiled radiantly, almost blushing at her husband’s attention.
“I cannot express how happy I am,” Albert said, loud enough for all the guests to hear. “I do believe I am the luckiest man in the room to have a wife as generous and beautiful as my Leticia.”
The crowd cheered again, but Edwina could not help but feel annoyed by the public display. The orchestra started, cutting off any further speechmaking by the couple, releasing the guests back to the merrymaking.
“What wonderful hosts,” Mrs. Fenton said, turning away. “It is always so refreshing to see a husband that loves his wife so ardently.”
“Surely Mr. Fenton loves you,” Miss Beasley said innocently.
