AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He took a sip of his wine. “Only in passing since the party has started. She apologized for the ball.”
“Of course she did. Bella is always magnanimous as long as you give her reason to be.” Miss Caroline shook her head. “It is frustrating that the Ton thinks her so bitter, for it is quite the opposite, I assure you.”
“I’m beginning to realize that.” Guilt speared him anew at his impulsive questioning of her at the lake. It seemed he was even more off the mark regarding her than he had first thought. “The Ton can be a fickle beast.”
“Indeed, Your Grace. Oh, but don’t pity dear Bella. She has had her share of suitors, even if small. Why, just last year there was a reasonably serious courtship with a viscount.” Miss Caroline winced after the words, as if she hadn’t meant to utter them.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know the particulars,” she said quickly and took a sip of her soup. She swallowed heartily. “I only bring it up to prove that Bella has exceptional qualities and would make an excellent companion if given the chance.”
Something was odd about the way Miss Caroline spoke on the matter, but Nathan wouldn’t pry, curious as he was about this supposed suitor. He cast another glance at Miss Hughs. She was conversing with Miss Balfour, whilst Lockhart sulked on her other side. Things must be going poorly for the man’s bet regarding the bluestocking, for Miss Balfour was just about the only person he knew who could put the baron is such a sour mood. Miss Hughs laughed at something her companion said, the expression lighting up her face in the most extraordinary way. It shouldn’t be surprising that someone else might have seen past the Ton’s judgement and given her attention. He hoped she hadn’t been too disappointed that such a courtship had fallen through. He imagined her listless and heartbroken, that warm face marred by melancholy, and felt a surge of anger on her behalf. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Nathan returned his attention to Miss Caroline. If he spent too long staring at Miss Hughs in the manner that he was, others might take note and assume there was something between them, or that he was interested in her. Which he wasn’t beyond a normal curiosity and the fact that he needed her for that mare, not in the least.
“Are you alright, Nathan? You seem distracted,” his mother said from his other side.
“Perfectly fine, mother, thank you.”
“Good.” She darted her eyes toward Miss Caroline, her encouraging look unmistakable. He understood her meaning without her needing to say it, wondering just how much his mother wanted him to consider the lady. That she had been seated next to him, leaving only her and Miss Caroline as conversation partners, made him wonder if she had arranged the seating up with Lady Thurmont. Lady Drummel being seated on Miss Caroline’s other side only furthered his suspicions. The older women were certainly tenacious, that was for sure.
Alas, he didn’t think it was meant to be. Miss Caroline was a beauty and possessed of a lovely temperament, but he felt not an ounce of interest in her beyond friendship. But that was a conversation to be had in private. For now, he returned his mother’s smile and continued conversing with Miss Caroline, doing his damndest not to allow his eyes to stray across the table, even as the melodic laughter of a certain wallflower caressed his ears and demanded attention. He said an inward prayer of thanks when dinner finally ended, the strain of keeping a polite interest in his companion almost too much to bear by the last course.
* * *
Nathan exhaled a sigh of relief upon entering the drawing room after dinner, though this relief was short-lived as his friends all but descended on him in the corner of the room like a pack of wolves.
“So,” Thurmont asked, almost gleeful. “How is your progress?”
Milton rolled his eyes. “So nosy.”
“Lockwood’s abysmal odds are already obvious,” Kirkwood said. “I think we all saw how horrid dinner just was for him.”
“You just had to give me Cecily Balfour, didn’t you?” Lockhart replied with a grimace. “Bloody barbarous chit,” he muttered into his port.
“Come now,” Nathan said with a raised eyebrow. “Surely she isn’t that horrible. Miss Hughs seems to like her.”
“Paying close attention to your mark, I see,” Thurmont said, the suggestive tone in his voice unmistakable.
He felt himself begin to flush but managed to suppress it. “Not really. Just some observations.”
“Liar,” Kirkwood said, the shrewd marquess not missing a thing. “She wouldn’t be staring at you with such moon eyes if you hadn’t done something between the ball and now.”
Nathan blinked. “Moon eyes?” He laughed heartily, enough that some of the other gentlemen in the room looked their way. After settling his mirth, he continued with a lowered voice. “I’ll admit I have interacted with her, but let me assure you that such an expression is the last thing she is doing.”
“So, things are going poorly for you as well?” Lockhart looked downright hopeful, as if relieved to have a comrade-in-arms struggling as much as he was.
Nathan thought for a moment. “I… am not sure,” he finally admitted.
“Not sure?” Thurmont gave him an incredulous stare. “She’s either going to do it or not, Milton. Which is it?”
“It’s complicated,” he replied, unsure of how to explain the odd air between himself and Miss Hughs.
The men looked at each other, and then back at him, mouths spreading in slow, knowing grins. “Complicated, you say?” Kirkwood said, the suggestion in his tone unmistakable.
Thurmont looked on the verge of laughter. “Do not tell me I’ve solved your duchess problem?”
“Hush,” Nathan snapped back, darting a glance around the room. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying them much attention anymore. “Don’t be ridiculous.” Despite his harsh tone, however, the thought wasn’t as distressing as he would have imagined, much to his confusion. She was interesting, far more interesting than any of the other debutantes he’d met so far. Would it be so impossible to consider her as a perspective courtship? If she would even speak to him, that was. A busy drawing room with his friends jeering at him wasn’t the place to make these considerations, however, and Lockhart’s probing stare was not helping matters. “I’m far more concerned about that mare of yours, Thurmont.”
“Are you?” The earl replied, playful and doubting in equal measures.
