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I will not be drawn into this world for a pretty pair of eyes I can find as pretty on any street corner. I have tarried too long in this place. This is a waste of my time.
“She is a beauty, no?” Max whispered.
Harold glanced at him but did not reply. He wanted to leave, having had his fill of the ton already. The banality of their conversation. The frivolity of their pastimes and the sheer dishonesty of their smiles and pleasant words to each other, and daggered looks when backs were turned. But the beautiful young woman descending the staircase held him in place. He stepped back, into the shadows of an archway that marked the separation of the grand hall and the entrance to the house. From this vantage, he felt that the deep shadows would conceal him but his view of the woman would remain uninterrupted.
“Who is she?” he asked.
Max laughed. “The reason we are here of course. Miss Alice Hathway. Weren’t you listening when she was announced?”
“No. I was not,” Harold said.
For the next hour, Alice was guided by the man that Harold now knew was her brother, from guest to guest. One of the first to be introduced was Harold’s godfather, the Duke of Norfolk. He followed her movements through the gathered throng from a distance, wanting to cut through the chattering masses and unwilling to involve himself in their society any more than he was already. Finally, her brother seemed to be immersed in conversation with Norfolk and Alice stood alone.
He began to move through the guests towards her only to see her spirited away by a pregnant lady who shared some of Alice’s looks. Gritting his teeth in chagrin he followed the two, though screened from sight by the mingling crowd.
“Your Grace. What an unexpected surprise to see you here,” came a voice from beside Harold.
With irritation, he looked around. The speaker was a waspish woman with graying hair and a pinched face. She wore black, trimmed in white and silver.
“Is it?” Harold said.
“Why, yes. Your presence is often requested but rarely fulfilled. I don’t think you attended my granddaughter's debut. Though you were certainly invited.”
“Then it was my oversight, madam. I was clearly very busy that evening.”
“But the Hathway’s find your favor do they?” the woman asked with a light in her eyes.
“I barely know them,” Harold replied shortly. “Now, if you will excuse me?”
He moved to extricate himself but found, upon looking around, that Alice was being hurried away in the opposite direction. More than once, the woman who was guiding her looked back over her shoulder fearfully. Harold frowned. She was looking directly at him and there was no doubting the apprehension written large across her face.
Perhaps it is time I put this rank to some use. She cannot deny a Duke an introduction to her charge.
He began to stride purposefully through the throng, aiming as straight as an arrow for Alice. But then the first stirrings of music arose from the back of the room and people began to assemble in the middle of the room, preparing to dance. He cursed softly as the crowd parted and revealed Alice being led away by a young man, Norfolk’s son.
Too late. Well, I have no intention of dancing. It is about time I left this house. Damn her pretty eyes.
Harold turned on his heel and strode from the room.
CHAPTER7
Alice danced with Duncan and then with another young man, then with another. After the first dance, she could not remember their names or much of the words they spoke as they danced with her. Their fresh faces became as one as did their conversations. At first, the loveliness of the evening and the charm of the circumstances wove a spell around her. But as the novelty wore off, so too did the spell.
When the musicians took their first break, Alice took the opportunity for a break of her own. She excused herself from the company of a young man with fair hair whose name she could not remember and made her way towards the edge of the ballroom where Ruth sat.
“Are you enjoying the dancing, Alice?” Ruth asked.
“Immensely. But you can have too much of a good thing, after all. I feel the need for a breath of air and a rest,” Alice replied.
Ruth patted the seat next to her but Alice shook her head.
“Would you mind if I didn’t, Ruth? This room is so crowded. I think I will take a turn around the house. I am not used to being so contained by so many people.”
“I will escort you,” Ruth said, beginning to rise.
At that moment though she put a hand to her belly and winced. Alice was immediately concerned but her sister waved her away as she lowered herself back to her seat again.
“No, no. Never mind me. The baby is kicking, that is all. I think he wants to join in the dancing,” Ruth said with a giggle.
