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“You’re far smoother than I am, Randall. With my mother breathing down my neck, I’m not as confident as I should be because I’ve got her words in the back of my head. If you can help me make things a bit smoother…”
Randall sighed and held up his hands. “Alright, alright. I’ll help you find some ladies to talk to and flirt with. But I’m sure you don’t need me to hover around you to help you out with something as silly as finding a wife.”
“You won’t find it silly once you start wanting a wife.”
“Me, want a wife? I doubt that’s going to happen.” Randall gave him a small salute. “Leave it to me. Don’t go anywhere.”
Then he walked away, towards a group at the far end by the orchestra. There were quite a few young ladies there, and they looked fairly attractive. Derrick wondered if they were as nice as they looked. Being pretty meant nothing if the personality was sour.
His mother might think differently about it, especially if there was a title involved, but Derrick wouldn’t want to be married to someone he didn’t like. He wanted the right person as his wife, which meant he was, by his own admission, a little picky.
Lady Northampton was being demanding about this, but he could see her point even though he didn’t like how much she kept pushing him towards marriage. In a few months, once he turned thirty, she was going to find a wife for him, and Derrick wouldn’t have any say in who she chose. This was his opportunity, and the pressure was resting on his shoulders.
And he didn’t like it.
Derrick moved to the edge of the room and kept to the wall as he walked, away from the dancers twirling past him. He wasn’t much of a dancer, and he had been lucky enough to keep away from it for now.
Hopefully, nobody would expect him to dance because Derrick would just make a fool of himself. His dance instructor had been very frustrated at his ability to do everything wrong even when it was spelled out for him. That hadn’t changed as he became a grown man.
He would talk to a few ladies, and hopefully one of them would metaphorically jump out at him. If that happened, perfect. If it didn’t—
There was a gasp, and Derrick collided with someone. Then he stepped on the other person’s foot, eliciting another cry. He jumped back.
“Oh, forgive me! I didn’t—” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t see you.”
“I see.” The woman dusted herself down, checking her hair with a grimace. “I didn’t think you went around walking into people all the time.”
“Not on a regular basis, anyway.”
A smile twitched at her mouth. Derrick felt about two feet tall, shuffling from foot to foot.
“Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Just my pride. I don’t think anyone saw us, though.” She nodded at him. “I’ll survive, sir.”
There was something odd about her. Derrick peered closer. On first glance, she looked like she was older than him, handsome and composed even with the lines around her eyes and the rouged cheeks. But the more he looked, he realised that it was simply drawn on. She was a lot younger than she was making herself out to be.
What on earth was she doing? Why would she wear a disguise?
Derrick was intrigued. Even with whatever she had plastered on her face, she was still very attractive. One would call her beautiful.
“Have I seen you around before?” he asked. “I don’t recall ever meeting you.”
“Hmm? Oh!” She acted like she hadn’t expected him to talk further to him. “I haven’t been in Society for… quite a while, actually.”
“I see.” Derrick tilted his head to one side. “So, what brings you back into the fold? Bring back some memories?”
“Not quite. I’m chaperoning my two sisters.” She pointed across the room. “The ones in the blue and yellow dresses.”
Derrick looked, and he saw two pretty young women, one fair-haired and the other with flame-red hair. They certainly looked like they were having a good time. He could see the similarity between the woman beside him and those two.
“Their first Season, is it?”
“Dorothea’s, yes. Regina…” She sighed. “Mother died shortly after she had her first Season. We just ended up becoming somewhat reclusive at home.”
“Oh. I… I didn’t realise…”
“It was some years ago, but things like that still hurt, don’t they?” She gave him a quick smile. “Anyway, Father said now that Dorothea is old enough, we should get back into Society and have some fun. It’s only fair for us. I agreed to come along to keep an eye on them.”
