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“You may,” he said, then extended his arm, “But I will not answer, not tonight.”
Pouting, Esther took his arm, “You’re no fun.”
“On the contrary,” Captain Morgan grinned as he led her back to her family, “I believe I am, but my sense of fun is not orthodox, My Lady?”
Stopping short, Esther asked, “And what do you mean by that?”
He pulled away and bowed, his expression as enigmatic as the sphinx, “I suppose you will see when I visit. Good evening, My Lady.”
Her eyes tracked him as he went off to the other side of the floor and struck up a conversation with other Lords. He stood almost a head above the other men and held himself with regal poise. What had he looked like in the middle of battle? A few visions of him standing behind a ship’s wheel, his face dark with rage and roaring for the cannons to fire, slipped over her eyes.
He must have looked magnificent. I wonder if he still has his sword.
“My Lady?”
“Hm?”
“Your next dance partner is approaching,” Margaret whispered. “I’d look away from the Captain if I were you.”
Dragging her eyes from the debonair man, Esther lifted her gaze to the Lord coming to her and found him—lacking. The Lord’s blond hair was suavely combed; he dressed in buff trousers and a maroon waistcoat. Seeing him approach, Esther assumed he was perfectly ordinary, but ordinary was run-of-the-mill, and she wanted intrigue—and intrigue carried the name, Captain Arthur Morgan.
“Lady Harewood?” He said, “I’m Norman Dunn, Earl of Hommer. May I escort you to the dance-floor?”
Unable to look away, Esther smiled as she stood, “Very pleased to meet you, My Lord.”
He led her out to the dance-floor and, before she took his hands, glimpsed Captain Morgan’s brooding look before he moved away. During the next three hours to suppertime, she did not see him again—and after dinner as well.
When the ball resumed and slipped into the wee hours of the morning, she did not see him, and her heart sank with the feeling that he had left the ball.
I had not even given him my card.
She danced twice but was not heartened in doing so; mercifully, neither of her partners had caught on to her disinterested state, and she was relieved for their inattention.
“Would you like to go home, My Lady?” Margaret asked quietly.
“I’d like to,but I will have to wait upon John,” Esther replied. “Where is he? I did not see him at supper either, and he would have never left without me. Mother would drag him over the coals.”
“Oh!” Margaret nodded to the stairs. “Here comes His Grace. I suppose he was in the card room.”
Looking in the direction her maid was facing, Esther spotted her brother and another Lord speaking to each other on the stairs landing. The Captain was not among the rest coming down the stairs—perhaps the Captain had left.
John came to her with a raised eyebrow, “Why aren’t you dancing?”
“I’m tired,”Esther replied while wrapping her arms around herself, “May we go home?”
“I am not ready to leave yet,” John replied, “But I can send you home in the meantime. I’ll call for the carriage.”
After a nod and another look over the Lords, Esther felt a little cold that the Captain had left without a word.“Thank you, John. Would you say my goodbyes to the hosts for me?”
“Sure,” John said, before calling to another Lord and moving off to speak with him.
Pressing her lips tightly, Esther went to retrieve her coat and donned it while Margaret dressed as well. When the carriage came to the gate, a footman helped them into the vehicle, and they started off to their townhouse at Mayfair.
Gazing out into the dark, snowy night, Esther sighed heavily.I suppose I will not see Captain Morgan again.
“If it is not too bold to say, My Lady, I do not believe Captain Morgan would have left without an explanation. He does not strike me as a man who is half-hearted in anything. I am sure that he must have had a good explanation for leaving without telling you why.”
Tugging her lapels tighter, Esther inclined her head, “I hope so.”
