Chapter 7
Elle grumbled as someone gently shook her awake, rolling over and burying her head under the pillow. She was exhausted from the night before and not nearly ready to be up and at ”em.
“Miss Montgomery, I’m afraid it’s time to wake.” Lottie. Elle liked the girl very much, but right now she wanted to throw something heavy at her.
”Five more minutes,” she groaned, blindly shooing Lottie’s hands away when the girl gently shook her shoulder again.
”I”m sorry, miss, but Lady MacTavish says you need to be getting dressed now. Suitors will surely be coming to call soon.”
Elle groggily eased up, rubbing her eyes hard. She”d had fun at the ball—mostly anyway—but she wasn”t exactly looking forward to this coming to call business. She knew it was part of the deal though, so she dressed, ate some breakfast, lamented her lack of Starbucks, and headed to the drawing room, only slightly less cranky than she’d been when she’d first woken up.
It was set up very similarly to the one at Chestwick Hall, with various sitting areas, two grand fireplaces, a piano, and Rose”s harp. It was decorated in whites and pale blues and golds, the large windows along the two of the walls letting in the morning light and giving the space a nice, airy feel.
Elle threw herself down on one of the couches across from Jocelyn, moaning loudly and tossing an arm over her eyes.
”Dramatic much?”
”I”m not a morning person,” she grumbled before hoisting herself up into a seated position. ”I would literally chop my left foot off for an iced shaken espresso with hazelnut mocha, oat milk, and sweet cream cold foam right now. Ok maybe not my whole foot, but a toe at least.”
“Coffee seems to have gotten extremely complicated since I’ve been away,” Jocy mused.
“At least the way I drink it.” Elle shrugged and rolled her head on her shoulders. “Ok, so what exactly happens now?”
”Well, any interested suitors will come to call. They”ll sit here with you—chaperoned of course.”
”Oh of course.” Elle rolled her eyes. “God forbid I be in a room alone with a man, lest I fall immediately upon his penis and sully myself and my good name.”
“Elle!” Jocelyn scolded with a laugh, glancing to the door to be sure no one had overheard the conversion. “You”ll talk with the men. Get to know each other. You”ll be courted.”
”Can”t wait,” Elle said with a false smile and two thumbs up.
***
Apparently, Elle and Rose were both highly sought after prizes. A stream of men continually flowed through the room as the morning wore on. Elle was polite to each of them, trying to keep an open mind and think of it as speed dating or something, but by the fourth or fifth one, she”d lost interest in the game. Rose was being the perfect lady, smiling demurely and obviously enjoying the fact that she had so many suitors interested. Elle couldn’t imagine the stress of waiting to see if anyone would come—and the sense of utter disappointment and failure if no one did.
When Percival arrived, Rose beamed, nearly leaping off of the sofa to greet him. Elle and Jocelyn shared a look, both trying to hide their knowing smiles. Elle tried and failed to pay attention to whatever Baron Whats-His-Face was rambling about. He”d gone on for forty-five minutes straight about the pedigree of his Great Danes. Elle was a dog lover, but come on. Now he”d moved on to listing all the different vessels in his shipping fleet. He thought himself extremely clever for naming them all after Greek and Roman goddesses, as if no one else had ever thought of such a thing. She was very close to stabbing herself in the eye just to change the topic of conversation, but Jocelyn thankfully intervened before that step.
”Eleanor is a very talented pianist, Baron Carroway. Perhaps she can play for us.”
”Oh indeed, indeed. Please,” he said in his booming voice, throwing his arm wide towards the piano in the corner. She made her way across the room, mouthing thank you to Jocelyn as she went. She settled onto the bench and began to play Moonlight Sonata. She tried to focus on the music and ignore the way Baron Carroway slurped his tea loudly behind her, but it was a Herculean effort. When she finished, a familiar smooth voice sounded from somewhere behind her.
”That was quite lovely.”
Elle”s shoulders bunched with tension and she ground her teeth before turning slowly on the bench. Alexander Kentworth stood in the doorway beside a blushing Lottie. He wore a deep blue coat over a lighter blue vest, and she hated him for looking so good in it. His hair was a bit windblown but he looked all the better for it, a bit more devil-may-care than most of the men that had come to call on them, and in the natural light streaming in from the windows, Elle could see streaks of auburn within the brown strands.
”Is that Alec Kentworth?” Alec? Jocelyn smiled and rushed forward to wrap him in a hug before pressing a palm to his cheek. It was a motherly gesture and Elle narrowed her eyes at her Aunt. She knew that the Kentworth douchebag was a friend of the family, but Elle hadn’t realized that Jocelyn was obviously very fond of him.
”Hello, Lady MacTavish,” he said, a genuine smile creeping across his face rather than the sarcastic turn of his lips she’d seen at the ball. It was nice. Ok, it was better than nice. It was damn near perfect, which only made Elle more annoyed with him.
”It”s been too long, dear. I had no idea you were going to be here for the season, not until I saw you last night.”
”It wasn”t planned. Father requested my presence without much warning, I’m afraid. I only arrived in the city just before the ball began.”
”Well, we are all very glad that you”re here.” Elle snorted in utter disagreement, but quickly covered it with a delicate cough when all eyes shifted to her. Jocy gave her an admonishing look and Elle bobbed her head in a reluctant apology. She didn’t have warm and fuzzies for Alexander Kentworth, but Elle knew that she owed Jocy and Callum more than she could ever repay. The least she could do was behave and be civil to someone who Jocy cared about. Not just Jocy—Rose flew across the room and threw herself at Alec, hugging him fiercely.
“I’ve missed you. You haven’t written for ages,” Rose scolded him with an almost-scowl, but she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face.
“I’m sorry, Rosie. Truly. Forgive me?”
“Only if you’ve brought chocolates back with you from Marseilles again.” The two laughed as Elle watched in fascination. Was this really the same pompous ass she met the night before?
”Have you come to speak to Callum, then?” Jocy asked as Rose made her way back to the couch and sat beside Percival. “I’m not certain if he’s returned from a meeting with Lord Bambridge as of yet.”
”I”ve actually come to call on Miss Montgomery.”
Elle’s eyes flew wide and Baron Carroway coughed violently into his tea before standing so quickly you would have thought the sofa was on fire. ”I”ll just be going then, shall I?” He hustled away with a quick bow to everyone in the room as Elle watched in shock. Was Lord Dickhead really that big of a deal? And did he seriously come to call on her? Was this a sick joke?
Jocelyn’s brows flew upward and she looked between Alec and Elle, clearly surprised, but she quickly stepped aside and ushered him in.
“Of course, of course. Come in. Eleanor, come speak with Lord Kentworth.”
“I’d rather eat glass,” she gritted quietly. Alec arched a brow and Elle cleared her throat, adding hastily, ”I”d prefer to keep playing actually, if it pleases you, Lord Kentworth.” She didn’t quite manage to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, though she did try. Sort of. Maybe.
“Elle,” Jocelyn warned.
“No, that’s quite alright. I would love to hear her play another.” There was an amused challenge in his voice and Elle ground her teeth. Jocy had Lottie bring new refreshments for Alec, Rose and Percival looking on in interest.
Elle shot him a venomous smile and then played the opening bars of Piano Man. Jocy hissed her name and she pulled her lips in to hide her grin. She quickly morphed the song into River Flows in You. She probably should have played another classical piece, but this one just kind of came out. It had been one of her mom’s favorites and Elle had learned to play it not long after she died. It was a comfort piece, so she wasn’t quite sure why it was the first place her mind went now. She usually played it when she was sad, not when she was trying not to chuck furniture at stupid dukes or princes or whatever the hell Alexander Kentworth was.
When the song ended, she turned to find everyone in the room—including Lottie and Callum from the doorway—staring at her with odd expressions on their faces.
“That was beautiful, Elle,” Rose breathed.
“What was that?” Alec asked, staring at her intently, his arrogant, cocky demeanor forgotten for a brief moment.
“Oh, um, it’s…nothing. You wouldn’t have heard of it. Something I learned in America.” Elle quickly stood from the bench and made her way to the sofa. Jocelyn eyed her, silently telling her to behave, and began reading in a chair on the far side of the room.
Elle perched on the edge of the sofa next to Alec and hissed quietly, “Why are you here?”
“To call on you,” he said slowly, looking at her like she was an idiot. “I thought that I made that perfectly clear by announcing it to the entire room only moments ago...”
***
Eleanor—Elle—looked like she was fighting the urge to hit him, her hands balled into tight fists resting on her lap, and he found it entirely amusing. He hadn”t planned to call on anyone during this season, but he hadn”t stopped thinking about this girl all night. He decided to give in to his curiosity and come to call. Plus, he adored the MacTavish family and hadn”t seen them in far too long. So: two birds, one stone, as it were.
Her nostrils flared and she seemed to be struggling for calm before she said in a clipped tone, ”Yes, I heard. My question is why? I wouldn”t exactly call our meeting last night a pleasant one. And from what I”ve been told far too many times, you are quite the catch.”
”I am that,” he confirmed with a smirk.
”My point is that surely there are other ladies who caught your attention at the ball, ones who were far less…clumsy than I.” Her lips curled at the corners in a smug smile, clearly remembering the way she’d tossed his drink on him.
“You were rather uncouth. I am happy to see that you can admit to your faults.” The smile faded and that ire was back in her stunning eyes.
”If I”m so uncouth,” she mocked, ”then again I ask: why are you here?” If he didn’t know any better, he would have sworn that she barely stopped herself from cursing.
He said simply, ”Because I can be.” Her lips parted and then pressed into a hard line. Why did he enjoy provoking this woman so much? She glanced past him to Jocelyn, who he could imagine was giving her a warning look. Elle snatched her tea cup off of the table and drank deeply, grimacing slightly. Not a fan of tea?
”So, get on with it then. Call on me.”
Eleanor was tight-lipped for the remainder of their conversation, only giving him the briefest of answers to each of his questions, though he could tell that she was holding her tongue too many times to count. He didn’t help matters by being intentionally condescending and less-than-gentlemanly on several occasions, he could admit. Something about this girl had him off-balance though he couldn’t fathom why.
Alec was torn between being completely intrigued by the fact that she didn’t seem to care at all who he was, the title he would one day acquire, the wealth a marriage to him would mean for her—and being utterly annoyed by it. Why didn’t she care? As she’d said, he was the prize to be won. So, why didn’t she want to win him? He couldn’t quite explain why, but jealousy flared at all of the unnamed suitors that might come to call on her. What did any of them have that he didn’t? What could any of them offer her that he couldn’t?
Not that he was offering her anything, of course. Not that he ever would. His head was beginning to ache with the ridiculous train of thought going in endless circles. So, he continued to ask her the expected questions and she continued to give him the most succinct, clipped answers she could. With each one, his intrigue faded and his irritation grew.
In the end, his annoyance at her lack of interest and her annoyance with his apparent existence became too much. They were very close to outright bickering in front of everyone in the room, though they were both trying to keep their voices down. Jocelyn didn’t seem to be fooled, looking wary, and Alec didn’t want that, so he finally stood. Jocelyn did as well, moving towards him.
He bowed. “I must be going, Miss Montgomery. I thank you for the…scintillating conversation,” he said in a stiff voice.
She stopped grinding her teeth and staring daggers at him long enough to stand and curtsey.
“It was a pleasure, Lord Kentworth,” she said, though it was clearly anything but.
“You must join us for dinner soon, Alec,” Jocelyn said, cupping his cheek again in that motherly way that made his chest twist painfully. Jocelyn had always been a bit of a second mother to him, but even more so since his own had passed on. He immediately felt shame for how he’d behaved towards her niece. She had been nothing but good to him—she and Callum both—and he owed them better. But this girl drives me mad…
“Of course,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He glanced over his shoulder for one last look at Eleanor as he left the room. She was staring towards the windows on the far side of the room, a strange look on her face. The anger was gone, replaced with a sort of melancholy that he suddenly longed to understand and erase. Was she missing her home? Her family? Or had he truly upset her?
Shaking himself, he smiled at Jocy and Callum, nodded a goodbye to Rosie and Percival, and hastily made his exit.