Chapter 7
In the end, Sophie had chosen a sky blue colored gown with a cinched waist line and lacy details around the neck line and sleeves. It made her feel like a princess, which was exactly the feel that she wanted as she finally came out in London. And at the Thompson ball, which she hoped would be a lot like the daydreams she had been having.
Well, maybe not all the daydreams… perhaps she was not quite ready for that just yet.
But reality did not immediately live up to expectation because Sophie did not know anyone at the ball. She had not yet grown close to any of the lovely ladies and fine looking gentleman circling around the hall. She felt far more anxious that she thought she might. It was wonderful to have her parents there with her, but it did not feel right that they were the only people she knew.
In Sweden, she had a lot of friends. She was always surrounded by people. Perhaps she would find a way to have that in London, but it was obviously going to take some time.
“Excuse me, is it true?”
Sophie was a little surprised at the directness of the pretty, blonde, duchess-like woman who approached her without caution. She parted her lips, about to ask some follow up questions, but there was something about the fire burning in her eyes that made Sophie a little nervous.
“Are you related to royalty?”
Ah. And there it was.
The question that, of course, would draw many people towards her, but might not always be the right person.
Sophie was a little hesitant, but she nodded.
“Oh my! Swedish royalty,” she replied a little too loudly in Sophie’s opinion. “That is terribly interesting…”
Everyone around them stared. Some of them even whispered in a terribly obvious manner, which Sophie found rather uncouth. She might have been a part of the whispers in the past, but she did not so much care for being on the receiving end of them.
Within moments, Sophie was surrounded.
Now that the ton had learned of her identity, she had become hot property. It had gone from one extreme to another, and truthfully, Sophie was a little overwhelmed. But she wanted to make the best of her life here in London and she wanted to make as many friends as possible, so she did her best to navigate all the attention. She answered all the questions asked of her, and accepted all the gentlemen’s offers for a dance.
Being on the ballroom dance floor was a lot of fun. She very much enjoyed the partners that she danced with, they all seemed to have a lot of nice things to say to her. It was just a shame that she did not feel any kind of sparking attraction with any of them. There was not one gentleman that she hoped would be interested in her.
Sophie knew why as well.
Because none of them were him.
With a slight sense of dejection resting in her chest, Sophie took a moment away from the dance floor to get a beverage from the refreshment table. Truth be told, she also wanted to take one more look around to see if George was in attendance. She had been so certain that this would be the place where their paths would cross again, and it was truly frustrating that he did not seem to be at the Thompson ball.
“My goodness, that was quite the ambush, was it not?” Sophie turned to find a very friendly looking red haired woman grinning at her. “I saw Lady Emily Black earlier on. The moment she heard that you were someone important, she descended upon you with all her pretentious friends.”
Sophie could not help but laugh at this remark. My, the women in London were direct! But this directness felt much more friendly and welcoming.
“I am Lady Katherine Johnson,” she said with a big grin. “And you are…?”
“Lady Sophie Dashwood. It is nice to meet you.”
“My friend, Lady Victoria Brown is just over there. I am sure that she would like to meet you too, and I mean that because you seem like a nice, friendly person. Not because of whom you may or may not be related to.”
There was something about Katherine which just drew Sophie in. She had a sunny, witty personality. She realized that she wanted to befriend her, and perhaps this Victoria too. Kind people with big hearts who saw her as much more than just related to Swedish royalty.
“I would love to meet her, thank you.”
Katherine chuckled. “We can fill you in on Lady Emily Black and the other members of the ton you should avoid, that is if you do not like drama in your life.”
It was as if Sophie could breathe easier around Katherine. She reminded her of the friends that she had left back at home. So as Katherine took her to meet the sweet brunette with a lot of freckles smattered across her face, Sophie decided to trust her gut, and to be open with these women.
That was a trust that quickly paid off…
“So, the brunette behind Lady Emily Black is her best friend, Lady Sarah Smith,” Katherine pointed out, trying to catch Sophie up on all the so called essential gossip to help her navigate the London scene. “She is very interested in Lord Daniel Humphreys, but I believe his affections lie more with Lady Emily herself. He has this way of looking at her which convinces me that she is the woman of his dreams.
“Oh, I had a dance with him earlier on,” Sophie realized. “And he did spend a lot of time talking about Lady Black. I think you might be right.”
“She is always correct,” Victoria laughed. “I have never known someone quite so perceptive. Especially when it comes to the feelings of other people.”
“Well, that is quite an interesting power to have,” Sophie giggled. “Does it ever work in your favor?”
“Oh well that is a question…”
Katherine continued to answer her, but the words had gone fuzzy in Sophie’s ears because it had finally happened. The moment she had been waiting for all evening long.
He is here!
Her heart skipped a beat as she spotted the man she recognized all too well. Much as she had been trying to prepare herself for the moment that she saw him again, she still felt dizzy and a little giddy. It was hard for her not to let that overwhelm her completely.
“Excuse me,” she mumbled to her new friends as she started to move, absolutely unable to play it cool around George. “I have just seen someone that I know…”
She could not contain the excitement as she rushed over to the man. Sophie knew that she had quite the smile playing on her lips. By the time she reached out to actually touch his arm, real life had seemingly ceased to exist. It had become dream like all over again. Only this time she could actually touch him.
“Oh!” But as soon as he turned to face her, Sophie’s heart sunk. “I am terribly sorry, you look like someone I know…”
He looked incredibly like George, but Sophie could not ignore the differences. This was more certainly not him,
“Not at all.” The gentleman offered her a friendly smile. “It happens all the time. But I most certainly do not mind being stopped by a beautiful woman such as yourself.”
A heat rose to Sophie’s cheeks. Now that was quite the compliment.
“What is your name?”
“Sophie,” she declared without really thinking about it. For a moment, she had forgotten how to properly give her name in London. She had to give her title and surname.
But thankfully, the gentleman before her did not seem to find about rules and regulations.
“Good to meet you, Sophie. I am Gregory.”
They shook hands and as Gregory bowed down to Sophie, she did the same, smiling at this charming, kind seeming gentleman. But because she had embarrassed herself in front of him, she quickly took a step back and excused herself.
“I must return to my friends, but it has been wonderful to meet you. Thank you, Gregory.”
She watched him walk away, wondering more about him. A part of her wished that she had not made an excuse to go, and that she had stayed around for long enough for him to ask her to dance. She could only imagine that someone with his charm knew just how to spin a lady around the dance floor.
Thankfully, Katherine and Victoria were still waiting for her by the refreshment table when she returned, eager to know everything.
“How do you know the new viscount?” Victoria asked her eagerly. “He is a very fine gentleman.”
“As it turns out, I was mistaken. That is not the gentleman I know after all. But he seems very lovely…”
Sophie could not seem to stop her eyes from staring longingly after him.
“I hope it was not his brother you know,” Katherine jumped in warningly. “He has a very similar look to the viscount from what I have heard, but none of the prospects.” Sophie stared at her imploringly, wanting to know more about the charming man’s family. “He is a rake who gambled away the family fortune and vanished. Lord Gregory was quite upset when it all happened. He never wanted the family name to be ruined, but you cannot help who your family is.”
“Maybe now he can make things better,” Victoria joined in. “With his father now gone and him inheriting the title, who knows?”
Katherine pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. “You know, he would make a very good match for you, Sophie. You are both very well respected people who come from families with titles. I could see the pair of you together.”
Sophie pondered on this for as moment, trying to work out if this was a good idea. He was a very handsome gentleman, there was no denying that, and if he had good prospects then her family would most certainly be happy.
But she did not feel the same spark she had experienced on the boat when her hero rescued her. There was definitely something more intense about being around George. While Sophie could not exactly put in to words the rush of energy his presence gave her, she knew it meant something.
It had to.
But George was not here, and he had merely declared that he had wanted friendship from her, so maybe it was time to push silly fantasies to one side.
“Oh my goodness,” Katherine suddenly declared as she gripped on to Sophie’s arm. “I think he is coming over here. I believe he wants to ask you to dance.”
“What do I do?” Sophie exclaimed in a panic. It did not matter that she had danced with plenty of gentlemen tonight. Something about this felt incredibly different. There was a lot more resting on whatever happened next.
“You dance with him of course,” Katherine laughed. “See if you like him!”
Just as Katherine suggested, the moment Gregory reached her, he extended his arm to her, silently offering her a dance.
She could not say no, and she found that she did not want to. As she linked her arm through his, her stomach began to flip flop with nerves. But she could not deny that she liked holding on to this man, being this close to him.
It felt right to be following him on to the dance floor, especially when it was very clear that all eyes were upon them. If this was to be a pairing, then the ton would be very interested in them, which was typically a good sign, according to her father.