Chapter Three
M alcolm walked, flanked by his first lieutenant, Sebastian Trent, into Lord Holden’s ballroom. The two of them stopped at the balcony railing that overlooked the ballroom to take in the swirling mass of people dressed in colorful gowns and black evening clothes.
The first thing that Malcolm noticed was how the room sparkled. The ballroom glowed with hundreds of candles from crystal chandeliers that ran down its length. The candlelight reflected off jeweled necklaces, flashed over the surface of gold pocket watches, and twinkled in the bejeweled headpieces tucked into many a lady’s elaborate hairstyle.
Seb whistled low. “Now, this is a party.”
Malcolm nodded. “You ready to swim with the sharks?”
Seb ran a hand back to smooth his chestnut hair. “Hell yes. Since when were either of us afraid of sharks?”
Malcolm grinned. He scanned the crowd, looking for George Amberley. “I see Lord Danby over in the far corner. He is the one person I actually know. Let’s head that way.” He started down the marble stairs to the ballroom floor. He had sent a note to George Amberley to tell him he was back in town. George was one of the few friends from childhood that Malcolm had kept up with by exchanging letters over the years. George’s reply to his note earlier this week had been enthusiastic, and they had planned to find each other this evening.
As they weaved through the crowd, Malcolm noticed eyes turning their way. Perhaps it was Seb in his uniform. His friend cut quite the figure in his dress uniform. In contrast, Malcolm felt rather strange in his new civilian evening wear. Though he’d looked dapper in the mirror in the tailor shop, now he wished he was wearing his uniform as well. He resisted the urge to tug his jacket sleeves and adjust his cravat. You belong here as much as the other toffs . Admiral Daniels had urged him to start thinking of himself as the Marquess of Kingsbury, even if he had never had a chance to grow into the role.
They passed by a long refreshment table with tureens of what looked like lemonade. He and Seb exchanged a look of distaste. “Where is the wine?” Seb asked under his breath.
“Malcolm Iveson, you look just the same!” A voice came from Malcolm’s left.
He turned and found Lord Danby approaching them with a wide smile across his broad face. Malcolm returned the smile and shook George’s outstretched hand. “You don’t look at all the same. You finally grew, Georgie-boy.”
His friend laughed. “Yes, well, it had to happen eventually. It is great to see you, Commander Iveson, or I guess it is now Lord Kingsbury.”
“Same to you, Lord Danby. And I am both. The title is something I am still getting used to. Let me introduce you to my first lieutenant, Sebastian Trent.”
“Nice to meet you, Lord Danby.” Sebastian gave a short bow.
“A pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant,” Danby replied. His eyes traveled up all six foot four of Trent. “No one could accuse you of missing your growth spurt.”
Seb chuckled. “No, my lord. My mother couldn’t keep up with feeding me, and that’s how I ended up in the care of his majesty’s Royal Navy.” It was Seb’s favorite tale to tell folks when they brought up his height.
Danby laughed so hard he had to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. That laugh was one of the things Malcolm remembered the most about George Amberley. George had been the smallest boy in their class, with the biggest mouth. His boundless good cheer and chatter had always made him lots of friends.
Happy memories of school and the friends there that had been like family flooded back. The freedom of being young and carefree. Before everything fell apart. That was it, though; no matter how well you thought life was going, things always fell apart. All the more reason to live in the moment, he learned, like enjoying the company of an old friend.
“How is your family, Danby?”
“Fine, I suppose.” A furrow appeared briefly between his friend’s brows. “My mother’s health is much the same—delicate. And my father is determined to marry off my younger sister. So I am in charge of her at social functions when my mother isn’t well enough to attend, like tonight.”
Malcolm tried to remember anything at all about George’s sister, but only an impression of dark ringlets underneath a blue bonnet surfaced. At thirteen, he had hardly paid attention to girls of any type. “How old is she now?”
“Twenty-three. She missed much of the coming-out fanfare because of my mother’s poor health. But you won’t hear her complaining about it. I think the only man she would want to marry is Magellan.”
“Pardon?”
George waved a hand around. “Oh, nothing. She is a great girl, simply a bit too clever for polite society.” The furrow between his brows returned as he frowned. “My father will marry her off to anyone with enough coin to make it worth his while. I’m trying to seek some decent gentlemen for her, though.”
“You’ll have to introduce us. Seb here is always willing to dance with a pretty girl. Right, Seb?”
“Absolutely,” Sebastian replied with a grin.
George turned to scan the dance floor. “She’s dancing out there somewhere. Petite, dark curls, wearing peach tonight.” After a moment, he pointed. “Ah, there, she is in that square on the far left. Here, let’s walk back around. I should be waiting for her to be returned to me. I don’t want Gibbs to get any ideas about whisking her away to a dark corner. I’ll introduce you.”
Malcolm turned to peer across the room at where George pointed. But his attention was caught by a glimpse of the girl from the bookshop. She looked different tonight, so polished and elegant. Her dark curls had been tamed into a smooth coiffure studded by dozens of tiny pearls. The low cut of her peach evening gown gave him a tantalizing glimpse of the soft curves he had felt when he held her in his arms that day. Wait, a peach gown?
*
Adeline lowered into a small curtsy. “Thank you, Lord Gibbs, for a lovely dance.” She laid a hand on his sleeve as they headed off the dance floor. Adeline surreptitiously looked around. Where was George? Then she spotted him come around a group of matrons, his crimson evening jacket making him easy to spot. Lord Gibbs escorted her over to her brother.
Gibbs gave a toothy grin. “Perhaps I may call on you this week?” He glanced at her brother.
“Of course, Gibbs,” George replied to him.
Adeline shot her brother a wide-eyed look of incredulity. What are you doing? she silently exclaimed.
George returned her look with a stern look of his own that said, You must.
Adeline narrowed her eyes. You are the worst. But her brother just gave a slight shrug with one shoulder.
Her dance partner left, and Adeline let out a small huff, blowing a stray curl that had escaped her coiffure off her brow. “George, don’t answer for me like that. I don’t want to spend any more time speaking with that man about his coin collection, for goodness’ sake.”
“Addy, you have to give people a chance,” George said softly.
“He was as dull as a doorknob. No, I’m being too kind. A doorknob at least has a purpose in life.”
Adeline heard a low male chuckle. She whipped her gaze up over George’s shoulder. Two men, one blond and one with light brown locks, stood looking at them, shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation.
George stepped to the side. “Pardon me, I haven’t made introductions. Please let me introduce my sister, Lady Amberley. Adeline, this is a good friend from my Eton days, Lord Kingsbury, and this is Lieutenant Trent.”
Lord Kingsbury, how interesting. “A pleasure to meet you both,” she replied, automatically extending a gloved hand.
Lieutenant Trent stepped forward first, and as he reached for her outstretched hand his face came into better focus. A neatly trimmed mustache twitched over a wide smiling mouth. “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Amberley.” He was the tallest man she had ever been in such close proximity to, so much so that he bent almost in half to brush his lips across her knuckles.
The other man, a few inches shorter than his friend but equally broad, stepped forward to take her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you…properly.”
Adeline’s eyes widened as she recognized him as the man from the bookshop. His handsome face was chiseled with sharp features. His eyes were just as bright and full of mischief as they had been that day. Oh dear, this was Lord Kingsbury?
He frowned. “Where are your spectacles?”
Her hand fluttered up to touch the bridge of her nose. “Oh, my father doesn’t let me wear them to these things.”
“How did you know she wears spectacles?” George asked.
Lord Kingsbury turned his attention to George. “Last week, I got quite lost on my way to Whitehall and stopped into a bookshop to ask for directions. Your sister was kind enough to help me.”
“What a strange coincidence.”
Lord Kingsbury’s gaze slipped back to her. He winked. “Perhaps it was fate.”
“Fate is a construct that society uses to romanticize the unexplained,” Adeline replied. Honestly, this man was the most incorrigible flirt with that wink. Violet and Lucy would think him perfect for their rumor fabrications.
Lord Kingsbury rocked back on his heels. “Hmmm, well, fate has dealt me several unexplained blows in my life, so I’ll keep believing the construct.”
“Surely, though, it would be more practical to investigate the whys—”
“Adeline,” George interrupted with another stern look that meant she was talking too much. She had been instructed to be agreeable.
But Lord Kingsbury didn’t seem annoyed. He offered his hand. “Perhaps we could continue to discuss our difference of opinion on the dance floor?”
“I would be delighted.” For the first time tonight, she smiled with genuine enthusiasm.
“What about your card, love?” her brother asked. “Do you have a free spot next?”
She tore her gaze from Lord Kingsbury’s bright, interested regard to stare dumbly at her brother. What about her card?
George reached for the dance card, dangling at her wrist by a ribbon. He glanced down at it, and his eyes widened. “You are full up for the next three sets, pet. Good for you.”
Adeline looked down as well. Drat . She had forgotten how full her card had gotten tonight. Their little experiment seemed to be working. Much to her father’s shock, she had been approached by a half dozen gentlemen at the beginning of the evening asking to sign her card. He had actually smiled and awkwardly patted her arm.
Unfortunately, the evening had been so dull. Previously, she always envied the girls dancing. Imagining sparkling conversation between partners. But tonight, as a girl with little grace, she had struggled to keep up with the dance moves. Between concentrating on not making a fool of herself by stepping on her partner’s toes and the terribly boring small talk she’d had to endure and, worse, respond to, tonight’s ball had seemed endless.
“It would be rude for her to ignore the card,” George explained to his friends.
Lord Kingsbury took hold of her card and peered down. “It seems you have an opening here and the one after.” He glanced back at his tall friend, who grinned. “We’ll take those if you please.”
Adeline could not believe these two strapping men wanted to dance with her. Perhaps this whole evening of male attention was a fevered dream? Or perhaps her friends were correct. When men saw you were sought after, they were curious to find out why. She lifted the little pencil and let the two gentlemen write their names on her dance card.
“Ahem, pardon me, but I believe, Lady Amberley, that this next dance is mine.”
Adeline turned and gave Lord Munthrope a polite smile. “Indeed.”
She couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder at Lord Kingsbury. The men’s faces became blurry as she walked farther toward the dancing, but she could tell that Lord Kingsbury continued to look at her even after his lieutenant and her brother turned to walk away.