Chapter 14
Cassian was halfway across the green, speaking to three other men. His body and constant laughter showed his ease—while Cecilia felt oddly out of her depth.
The few people, mostly matrons and older women, she had met were lovely altogether; a creeping feeling inside her chest told her she still had a long way to go to be on even keel with these townspeople.
She turned and bumped into someone, a young girl in an understated blue dress, her hair a dusky blond, but there was something about her face that stopped Cecilia.
“I apologize, Miss,” said a hesitant voice. “I was not looking.”
“It's alright,” Cecilia replied, hastily trying to comfort her, while trying to tell herself that her eyes were not deceiving her. “…I am sorry, but are you, by happenstance, related to Lady Charity?”
With her face falling, the girl blanched while curtsying. “Did she say something untoward to you, Your Grace?”
In a manner of speaking.
“I had an interaction with her earlier,” Cecilia explained vaguely. “She was not… overly courteous.”
The girl winced, “I apologize on her behalf, Your Grace. My name is Prudence, or simply Pru. It’s easier. I am her sister, younger by three years. Would you…” She looked over her shoulder, “…would you mind some company?”
Cecilia’s brows rose, and the girl, who looked barely eighteen, turned tomato red.
“Forgive me if I have overstepped, but you were standing alone, and I’m also alone, and with everyone else, I don’t think I—” she puffed out a breath, “dash it all, I’m making no sense, aren’t I? ” she finished miserably.
“Never mind. I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’ll just be—”
Smiling, Cecilia reached out for her, while taking an instant liking to the girl. “Please stay. I would love your company, and honestly, you remind me of another friend I have. Her name is Emma, and she is about your age. I assume ten-and-nine?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” The way the girl’s smile lit her face reinforced the connection Cecilia made between her and Emma.
Looking at the men and women meandering over the green, Cecilia said, “This is my first harvest celebration. Is it usually like this?”
“Yes,” Pru replied. “Sometimes there is a Maypole and dancers, but I think father decided to replace it with a more codified dance inside the town hall.”
“There’s a dance?” Cecilia asked. “I was not aware of that.”
“Yes, there is,” Pru said, her eyes dropping. “And it will happen after the auction. Alas, ‘tis another dance I will be sitting out as I know I will be ignored, again.”
Cecilia furrowed her brows. “Whyever would you be ignored?”
“That is because I am one of the wallflowers that other wallflowers do not pay any attention to. Truly, I get overlooked as if I had merged with the wallpaper behind me,” Pru explained, then gave a hollow laugh. “It's fine. I’m used to it.”
Suspecting that her new friend was not telling her the full truth, Cecilia hazarded a guess. “Is it because any prospective suitors gravitate to your sister instead?”
When the girl’s face fell, Cecilia could not help but commiserate. “Don’t worry, Pru. A good man will come along at the best time.”
“You think so?” Pru asked hopefully.
A loud, familiar laugh had her head turning to the left, where Cassian was standing, and she could not hold back the smile. Despite all the tension between them, it did feel good to see him smile sometimes.
When she looked over to Pru, who was looking in the same direction, the girl looked moonstruck. She could understand why the girl felt that way—yes, Cassian was handsome, but some of his other attributes were left to be desired.
Clearing her throat pointedly, Cecilia watched as Pru went red.
“I think you and I need to talk about your taste in gentlemen,” Cecilia whispered wryly.
Confusion crossed Pru’s face before the penny dropped, and the poor girl’s face was on fire. “Do you mean your—oh lord, no, Your Grace. I would never disrespect you that way. I was not staring at your husband, I swear it.
“I was looking at Lord Rothbury, a friend of His Grace,” Pru hastily clarified. “I’ve wanted to win his affections for years, but he is another one who would not notice me if I reenacted Lady Godiva’s ride through the streets of Coventry.”
Shocked that Pru had admitted so many close secrets after knowing Cecilia for all of ten minutes, Cecilia decided to help the girl.
She really does mirror Emma, doesn’t she? Down to the wide-eyed fantasy of seeing a knight-in-shining-armor from afar.
A ripple came through the crowd that it was time to return to the town hall.
As she stood, Cassian and this Lord Rothbury set off to join them.
At first glance, Cecilia could see why Pru fancied the man; his rusted auburn hair was unusual in their circles, and his sharp blue eyes told her he did not miss a thing that passed by him.
He has the bearing of a military man. I should ask Cassian about him when we return home.
“Tell me, Pru, what are you after in a suitor and a possible marriage?”
“I am a hopeless romantic, so handsome, honest, and kind,” Pru listed with her fingers, then blinked, “oh, and brave, certainly brave and strong. As for marriage, I want to be in deep, true love.”
Well. That is what we all want, isn’t it?
“You are a lady after my own heart, Pru, and I should like to help you,” Cecilia laughed softly. She was sure that in the remaining days, she could find a way to get the girl and the lord together. It would help pass the time as well.
“Have you ever had a formal introduction to the lord, or have you only admired him from afar?”
“The… latter,” Pru admitted bashfully.
“Shall I acquaint the two of you then?” Cecilia offered as her husband and the lord came nearer.
“Pardon? N-no!” Pru took a deep breath, then calmed herself before smoothing down her feathery skirts. “I-I mean, yes, Your Grace. I… I would be most grateful for introductions.”
Reaching for Pru, Cecilia silently promised her help, an action that drew Cassian’s shrewd gaze. His gaze flickered between Cecilia and Pru, then narrowed. “What conspiracy are you cooking up between you two?”
Smiling innocently, Cecilia replied, “We are simply discussing a new book that has come out.”
Cassian still looked suspicious. “I’d like to introduce you to David Rothbury, Lieut—”
“Lieutenant-Colonel,” Pru blurted.
At Cassian’s look and the officers’ raised brow, Pru was contrite. “I apologize for the interruption, but it stemmed from me being overeager. I have seen you, Sir, at various meetings with my father. As much as I wanted to ask you about your travels, I never asked Father to make an introduction.”
“Not to be blunt, but why an interest in my travels, my lady?” David asked as they walked back to the hall.
“I’ve always wanted to see parts of the world, but reading them in stories feels so… lackluster,” Prudence admitted. “I’d wanted to—oh!”
She tripped over her feet, and a swift reaction from the army man stopped her from crashing completely into the ground. Pru looked as if she had seen the other side of death as her face clung to his arm.
“Are you all right?” Cecilia rushed to ask.
The Lieutenant asked the same, and Pru ducked her head. “I’m fine, but my heart is hammering through my chest. I just wish I were not so clumsy.”
Cecilia shared a look with Cassian, who then cleared his throat. “We need to get to the hall before we miss the proceedings.”
As David ushered Pru into the hall, Cassian leaned into Cecilia’s ear, “If you are going to try your hand at matchmaking, you might have chosen the worst candidate.”
Pausing, Cecilia asked, “Why?”
“I’ll show you,” Cassian offered as they stepped into the room. “Look around the room closely and then look at David.”
While looking over the seated ladies, she noticed how many ladies slid appreciative glances to the soldier. She couldn’t blame them as he did cut a dashing figure. A few ladies’ mouths were pursed tight as if they’d sucked on a lemon, while glaring daggers at Pru.
It did not take her long to put two and two together. “They’ve all set their cap on him.”
“Almost everyone,” Cassian whispered. “So if you are set on this matchmaking, watch as the claws come out. These ladies will sell their left arm to marry the soldier, even more now that he is soon to be a marquess.”
Cecilia looked to Pru and began to calculate if it was worth it to throw the tender girl into the sights of the hyenas.
“Your Grace!” the mayor called to Cassian, before addressing them both. “Your Graces, I don’t seem to find the contribution you made to the auction.”
“Auction?” Cassian echoed, glancing quizzically from Cecilia to the mayor. “I did not know there was an auction.”
“There is a donation and an auction tonight,” the mayor explained. “The donation is labelled as a gift to the children’s home, while the auction is made for wealthy patrons to donate something valuable. When sold, that money is put in the county’s coffers.”
Cecilia artfully took the basket from Cassian’s hands that he had still been carrying, then handed it over to the mayor with a bright smile.
Cassian fell confused. “Did you know of this?” he asked her.
Oh, she most certainly did.
Instead, she arranged her expression into one of mild surprise. “Oh… did I forget to mention it? No, I surely must have,” she said softly. “You did have quite a lot on your hands at the time.”
The flutter of satisfaction inside her was wicked but warm; after the spanking he had given her earlier, and the obliviousness in the face of obvious flirtation by Lady Charity, she could not pretend she hadn’t relished this small revenge.
He studied her for a heartbeat—far too perceptive for her own comfort—yet when understanding dawned, it was not anger that appeared in his eyes. Amusement tugged at the corner of his mouth instead, a subtle, knowing curve that made heat bloom beneath her stays.