Chapter 14 #2
Blinking quickly, Susanna looked to Lord Lancashire, seeing how the corners of his eyes rounded.
“I was unaware of that,” he said, slowly, as Susanna caught Ellen’s sharp gaze, wondering if her own curiosity was being piqued at this new development. “Lord Blackwood is an excellent gentleman, known to us all to be sincere and trustworthy. I hear he has the ear of the King!”
Lady Evelina spoke before her sister could.
“That is quite true, Lord Lancashire. A fine attribute for any gentleman, I am sure you will agree.” She smiled delicately but cast a glance at her younger sister, a warning look which Susanna understood all too well.
She was telling Lady Theresa to slow her remarks and her speech, for at the present moment, she was being rather forward. “We are honored to be related to him.”
“An excellent connection indeed,” Ellen murmured, casting a small smile in Lady Honora’s direction. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“And now, the dance cards!” Lady Theresa exclaimed, handing her dance card to Lord Lancashire without his even asking her if she would like to dance.
“I must say, I hope that you will favor me the very best of dances this evening, Lord Lancashire. There are so many wonderful dances, but my favorite is –”
“I have already taken the waltz from Lady Susanna and the country dance from Lady Ellen,” Lord Lancashire interrupted, before turning his full attention towards Lady Honora, thereby missing Lady Theresa’s frown.
“Lady Honora, might I ask for your dance card also? And Lady Evelina, if you would oblige me?”
Susanna said nothing, watching as Lord Lancashire and Lord Kettering both signed the three dance cards.
Lady Evelina, Lady Honora, and Ellen all talked quietly together as they did so, with Lady Theresa scowling in a most obvious manner.
It did not surprise Susanna when the lady’s glare was then directed towards her, for it was plain to see that she had hoped to dance the waltz with Lord Lancashire.
But what happened next did surprise her.
While the others were occupied with the exchange of cards and small talk, Susanna noticed Lady Evelina step closer to her younger sister.
The movement was so subtle, so practiced, that no one else seemed to see it.
Evelina reached up and adjusted the silk shawl that had slipped from Theresa’s shoulder, smoothing it back into place with the absent tenderness of long habit.
Then she leaned close — so close that her lips nearly touched Theresa’s ear — and whispered something that Susanna could not hear above the swell of the orchestra.
Whatever she said, the effect was immediate. The angry flush drained from Theresa’s cheeks. Her clenched jaw softened. She even managed a small, tight smile and turned back to the company with something approaching composure.
It was a small thing, that gesture — a sister steadying a sister.
And yet Susanna found herself studying Lady Evelina with new eyes.
There was no performance in what she had just done.
No calculation. She had seen her sister’s humiliation and moved to ease it with the quiet efficiency of someone who had done so a hundred times before.
The hand that lingered on Theresa’s back, the way her body angled slightly in front of her as if to shield her from the room — these were the instincts of a woman who loved her family with a fierceness that went beyond duty.
Susanna felt an unexpected twist of recognition.
She had wanted someone to do exactly that for her, all those times Maude had left her standing alone at the edge of a ballroom.
She had wanted a sister who noticed, who protected, who whispered courage when the world felt too sharp.
Lady Evelina, whatever else she might be, was that kind of sister.
It unsettled Susanna more than she wished to admit.
“There you all are!”
Turning her head, Susanna smiled warmly at Lady Kilthorn.
She had not been very present in any of the gatherings thus far, choosing to step back and permit Ellen – and Susanna, also – to go about just as they pleased.
Her trust in them was something that Susanna was truly grateful for, touched by her care and concern even though she was not related.
“Here we all are,” Lord Lancashire replied, with a smile as he handed the dance cards back to them all. “I was just about to ask Lady Susanna if she would like to take a turn about the room with me.”
“And I was just about to ask the very same of Lady Ellen,” Lord Kettering added, as Susanna’s face heated, delighted in both the attention and in the sharp, angry gaze from Lady Theresa. “Since you are present with us, Lady Kilthorn, might you be willing to join us in the name of propriety?”
Lady Kilthorn beamed as Susanna took Lord Lancashire’s arm. “I would be delighted.”
Bidding the other ladies farewell, Susanna stepped out after Ellen and Lord Kettering, a gentle heat infusing her as she looked up into Lord Lancashire’s eyes.
“If I am not careful, we will walk directly into Lord Kettering and Lady Ellen,” he murmured, making her smile. “I find it almost impossible not to look at you, Susanna. You are the most beautiful, the most wonderful creature in all of the world.”
Susanna wanted to respond, but she could not, such was the thrill running through her at his words. This was the gentleman she remembered from the previous Season, this was her Lord Lancashire – not the scowling, distant, cold fellow she had known these last few weeks.
“It is of interest to me that Lady Honora is a niece to Lord Blackwood,” he continued, changing the subject completely as he pulled his gaze away from her. “And that Lady Evelina and Lady Theresa are also. I wonder if, in befriending them, we might find out something more about Lord Blackwood.”
Susanna pursed her lips and frowned. “I am not certain they would say much to me,” she said, carefully. “It is clear to my mind that Lady Theresa does not think very highly of me.”
To her surprise, Lord Lancashire chuckled.
“That is because you have stolen the heart of the gentleman that Lady Theresa desires for herself,” he said, bluntly.
“I am aware of her eagerness in our acquaintance, but it is not reciprocated. I wanted her to see that plainly, for I do not wish for her to think that there is any sort of hope. It would be better for her to concentrate her interest on another.”
“You cannot tell her that directly, however.”
“No, not as yet. But in time, she will see it. I hope she sees hints of it now.” With a small smile, he considered for a moment.
“Then might you befriend Lady Honora? She might be able to tell you a little more about Lord Blackwood. We are seeking to discover how someone could write a letter in his hand and with his seal, and it may be that Lady Honora could speak about that in some way.” A grimace tugged at his lips.
“I am not at all certain what she would say that might give us insight, but it would be better than doing nothing.”
“I quite agree.”
The grimace faded. “I am to speak with my solicitors as soon as it can be arranged, to demand to know how the information they shared with me could have been such a mistake. I am not at all certain what they will say or how they will explain themselves, but I must know the truth.” A slow smile began to spread across his face.
“The truth must be revealed so that I can finally declare myself your own.” He leaned towards her, his free hand settling on hers for only a few seconds.
“Would that I could take you in my arms and kiss you, Susanna.”
A trifle giddy from his words and from the fierce desire which shot through her, Susanna let out a slow breath and looked away from him for fear that she would do just as he desired without care for propriety or for the others around her.
“I should not speak so, but I cannot help it. I have been granted a second chance with you, and I will not let you go.”
Daring a glance up at him, Susanna’s cheeks warmed at the tender smile on his face.
“My heart has never belonged to another,” she said, seeing that smile grow.
“And it shall never stray from you, Lancashire. It has clung to you desperately, has tied itself to you even when there has been no hope, and I can assure you, it will never let you free.”
“And I do not want to be freed,” he swore, his eyes melding to hers once more. “I swear, I will never let you go again. No matter what is said, no matter what takes place, no matter what the outcome is of our search, I will never leave your side again.”
Her heart flickered with a doubt that she tried to silence.
She wanted to believe him, to trust him completely, but the pain of his past rejection kept whispering at her.
The words she wanted to say burned on her lips, but she could not speak them, could not tell him that she believed him, that she trusted him, that she knew all that he said was true.
Instead, with a deep breath, she smiled gently and pressed his arm.
“Your desire to prove yourself to me is a joy,” she answered, as his gaze continued to press into hers.
“I pray that all you say is true and will prove itself to be.”