Chapter 15 #2
When Lily finished, the Lord Chamberlain said, “Lady Mandeville presenting Mrs. Edmund Hill and Miss Clara Day Hill.”
This was the moment I’d been working toward since I met Aunt Maude outside the Metropolitan Opera House six months ago. If I messed up now, all our hard work would be for nothing. We would be shunned from the social season in London and forced back to New York in shame.
I wasn’t ready—but Lady Mandeville and Aunt Maude were already walking forward, so I was forced to go with them.
The queen turned her attention to me as the other members on the dais shifted their gazes away from Lily.
I glanced at the man next to Queen Victoria, who I presumed to be the Prince of Wales, and then to the woman beside him, who was probably Princess Alexandra.
They were the only three on the dais up near the front.
The others stood behind and were more than likely ladies in waiting.
There was some quiet chatter among the gentlemen flanking either side of the aisle we walked down. I wanted to look for Alec, but I didn’t dare turn my head to the left or right, afraid I might trip if I took my gaze off the dais.
Thankfully we didn’t have far to walk. Lady Mandeville curtseyed and then stepped back as Aunt Maude gave a low curtsey to the queen, placing her right hand beneath the queen’s and kissing it on the top. As she rose and stepped aside to curtsey to the prince, it was my turn to step forward.
Lady Mandeville had said that I shouldn’t say anything unless the queen addressed me first, but it was rare if she spoke, so I needn’t worry about what to say.
The queen was so much smaller than I had imagined as she stood on the dais. I stepped forward, my body shaking, as she extended her hand toward me. Slipping my right hand beneath hers, I curtseyed low, my knee almost touching the floor, and placed a brief kiss on her hand.
My muscles were sore, and I was shaking as I stood straight.
“You are breathtaking, my dear,” the queen said with the slightest smile softening her serious face.
Surprised, I didn’t know what to say, so I simply nodded my head in deference to her and then took a sidestep to the right and curtseyed before the Prince of Wales. When I stood straight, I found him staring at me with his piercing blue eyes.
I took another sidestep and curtseyed before Princess Alexandra, whose gaze looked mildly interested.
Soon, Lady Mandeville was at my side again, drawing my train up to slip it around my left arm, so I could walk backward toward the exit, because no one must turn their back to the queen.
This would be the most difficult part of my task, and took the longest, but thankfully, the next debutante’s name was called, and the royal family turned their attention to her.
All but the Prince of Wales, who continued to watch me as I backed out of the room.
When I finally reached the exit, Alec was there, and he guided us into the antechamber. A footman closed the door behind us, and I let out the breath I felt like I’d been holding the entire time.
“Well done, Miss Hill,” Lady Mandeville said with glowing eyes. “A compliment from the queen and a keen interest from the prince! You are well on your way, my dear.”
I was shaking so hard, Alec reached out and put his hand under my elbow to steady me. “Are you all right, Clara?” he asked quietly.
“I want to go home,” I said to him, my voice weak.
He studied me for a moment, as if he knew I meant New York and not Buckingham Gate and gave me a sad smile.
“Now for the duke,” Aunt Maude said.
Alec’s hand tightened on my elbow, but was it from jealousy or the fear that I would pass out?
I had thought I knew what exhaustion felt like over the months I had trained under Aunt Maude.
But the physical, mental, and emotional drain of being presented to the queen and then riding through Hyde Park in a sort of parade for others to gawk at us, followed by the tea party, and then the ball, did not compare.
I’d changed three times that day and was now wearing the most stunning Worth gown I’d ever seen.
It was a red-wine-colored silk with gold roses embroidered into the fabric, and pulled back into an intricate bustle, with a gold-colored underskirt peeking from beneath.
The decolletage was lower than I was used to, but still modest. I wore gold-colored gloves and slippers that matched the underskirt.
Mr. Worth had said it complemented my brown eyes and hair, turning them to warm chocolate.
If the way Alec had been looking at me since we’d left 7 Buckingham Gate was any indication, I presented a beautiful picture.
After exiting the carriage, he offered me his arm as Aunt Maude and Lady Mandeville walked in front of us toward the large home of Lord and Lady Hawthorne, not far from Kensington Palace.
“I won’t make the same mistake I made at Mrs. Vanderbilt’s party,” Alec said, for my ears alone. “May I have the first and last dances tonight, Miss Hill?”
“Certainly not,” Lady Mandeville said as she turned to look at us, clearly overhearing Alec.
“We must leave the first and the last dance for the Duke of Severton. I’m certain he will ask.
Surely word of the queen’s compliment has already begun to circulate, and everyone will be eager to know Miss Hill.
You may take one of Clara’s other dances. ”
I wanted to look at Alec to see if Lady Mandeville’s words upset him, but I didn’t dare. I needed to put him out of my mind—especially now that I was about to meet the duke.
Neither of us said a word as we walked up the steps and entered the mansion, where we were presented to Lord and Lady Hawthorne. After I was given my dance card, Alec took it from my hand and wrote his name on one of the lines before handing it back to me.
He’d taken the dance right before the midnight buffet.
I smiled at him, knowing this meant he wanted to escort me into the meal and spend that portion of the evening in my company. Next to the first and last dances, it was the most coveted of the ball.
Alec returned my smile. “We can still be friends, can’t we?”
I nodded.
“There he is!” Lady Mandeville said quietly as we walked into the crowded ballroom. “The Duke of Severton. I was able to get an introduction two nights ago, so I can introduce him to Clara.”
I wasn’t sure which of the gentlemen she was referring to but my gaze scanned the room nonetheless.
There were several handsome men, both young and old.
For the first time, I wondered what he looked like.
Was he one of the attractive men? His looks didn’t matter all that much, but if I was going to marry him, I hoped he would be pleasant to look at.
Several people stared in our direction as they whispered, and I wondered if they knew who I was. Had the queen’s comment circulated as Lady Mandeville claimed? Many guests at her tea party had asked me about it, but it was because Lady Mandeville had told everyone we spoke to.
“There’s Miss Wellington, Alec,” Aunt Maude said when she spotted Annabelle and her mother. “How fortuitous. You should go ask her for a dance or two.”
Annabelle was here? I could use a good friend right about now.
“I’d like to meet the Duke of Severton,” Alec said as he still held my hand secure in his elbow.
“There will be time enough for that later.” Aunt Maude nodded toward the Wellingtons. “Perhaps it would be best if we met the duke without you.”
“And there are the Garfields,” I said to Aunt Maude. “Over by the window.”
The other three looked in that direction and Lady Mandeville inhaled. “They’re being introduced to the duke as we speak.”
I shifted my gaze from Louise to the man she was speaking to, but before I got a good look, Aunt Maude grabbed my hand and began to tug me away from Alec.
“Alec, leave us,” she said in an authoritative voice. “We have business to conduct.”
I turned to him as she pulled me away, but he looked powerless to stop her.
“We must find a way to monopolize the duke’s time,” Lady Mandeville said in a low tone. “If it’s about money, we need to let him know that you are willing to offer whatever dowry he asks for.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Aunt Maude sounded earnest, but I knew better. How much money could she possibly offer when their financial situation was dire?
As we drew closer, and Lady Mandeville had a good look at Louise, she said, “So this is our competition? Clara is much prettier than Miss Garfield.”
“She’s smarter and more accomplished, as well,” Aunt Maude assured her, though I wasn’t so confident.
“There will be others seeking the duke’s hand in marriage,” Lady Mandeville continued. “We cannot let our guard down for a minute.”
It felt like I was following two soldiers going to war, and perhaps I was.
The crowd split for a moment and I finally had the opportunity to see the man they had set their sights on.
And I was astonished.
He was handsome—breathtakingly attractive—with jet black hair and matching black eyes.
And he was tall, towering over Louise and Mrs. Garfield, with a muscular frame and a commanding demeanor.
But there was something dark and brooding about his countenance.
He didn’t seem shy—but reserved or, better yet, aloof.
As if he didn’t want to be here but was forcing himself to be in attendance.
His hooded gaze met mine and I felt frozen to the floor, though it wasn’t exactly fear that held me there. Curiosity made me want to know more about him, yet a sense of foreboding made me leery of what I might discover.
A scar sliced across his left cheekbone and disappeared into his hairline, but it did not diminish his good looks. On the contrary, it added to his allure and mystique.
He didn’t look back at Louise or Mrs. Garfield as we approached, and they slowly faded into the crowd again, though I knew they wouldn’t go far.
“Your Grace,” Lady Mandeville said with a curtsey, “may I present to you Mrs. Edmund Hill and her niece, Miss Clara Day Hill?”
Aunt Maude and I curtseyed as the duke dipped his head in acknowledgment.
“How do you do?” I asked him.
“How do you do?” His voice was low and rich, with a bit of a gravelly sound to it.
“Mrs. Hill and Clara have just arrived from New York,” Lady Mandeville continued. “And were presented to Her Majesty, the Queen today. Queen Victoria commented on Clara’s beauty, though I am not surprised.”
My cheeks grew warm as the duke studied me, saying nothing.
“We were so pleased to hear you had come to London for the season,” Lady Mandeville continued. “It has been years since you’ve been here, has it not?”
“I have not been to London since I was a child,” the duke said, finally pulling his gaze away from me.
“And your parents?” Lady Mandeville frowned. “I don’t believe I ever had the pleasure of meeting them.”
“They’ve both been dead for fifteen years.”
Lady Mandeville lost her composure at his forthright words. “Well—I suppose I’ve only been in England for a decade, so I wouldn’t have had that opportunity.”
He didn’t speak again, and we stood there awkwardly until Aunt Maude ventured to ask, “Have you been to New York, Your Grace?”
“No.”
It was clear he didn’t want to be here and was trying to use his bad mood to push us away, but I’d faced harsher people in Five Points, and I wasn’t afraid of him.
“Would you like to visit New York someday?” I asked.
He looked at me and said, “No.”
“Your home must be an extraordinary place if this is the first time you’ve been to London in years,” I said, “and you have no wish to go abroad. You must tell me about it sometime.”
“Do you dance, Your Grace?” Lady Mandeville tried again. “Clara has several dances available—”
“No, I do not dance.”
“Well,” I said, “what do you do?”
It felt impertinent, but if he was going to be rude, I could be rude.
Something flickered in his eyes—respect? Did no one ever challenge him?
“I like to study maps, Miss Hill.”
“For all the places you never plan to travel?”
The corner of his lips came up in the faintest smile, but then it was gone again. “And what do you like to do with your time, besides badger unsuspecting gentlemen?”
It was my turn to smile, though I didn’t try to hide it like him. “I like to read and sew and sing. I like a great many things, dancing among them. Do you not like to dance because you never learned?”
“I learned—I just don’t like it.”
“Perhaps you haven’t had the right partner.”
“Perhaps I haven’t.” I saw a challenge in his eyes. “Would you care to prove me wrong?”
I lifted my dance card and said, “Choose your dance, Your Grace, and I will be honored to prove you wrong.”
He looked over the card and then wrote his name next to the first dance of the evening.
“Are you hoping to get over the unpleasantness as soon as possible?” I asked, looking at his bold signature. “Or make a lasting impression on me to carry throughout the night?”
This time, he actually smiled.
I curtseyed and he bowed, and then Lady Mandeville led us away.
“Well done,” Aunt Maude whispered to me. “I can see that Alec has done a marvelous job teaching you the art of flirting.”
As she said the words, I glanced up and found Alec watching us.
He simply looked away.