Chapter 11
When Susanna entered the ballroom, she found it ablaze with hundreds of white candles adorning the crystal chandeliers.
Many of her guests had already assembled, eager for the dancing to begin, and the air was charged with excitement.
Gay laughter and the animated buzz of conversation rang all around.
The double doors to the adjoining music room had been thrown open and the harpsichord repositioned just outside them; a musician was practicing lightly on the keys.
A trio of violinists tuned their instruments nearby, while a fifth musician tooted upon his French horn and another performed trills on a silver flute.
Robert Grymes had outdone himself in providing music for the evening, and Susanna made a mental note to thank him.
Everything looked and sounded so festive!
A quick scan of the room told her that Adam was not present, an easy thing to discern since most of the men were wearing wigs while he did not, and she was surprised by her sudden disappointment.
Telling herself that she didn’t need his furtive attentions or interference right now, she searched the crowd for a gentleman who might fit Corliss’s description of Dominick Spencer: handsome, distinguished, and about forty-five years old.
She was surprised he had not greeted her at the entrance to the ballroom, considering that Corliss had said he would be waiting for her—
“Miss Cary?”
Susanna whirled around and came face-to-face with one of the most aristocratic-looking men she had ever seen. “Yes?”
“Forgive me, but I stepped into the game room for a moment and missed your arrival. If I may introduce myself…Dominick Spencer.” He bowed gallantly, with a practiced flourish, then straightened and met her eyes with a gaze of ice-blue intensity. “I am delighted to finally make your acquaintance.”
“Mr. Spencer,” she said softly, inclining her head in the polite fashion she had seen women doing all day.
“You saw my gift, I take it…”
“Oh, yes. Yes, I did,” she blurted, thinking how ungrateful she must appear that she hadn’t thought to thank him. “It was so unexpected. Such a beautiful creature—”
“No more so than the lovely vision you make, Miss Cary, if you don’t mind me complimenting you so boldly. Simply put, you take my breath away.”
In truth, Susanna did find his praise rather fulsome. He had delivered it in so smooth a manner she could not help thinking that however out of breath he might claim to be, he looked as cool and unruffled as a judge. Yet her cheeks grew warm under his admiring appraisal.
If she had been asked to pick someone among her guests who appeared the perfect embodiment of a Tidewater gentleman, it was Dominick Spencer.
Everything about his attire proclaimed his wealth and prominence, from his full campaign wig, gold brocade coat and blue satin waistcoat, white silk stockings and diamond-studded buckles on his red-heeled shoes, to the gold sword hilt encrusted with jewels which protruded through the side vent of his coat.
He was tall—though perhaps surpassing Adam by only an inch—and his demeanor was proud. He had a decided air of arrogance about him, but she quickly reasoned that any man of his caliber would possess the same. And Corliss had certainly been right about his looks.
His features were patrician and symmetrical in a long, angular face which appeared surprisingly unlined and youthful for his age.
His countenance was almost too perfect, in fact, and to Susanna it seemed much less compelling than Adam’s rugged good looks.
He wasn’t as broad-shouldered or as powerfully built as Adam either, but somewhat on the lean side
Oh, Adam, Adam, Adam! she fumed in frustration. Why could she never get him out of her mind?
“I believe your guests are waiting for you to lead them in the first dance,” Dominick said, his hard, thin lips curved into a quizzical smile, as if he was amused by her open scrutiny. “Did your maid remember to give you my full message…the first dance and the last?”
“Why, yes. She did,” Susanna replied, embarrassed that she had been staring at him so blatantly, and equally flustered by her persistent thoughts of Adam. She hoped that Dominick had also heard Camille Cary was shy, which would serve as a plausible explanation for much of her discomfiture.
“I shall only demand them, Miss Cary, if you are well-pleased with your gift…”
“Oh, I’m very pleased, Mr. Spencer—”
“Call me Dominick. Last names are so formal for two people who I predict are going to become very good friends.” He took her arm solicitously. “Our minuet, Camille.”
Susanna barely had a chance to nod her assent before he was leading her onto the dance floor, the other guests forming several long lines of paired couples both in front of them and behind.
She was stunned by how suavely he had taken charge of the proceedings; something, she realized as he bowed deeply and she curtsied, that he must be accustomed to doing.
Then the music began, and they were dancing to the strains of a courtly minuet, Dominick holding her gaze as he continued to converse with her in low, precise tones meant for her ears alone.
“This is quite an impressive event, Camille. Your father would have been proud of you.”
“Thank you…Dominick,” she replied, thinking it strange to be addressing him with such familiarity when they had just met.
Then again, Adam had done the same thing, perhaps waiting only a little bit longer.
It seemed neither man wanted to waste any time, but of course, she didn’t care what Adam wanted.
She was, however, very interested in what this particular gentleman had in mind.
“I’m glad you could attend. I’ve heard so much about you. ”
“Really? From whom?”
Susanna felt a moment’s unease, wishing she could retract her statement. She didn’t know if he would be pleased or not to discover he was the subject of gossip among her servants.
“Actually, my waiting-maid Corliss. She brought me your message.”
“Oh, yes. A well-mannered, obliging girl, though a little talkative for my taste. You might want to rein her in a notch. It’s always a good thing for slaves to know their places. They can become uppity, which must then be corrected with a very firm hand…”
“I’m sorry,” Susanna asked, not sure what he had just intimated. “I don’t understand—”
“It was nothing. Don’t trouble yourself,” he interrupted as smoothly as silk when they stepped toward each other.
“Beautiful young women leave such details to their husbands. In your case” —he smiled meaningfully at her— “to your future husband.” They parted, then drew together again, although now his expression was serious.
“Bluntly speaking, I want to be that man, Camille. “
Susanna drew in her breath sharply, astonished and cautiously elated by his bold admission.
Now that she knew exactly what Dominick’s intentions were toward her, she would have to move with some restraint.
She had to make an important decision, after all, one which would affect not only her future but Briarwood’s as well.
She wanted to become better acquainted with him and to see his home, Raven’s Point.
She already sensed that he was the kind of man she had vowed to wed—rich, prominent, and eligible—but she wanted to be sure he met with all of Lady Redmayne’s criteria.
Camille had charged her to marry wisely, and so she would.
Of course she would also have to consider Adam, Susanna thought resentfully, spying him out of the corner of her eye. He was leaning against the doorjamb, glaring not so much at her as at Dominick. Oh, if only he wouldn’t scowl so! Someone would surely guess why he was upset.
“Has my confession pleased or dismayed you?” Dominick asked, catching her furtive glance in Adam’s direction. “You seem troubled, Camille.”
“It is only that this is so sudden,” she answered hastily, gifting him with a smile that she hoped would divert him. “Perhaps when we know each other better…”
“That is my desire, to know you better, “ he murmured, his cool fingers caressing her hand as they circled each other. “If I may, I would like to call upon you in the coming days—”
“Well, actually I’ve been invited to a host of social events which will take me away from Briarwood much of the time,” Susanna said, doing her best to sway him from any thoughts of visiting the plantation during the next few weeks.
Adam would know at once that Dominick was paying her court, and until she was sure she wanted to marry this man, she didn’t dare risk losing Adam as her plantation manager.
“Then perhaps you can tell me where I might find you,” Dominick suggested.
“We could meet here and there and become better acquainted.” He glanced pointedly at the half dozen or so young men who weren’t yet dancing, a cow-eyed Matthew Grymes among them.
“I fear that tonight we’ll have little chance to speak further, my dear.
You have a wealth of eager partners seeking your hand, and it is only fair that I relinquish you to them, since it is your welcome ball.
In the future, however, I promise that you won’t find me so charitable. ”
Susanna shivered at the forceful intent behind his words, although he still spoke in low tones.
Dominick Spencer was clearly a man who was accustomed to getting what he wanted.
Obliging him, she enumerated her plans for the days ahead, at least as far as she knew them, adding softly, “If I decide to attend any other functions, I could always send you a message…”
“Splendid,” he murmured with an almost smug smile as the minuet began to draw to a close. “By the way, beautiful lady, I must tell you that you dance exquisitely. You must have had an excellent teacher in England. I would say your grace and skill surpass most of the ladies present.”