The Lightkeeper's Daughter (28 page)

Laughing couples swung by as the live band played. None of them looked familiar in their fancy attire and masks. She hoped no one would ask her to dance until her nervousness eased. This was her first time at a ball, and she would likely embarrass herself and her family by stepping all over her partner’s feet. A sumptuous display of food was spread on white linen-covered tables along the west wall. She scanned the crowd for John but knew she wouldn’t recognize him if she saw him.

Just as well. Her thoughts kept going back to the plight of the Whittaker family. She should have done more. And the entire family was in an uproar about the bank failure. John had been grim and distracted when she got back from town, though she’d longed to share her day with him. She’d seen him and her father engaged in serious conversations throughout the day, but she’d been distracted with Clara’s demands for final arrangements for the ball.

Every muscle tightened when she saw Lord Carrington approaching—without a mask and dressed in his suit. She glanced away from his determined face to see if she could find help from any quarter. Behind her was a door to the hall, so she turned and slipped through it.

She heard Carrington call, “Miss Eaton.” She closed the door, then rushed away.

She should never have agreed to come. Her father was going to try to auction her off to the highest bidder. Her vision blurred, and she lifted her skirts to hurry. When she heard a male voice call out behind her, she put on another burst of speed. Then she recognized it as John’s voice. She turned to see him striding toward her in a black tail coat and pants and white bow tie. He wore a black velvet mask, but she would have recognized those broad shoulders anywhere.

“Not leaving so soon, are you?” he asked when he reached her.

“Lord Carrington was in pursuit,” she said.

He nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. “And you ran like a rabbit.”

“Like a jackrabbit,” she agreed, smiling. “How did you know it was me?”

He touched a curl hanging to her shoulder. “No one else has hair like that.”

His comment brought her pleasure. “Thank you. I think.” She smiled up into his face.

He put her hand on his arm and turned back toward the ballroom. “It’s necessary for us to face our fears. I promise to protect you.”

“How easy for you to say,” she said. “You aren’t out of your element like I am mine. I don’t even know how to dance.”

“We can remedy that.” He laid his right hand on top of hers, where it rested on his left arm. “I’m not the best dancer in the world, but I can waltz without breaking your toes.”

“I can’t give you the same promise,” she said. “You’ll be risking your feet if you dance with me.”

“I do believe it would be worth it,” he said, leading her back into the crowd.

Her father hailed her before they’d taken three steps toward the dance floor. “Julia, come here, please.” He stood in his tails with Clara on one side and Lord Carrington on the other. “Lord Carrington has been looking for you.”

The Englishman bent over her gloved hand. His blue eyes shone. “Please, call me Thomas,” he said. “You look lovely, Miss Eaton.”

“Addie,” she said without thinking.

“Julia,” her father corrected with a warning glint in his eye.

“It will take me some time to get used to that,” she said. She caught John’s smile, then bit her lip and glanced away.

“Would you care to dance?” Lord Carrington extended his arm.

Before she could admit she didn’t know how, John interrupted. “We were on our way to the floor when Henry called us over,” he said. “Shall we continue?” he asked her.

She placed her hand on his arm, and he led her to the center of the room. “What do I do?” she whispered.

He slipped his hand on the right side of her waist and took her left hand in his. “Follow me.”

The warmth of his hand penetrated the silk layers of her dress. His spicy scent filled her head. If she leaned forward, she could put her ear against his chest. Would his heart be pounding as hard as hers?

He counted off the rhythm in her ear. “One, two, three.”

Awkwardly at first, she let him guide her around the floor. Her skirt billowed around her in a most delicious way, and she couldn’t stop the smile that sprang to her lips as she figured out how to do it. “I’m waltzing!”

“And quite beautifully,” he said, smiling down into her face.

She rested her head against his chest and felt him wince. “Did I hurt your bruises?”

“It was a most delicious pain,” he said, smiling down at her.

She stopped in the middle of the dance floor. “I have a poultice to put on them. If I’d known of your injuries last night, I could have prevented much of your pain today.”

His smile widened. “Being with you is the best medicine, but I’ll allow any ministrations you want to make after this thing is over.”

She allowed him to whirl her around the floor again. She was out of breath by the time the dance ended. Lord Carrington came to take his turn, then another gentleman, whose name she didn’t remember. She kept an eye out for Lord Carrington’s reappearance, but she saw him in conversation with John. John winked at her as she danced by, and she knew he’d occupied the odious man on her behalf.

She’d first thought her attraction to John was simply because she wasn’t used to male attention. But she’d had plenty of it over the past two weeks, and she still sought him out. She loved him.

T
WENTY-NINE

A
LADY NEVER
perspired, but Addie felt a definite glow on her face after the last dance. Mr. Eaton waved her to his side again. She was happy to oblige, since he stood alone. Her dream was to find their hearts were in tune, that she was the daughter he’d dreamed of.

“Having a good time?” he asked, smiling when she reached his side.

“It’s lovely. And a little disconcerting. So much attention.” She flipped open her fan and waved it over her face.

“It’s because you’re an Eaton, Julia. Always remember that.”

She nodded, her smile fading. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Lord Carrington is quite smitten.”

“He’s nice enough, but a bit above me.”

“You mustn’t allow yourself to think that way. Thomas would be a splendid match for you.”

“I’m not looking for a husband, sir.”

“Call me Father,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’ve looked for you for a long time.”

“Yes . . . Father.” The word didn’t roll off her tongue as easily as she’d hoped.

“Now, back to the Carringtons. They’re an old and established English family. And rich.”

“I don’t care about money,” she said, when it was clear he was waiting for a response from her.

“I want you to marry into a title. That’s the one thing the Eatons lack. We’re self-made. But with you as an English lady, the Eaton reputation can only grow.”

“As I said, I’m not looking for a husband, Father.”

“Of course you are. It’s what every woman wants. And what could be better than a husband like Carrington? What else could you do with your time but find a good man and bear children?”

“I’d like to become a nurse,” she said. Saying it out loud made her realize how ridiculous it was. An Eaton tending to the sick. He’d never allow it.

“What the devil are you talking about?” he sputtered. “The Eaton name is not an asset to be squandered. I suspect Carrington will apply to me for your hand. And I’ll be happy to grant it.”

She took a step back. “Surely not without my permission!”

“A father knows what is best for his daughter. You need to trust my judgment, Julia.”

She met his gaze and lifted her chin. “I want to love the man I marry.”

“Love,” he scoffed. “Don’t be so naive, child.”

“You loved my mother.”

His voice softened. “That I did. And you’ll come to love your husband.”

She wanted to tell him of her love for John, but now wasn’t the time. It would take some time for her father to realize she had a mind of her own. “Yes, sir.”

“Father,” he corrected again.

“Father.” She managed to speak without breaking down, but she longed for her room and her dog.

“Good girl,” he said, his smile breaking out again. “I’ll make sure of a very good match for you, Daughter.”

Daughter. It soothed her heart to know he loved and accepted her. To know she finally had an extended family. It was a whole new world.

“Father, that little girl who was hurt at your garment factory—Brigitte Whittaker?”

“I did as you asked. She and her sister are toting fabric now.”

“I’m so grateful. I stopped by the tenement yesterday, and Mrs. Whittaker is quite ill with consumption. I’d like to do something.”

“Consumption. There’s nothing much to be done for that. I forbid you to go back to that place. Full of noxious vapors and sickness.” He patted her shoulder. “Put it out of your head.”

She nodded, but her frown remained.

It was after midnight when the last guests filed off to their bedrooms. Most had come in from San Francisco and would be staying for the weekend. She resolved to avoid the majority of them. Lord Carrington had pressed her hand and invited her for a yacht ride on the following Friday, and she’d been forced to accept, with her father’s gimlet eye on her. Though the thought of a day on the water appealed to her, she prayed there would be others on the boat as well.

One lone hall light illuminated the back stairway to the second floor. She went down the steep steps to avoid a last-minute encounter with Lord Carrington. She stepped into the second-floor hall and moved toward the sanctuary of her bedroom. John’s door was open as she passed, and his light was on, but she saw no sign of him in the room. Averting her eyes for her unseemly curiosity, she scurried toward the end of the hall.

He stepped out of Edward’s room as she neared it. “Addie, hold on a moment,” he said, grasping her arm. “Edward has had another spell.”

“Oh no!” She started to enter the room, but he blocked her passage.

“He’s fine now. Sleeping with Gideon at the foot of his bed.”

“I miss him,” she said. “Gideon.”

His eyes softened. “I imagine Henry has forgotten about finding a mate for him. I’ll see what I can do. Edward would be quite taken with a puppy, and perhaps Gideon could pass along his intuition.”

“I hope so, because you’ll be going back to the city soon, won’t you?”

“I will. I’d hoped to take you with me.”

She dropped her gaze. “I’m not sure my father will allow it.”

“What do you want, Addie?”

At least John used the name her soul responded to. She raised her gaze from the carpet. “I want to be with you,” she said. “Such a bold thing for me to say.”

He reached out and wrapped a curl around his finger. “We must see what we can do about that.”

Laughing revelers rounded the hall corner and approached. He dropped his hand back to his side, and Addie fled to her room. A choice between John and her family might be fast approaching. She wanted both, which wasn’t likely to come about.

The overpowering scent of flowers made Addie’s head ache. “It’s so good of you to host Josephine’s funeral,” she told Katie and Mrs. Russell.

Mrs. Russell patted her hand. “My dear, it was the least I could do for my best friend’s daughter.” She glanced around the parlor. “A respectable attendance from the Eatons and those who do business with them.”

“They were very kind,” Addie agreed. She started to say they’d come only out of duty but bit back the words. It was time she learned a little discretion in her speech.

Flowers nearly smothered the room. The casket containing Josephine’s body was in one corner, and even more flowers surrounded it. A table of food, finger sandwiches, and desserts had been spread for the visitors. This day would soon be over, and the undertaker would arrive to take Josephine to the grave site.

She saw a familiar top hat approaching through the window. “Oh no, it’s Lord Carrington,” she said. “He’s been pursuing me most relentlessly.”

“He’s a very nice man,” Mrs. Russell said. “A trifle old for you, perhaps, but wealthy and generous. I know your mother thought most highly of him.”

Addie’s face burned at the rebuke. “I’m sure you’re right,” she said. “But I’m not interested in him.”

“Lord Carrington pursued your mother most persistently. He was livid when she turned him down and married your father. Thrown over for a commoner.”

“But he is pursuing me. He must be quite old if he was in love with my mother.”

Mrs. Russell tugged at her glove. “I often wondered if he had something to do with your mother’s departure.”

“What do you mean?” Addie asked.

“He came to see her two days before she left. Laura sent a note to me that night.”

“What did it say?”

“That she’d learned something dreadful.” Mrs. Russell shook her head. “But when she came to tea the next day, I could not persuade her to reveal what it was she’d discovered.”

“She might have learned this thing from Lord Carrington.”

“I’ve often wondered,” Mrs. Russell said.

Addie tried to control her excitement. “I’m going yachting with him on Friday. I shall ask him directly.”