The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor (19 page)

‘
Ah, yes
,
the Duchess of Swinton.
It is some time since I have seen the lady.  I trust she is in good health?
’

‘
The finest, sir.  As is the
d
uke
, of course
.
’

‘
Of course,
’
nodded
James
,
‘
and
I am very glad to hear it.  I shall look forward to seeing them both later.
’

‘
I’m sure they will
both
be delighted to see
you
, my lord,
’
replied Felicity
.

‘
Ah, the Duchess of Swinton
,
’
sigh
ed Lady Carmichael. 
‘
Now
there is a most … elegant and
… decorous lady,
’
she remarked, casting a disparaging look at Madeleine’s audacious gown. 

Madeleine, immediately alerted to the unspoken criticism, affected
a
saccharine-sweet smile. 
‘
Then I
,
too
,
shall look forward to
meeting this Duchess of Swinton. 
I wish to acquaint myself with all of James’s friends.
’

‘
All of them?
’
snorted Felicity
incredulously. 
‘
How very
…
admi
rable
.
’

Evidently s
ensing
the younger girl’s scorn
,
Madeleine glared frostily at
Felicity before
rearranging her features into a
more
pleasant countenance. 

‘
James, darling,
’
she cooed
, gazi
ng up at her escort through
long silky
lashes,
‘
aren’t you going to ask me to dance?  It can be so dreadfully dull standing around talking all evening.
’

‘
Of course
, my dear,
’
r
eplied James, patting her
tiny
gloved
hand, which appeared to have taken up permanent residence on his arm. 
‘
Please do excuse us, ladies
.  I a
m sure we shall ha
ve a chance t
o continue our
conversation
later this
evening.
’

Eleanor’s ey
es widened as she realiz
ed this last comment was directed,
most definitively
,
to Felicity
- a
fact that the younger girl also did not fail to miss.

She bobbed a polite curts
y. 
‘
Oh, I sincerely hope
so, sir,
’
she replied archly.
‘
Do please now go and enjoy yourselves.
’

Re
cogni
z
ing that his point had been received and understood, James bowed courteously as Madeleine flashed a dazzling, victorious smile and whisked him away through the crowd.  Only Eleanor was aware of the menacing glare that followed them as they weaved their elegant way across the floor.

Lady Carmichael watched their retreating b
acks with a doleful expression. 
‘
My,
’
she sighed,
‘
Lady Madeleine and Jame
s do seem to be rubbing along
well together. You don’t think they could make a match of it, do you
,
Lady Ormiston?
’

Eleanor
observ
ed the
d
owager
’s lips twitching with suppressed laughter.

‘
Who knows, Cynthia?
’
she replied matter-of-factly. 
‘
The girl is quite charming and he seems very taken with her.  He could, I think, do worse for himself.  Or perhaps you had someone else in mind to shackle him to?
’

Lady Carmichael blushed to the roots of her hair. 
‘
Of course not
,
Lady Ormiston
.  W
ho on
earth
could I possibly wish to see James wed to?
’

Now accustomed to her goddaughter’s escape tactics, the
d
owager
, much to Eleanor’s dismay, appeared to
be keeping a very firm eye and
, as she dragged her around the room
,
an equally firm hold, on her charge.  Basing her strategy on the garden party exp
erience, Eleanor realiz
ed that
he
r
only chance
of
freedom
was to ply the old lady
so full of alcohol that she wouldn’t give a flying fig where her goddaughter was. 

‘
Would you care for another drink, Godmother?
’
she enquired innocently
,
as the
d
owager
downed the last of her champagne.  Before
she
had a chance to reply, Eleanor
had
snat
ched the empty glass
out of her hand
and
replaced it with one she had taken
earlie
r from a passing waiter’s
tray. 

Lady Ormiston eyed her suspiciously. 
‘
I do hope you
are not trying to get me foxed
, girl.’

Eleanor raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. 
‘
Of course not, Godmother.  Why on earth would I wish to do that?
’

The
d
owager
, though, w
as far too perceptive. 
‘
Most likely so you can
go
wander
ing off
on your own, gettin
g up to all kinds of mischief. 
Really, Eleanor, it does not do f
or young ladies to go around un
cha
peroned at such affairs.  I
t is most unbecoming.
’

‘
Of course it is, Godmother,
’
agreed
Eleanor innocently. 
‘
It would not do at all.
’

‘
Quite,
’
confirmed the
d
owager
stoutly.  

Sitting alongside her godmother, on the
red velvet gilt chairs
lining
the periphery of the ballroom
, Eleanor had
noticed a number of young men looking in her direction
.  W
henever it looked as though one
were about to approach her, she turned her attention to the
d
owager
– a
seemingly very effective
tactic in warding off any
unwanted
offers to dance. 
As a result, though,
she was feeling decidedly bored
.  Blowing ou
t her breath in a huff
, she
slumped down in the chair
and crossed h
er arms over her chest.

‘
Posture, girl.  Posture,
’
boomed Lady Ormiston.

Eleanor rolled her eyes and suppressed another sigh.  Straightening her back, she placed her hands loosely in her lap and crossed her ankles so that she was sitting in exactly the same manner as all the
other girls and their chaperon
s lining the walls. 
But while
her posture
may have been
identical, there was one enormous difference.  Whereas all the other chits were eagerly awaiting an invitation to dance from any eligible and
,
preferably, wealthy young man, Eleanor was waiting for the
d
owager
to become sufficiently inebriated so she could sl
ip
off and escape the tedium. 

She slanted a sly glance at the
d
owager
’s champagne flute. 
It was half-empty already.  She would take another from the waiter’s tray the next time he passed by.  That should be more than enough.  As she scanned the room
for a champagne-bearing footman
, she s
potted James and
Madeleine gliding expertly around the dance floor. The contrast of James’s rugge
d, dark good looks against
Madeleine’s
exquisite
blonde beauty disting
uished them from
the
majority of
o
ther guests.  They looked
perfect together and, by the admiring looks they were receiving as they swept around the floor, Eleanor was evidently not the only one who thought so.  There was one other couple
,
however, who were equally as striking.  Dressed in her trademark white, in a sumptuous gown of diaphanous silk, the Duchess of Swinton and her husband made an equally handsome pair.  Eleanor
observ
ed with interest the interaction between the two couples.  Seemingly oblivious to his fellow dancers, James appeared to have his eyes fixed firml
y on a spot directly above
Madeleine’s head.  E
ach time the couples swung by one
an
other, Eleanor
observed how
the d
uchess cast him
a hopeful
glance attempting, very discre
e
t
ly, to catch his eye.  If he was aware of her
intention,
James did a
good job of ignoring it
. 
But w
hile a shadow of disappointment crept slowly over his wife’s beautiful features, the
d
uke’s expression was much harder to read.  As they waltzed by James and Madeleine once more, Eleanor observed as t
he d
uke glanced down at his wife who was staring at James. Ignoring the woman yet again, James and Madeleine swung by in another whirl of shimmering gold.  The
d
uke’s features hardened slightly.  Eleanor couldn’t be sure, but there was a very strange look in the man’s eyes as they briefly followed James’s back. 
It was something
she couldn’t quite put h
er finger on, but it
gave her the distinct impression that Felicity Carmichael’s threat at the garden party had not been an empty one. 

Was she the only one to notice this exchange between
the three dancers?
she wondered.
 
Or w
as Felicity also observing them from some hidden spot?  Watching James’s every move?  Noticing the stir he and his beautiful guest were creating?  She shuddered slightly as she
recalled
the girl’s baleful expression earlier.  She hated to admit it, and she was certainly no simpering little goose, but Felicity Carmichael frightened her.  James had implied quite strongly that he wished to speak to the girl alone
later
.  What had he to say to he
r
?
she wondered.  Perhaps-

‘
Excuse me, madam.  May I have the pleasure of the next dance?  It is another waltz I believe.
’

Eleanor’s head jerked up sharply.  She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had not noticed the young man approaching her.  She was not shallow eno
ugh to hold a great deal of store
by looks
,
but this man could not, by the largest stretch of anyone’s imagination, be referred to as
handsome or even remotely good-
looking.
He was short and podgy with greying skin,
a
worrying rash around his
chin
,
and greasy fair hair, which
was
in
dire
need of a
cut.  Damn! She cursed silently.  She had not prepared for this at all.  She needed to think of an excuse and quickly.  But what excuse could she possibly use that would satisfy both the young man and the
d
owager
?