A Bid for Romance

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

~March 28~

Margaret and the Duchess of Kendell entered the beautiful home of the Marquess of Danby. Lord and Lady Danby greeted them, but Margaret quickly moved forward to her good friend Diana, the Danby’s daughter-in-law.

“Margaret, it’s so wonderful to see you this evening,” Diana said as she curtsied.

“And you,” Margaret said. She then leaned forward and asked, “Is it going to be a crush, do you think?”

“I’m sorry to say I do think it will be. It’s Lady Danby’s first gathering since she regained her health, and there are a number of people who wish to pay their respects.”

“They couldn’t do that in a smaller setting? In her drawing room?” Margaret asked, drawing her eyebrows down.

Diana gave a little laugh. “No. There are far too many.”

“Margaret, we’ve taken up enough of Lady Colburne’s time,” the duchess said gently.

“Oh, yes,” Margaret said, turning to look behind her to see the number of people lined up to enter and speak with the hosts.

“We’ll speak later,” Diana said with a smile.

Margaret gave a nod and then followed her chaperone and dear friend into the ballroom. Truly, she didn’t know what she would do without the duchess.

Her Grace had been a good friend to Margaret’s mother, the Duchess of Warwick, when Margaret had been a child. The one thing the two women had never agreed upon was how Margaret had been treated. Naturally, the Duchess of Kendell hadn’t been able to say much to her friend at the time, although she had spoken up for the girl on occasion.

Now, however, she was doing a great deal to atone for years of staying quiet. She had accepted Margaret into her own home, agreed to chaperone her for the season, and was helping her to find a husband. It was much more than Margaret’s own mother would have done for her, or anyone else, to be honest. Margaret would be eternally grateful, but for now, she would simply do what was expected of her, which was a great deal more difficult than anyone realized.

Margaret took in a deep breath and tried her best to still her pounding heart as they paused just inside the ballroom door. All her instincts told her to turn and run, or shrink back and find some place to hide. But she couldn’t. She’d promised Tina that she would try, and so try she would.

Taking in another breath, she forced her lips up into a smile. She could do this. She could do this.

What was she saying? She was ugly! She was too skinny. She had no conversation. No intelligence. She would never be anything but a burden! Why would anyone want to speak with her, let alone dance with her, let alone marry her? Margaret’s mother’s voice filled her head.

All her life she’d been told these things; of course they were true. She knew Warwick had always said otherwise, but he was her brother. Tina had told her that she was pretty, but she’d just wanted to befriend Margaret. At first it was to get work since she’d been Margaret’s modiste, and then, later, to get close to Warwick. Tina claimed otherwise, but Margaret knew the truth.

“Lady Margaret, how wonderful to see you this evening,” Lydia, Lady Welles said, coming up to her and the duchess.

Lydia was such a sweet girl. She was always laughing, making jokes, flirting with gentlemen—well, she’d mostly stopped doing that in the last year, ever since she’d met and fallen in love with Lord Welles. They’d married at the end of last season. But marriage hadn’t changed the fact that she was a lot fun to be around. Yes, she was the perfect person to pull Margaret from her doldrums.

“Lydia, you look beautiful as always,” Margaret said, trying to keep the envy from her voice. Her friend was fair and pretty, but it was really her smile that made her attractive. Margaret recognized that and tried to do her best to emulate her. Now that Lydia was married, she could wear the bolder colors that truly became her. This evening she was in a bright green gown that brought out the color of her eyes and made her cheeks look flushed and pretty.

“As do you, Margaret. I love the cut of your gown. It makes you look so willowy and elegant. I envy you your figure,” Lydia said with a bright smile.

Margaret was certain she was just saying that to be kind. She truly was a good friend. Willowy was just a nice way of saying skinny, which indeed, was what Margaret was. No matter how much she ate her proportions just stayed the same. “You are too kind. Of course, Tina designed this dress. She has such an incredible talent.”

“Yes, she does,” Lydia agreed. She turned to face the room. “So, who do you have your eye on tonight?” she asked with a giggle.

“Me? Oh! No one, I’m sure,” Margaret said, slightly taken aback.

“But why not? You should pick two or three men you want to dance with and then make sure they ask you. How else are you going to find the one man who is right for you?”

“I…I thought I’d wait for them to come to me,” Margaret said. She’d never heard of such an outrageous idea! Persuading a man to ask her to dance? How did one do that?

“Well, I suppose you could do it that way. I always preferred to make the choice myself, but then, I do like being in control,” she said with another laugh.

“And you have no qualms about hinting that a gentleman should ask you to dance?” Margaret asked curiously.

“No, not at all. It’s actually much easier for the gentleman. He believes that you’re interested in him, when in fact you just want to get to know him a little better to see if you would suit.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it,” Margaret said, considering her words. “If I had the nerve to be so bold…”

“It doesn’t take much, to tell you the truth. A flutter of your fan or a bat of your eyelashes and they’ll come running. Try it, you’ll see,” Lydia said.

“I have to say, she’s right,” the duchess said, joining in their conversation. “I used to do the same thing when I was young, and I have seen Lydia and a number of other ladies do so. You might consider giving it a try.”

“Oh, I don’t think…” Margaret could feel her cheeks grow warm. “No, I couldn’t.”

“Try it,” Lydia said, putting a hand on her arm, encouraging her.

“Good evening, Your Grace. Lady Margaret. Lady Welles,” Mr. Hershawn said, coming up to them, accompanied by Lord Roseberry. The two men were almost never seen without the other. They both bowed to the ladies.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” the duchess said, nodding her acknowledgement while Margaret and Lydia curtsied.

“What is it that must be tried, Lady Welles? Some new confection, perhaps? Or a fascinating new book?” Mr. Hershawn asked, turning a smile on to Lydia.

Lydia giggled. “I was just telling Lady Margaret that some gentlemen prefer it when a lady lets it be known that she is interested in dancing.”

Margaret wished she could simply sink through the floor. Never had she been so embarrassed! It had to be completely clear Lydia was telling them that she was interested in being asked to dance. She wondered if she appeared to be desperate.

“Oh, you mean with a look or a flutter of a fan,” Mr. Hershawn said with a nod.

“I appreciate it. It is nice to know when a young lady is interested,” Lord Roseberry said.

“Yes. What’s disturbing is when a young lady looks at you from across the room, and then by the time you finally get over to her she’s agreed to dance with someone else,” Mr. Hershawn said.

“I can see how that would be disheartening,” the duchess agreed. “But on the whole, you like to know when a young lady is interested?”

“Absolutely,” Mr. Hershawn said quickly.

“It does make things easier,” Lord Roseberry agreed.

“Not that anyone would turn down an offer to dance from either of you gentlemen,” Margaret said quietly.

Both men turned smiles on to her. “Not yet, Lady Margaret,” Lord Roseberry said.

“I say, Lady Margaret, has anyone asked you to dance yet this evening?” Mr. Hershawn asked.

“No,” Margaret said, looking for that hole in the floor she’d wished for earlier.

“Would you care to dance with me, my lady?” he asked.

Her cheeks burned again, but in her heart, she was grateful to the gentleman. “Why, thank you, sir. That is most kind. I would enjoy that a great deal.”

“I don’t think it’s kind at all. It’s for my own enjoyment, I assure you. I’m a terribly selfish fellow,” he said with a smile.

Margaret gave a little laugh and nodded. As if on cue, the orchestra began warming up for the first set of dances, and Mr. Hershawn held out his arm to lead her to the floor.

She was trying, she told herself. She was definitely trying harder, just as she’d promised Tina.

~*~

Mr. Hershawn was such a thoughtful man, Margaret thought as he entertained her with silly small talk throughout their dance. When he returned her to the duchess, Diana was there, chatting with the older lady.

Mr. Hershawn stopped to have a pleasant word with the two ladies before going off to find a partner for the next dance.

“You looked like you were having fun,” Diana commented with a smile.

“He is a very nice man,” Margaret agreed.

“I see Lord Rexford looking in this direction,” the duchess said, looking off to their right pointedly.

“Well, before you get whisked away again,” Diana said with a laugh, “I just wanted to invite you to join me, Lydia, and Miss Kendrick for a ride tomorrow.”

“Oh, I would love to join you!” Margaret said with feeling. It so wonderful when her friends invited her to join them. It made her feel welcome and as if they truly were friends. “And I would appreciate the opportunity to get to know Miss Kendrick better. I’ve only spoken with her once, but she seems to be a very nice girl.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking,” Diana said.

Lord Rexford hovered just beyond Diana until the duchess gave him a nod, allowing him to come forward. He was a quiet man, Margaret thought approvingly. She really didn’t know him well at all, but he seemed as if he would be a pleasant companion. It was lovely that he’d worked up the courage to join them and perhaps even ask her to dance.

Later that evening, as they were on their way home, the duchess turned to Margaret. “You did very well tonight. I’m proud of you. You danced and chatted, and I only had to pull you away from the wall once—no, twice. Still, it’s an improvement.”

Margaret’s pride faltered only a little at being reminded of her lapses. “Thank you, Your Grace. I did try harder this evening.”

The lady gave a nod. “And it showed. Keep it up and you’ll have quite a few beaux chasing after you and, hopefully, a number of proposals before the season is through.”

The thought of that coming true had Margaret shaking in her slippers, despite the fact that it was precisely what she needed. Well, they would see if that actually came to pass—if she was able to keep this up. It was exhausting and hard work being social. “One step at a time, I think,” Margaret replied.

The duchess gave a little laugh and patted Margaret’s hand.