by Fanny Finch
Once she was seated, he pulled a chair from the other table so that he could sit facing Hestia at an angle.
“This is so nice,” Lady Eugenia said. She flicked her eyes over Leander’s shoulder and lifted one hand to greet someone behind him. “Oh, look, I see a friend. I will return shortly.”
She was up and gone in a flash, leaving two smiling people behind her.
Chapter 21
At first, Leander was unsure what to say or think. He wondered if Hestia was as uncertain as he was. From the way she quickly moved her lowered eyes from one side to the other, he could see she was.
Finally, he got the bravery to say, “It is good to see you again, Lady Hestia.”
“I was uncertain if you would come,” Hestia said, finding the words were just spilling out. Once the ice was broken, she had so much she wanted to tell him, about her life, her thoughts, her dreams for the future.
“Why would I not come?”
“I know you were aware that Lady Eugenia is my employer. I was afraid I had embarrassed myself too much at Lord Wake’s party.”
Leander shook his head. “No. You did not embarrass yourself. In a way, it would appear you placed yourself firmly in my mind. It has been very difficult to think of other things since then.”
Hestia was thrilled to hear him say such words. On the other hand, she was still aware that he was courting Miss Drusilla, most likely through no fault of his own.
“I must admit, that is nice to hear.” She kept her voice low and did not look directly at him, speaking from the corner of her mouth. She was keenly aware of her station and it made her slightly uncomfortable.
Leander did not seem to be bothered by it. He looked directly at her with admiring eyes and spoke in a low but distinct tone. “I do not lie, Lady Hestia.”
“What, may I ask, is the situation with the lady you are courting? I believe it is Miss Drusilla Sirey? Is that right?”
Hestia knew full well what Miss Drusilla’s name was and who she was. She wanted to give the impression she had not been thinking about Leander as much as she had been.
Leander’s expression dissolved into one of disappointment as soon as he heard Miss Drusilla’s name.
“I do not wish to speak about her. I know there must be many more interesting things you and I can talk about without having to mention her name even once.”
“I am sure of that,” Hestia replied. She studied his face, trying to tell how he was feeling by what she saw. She understood he did not want to talk about Miss Drusilla. She was curious, though, and the thought recurred to her mind through their conversation. She needed to know where he stood with Miss Drusilla and sought out the information by talking about other things.
“It was Lady Eugenia who planned this out, my lord,” Hestia said with a smile. “She has intended for you to meet me this way so that we could have a conversation.”
He nodded. “I thought that was what happened. When I received the invitation, I was hoping as much.”
“Were you?” Hestia’s hopes were high. She allowed herself to meet his eyes and felt a streak of nervousness slide through her. Her breath caught in her throat and she dropped her eyes again. No other man had made her feel like this.
She felt like a small child. Suddenly, she could not think of anything to say. She was glad when he began the conversation again. She wanted to hide her attraction to him as much as possible, so as not to hurt his reputation.
She had a feeling if anyone was watching her, though, they would be able to tell what she was thinking. She glanced back up to see a warm smile on Leander’s face.
“Yes. It is my belief that our conversation at Lord Wake’s party was ended much too soon. I would like to know more about your interest in books. Particularly if you are interested in writing them. Do you write poetry, Lady Hestia?”
Hestia thought about it for a moment before replying. “I must say I have tried my hand at it, Lord Price, but I have never been satisfied with the end result.”
“Have you let anyone else read them? Lady Eugenia perhaps?”
Hestia shook her head. “No, I have not written any poetry since becoming employed by the Callow family. I have not had the time or inclination to do so.”
“You mean you have had no inspiration,” Leander corrected her gently. “With the right inspiration, any poet can lay pen to paper and come up with something poetic.”
“Perhaps. I have not had any inspiration, so you may be perfectly correct on that.”
Leander smiled. “I have been known to dabble in poetry myself. I have read as much as I can get my hands on. I have had little inspiration to write anything this season. I believe that has changed, though. I know what I want to write about now.”
“Do you?” Once again Hestia blushed softly, lowering her eyes.
Leander chuckled.
“Is your home nearby?” Hestia asked, steering the conversation away from herself.
“It is on the south side of London. There are several homes on that acreage but we have the largest plot. The house stretches out some. It is two floors of very large rooms.”
“I would like to see it someday.” The words were out of Hestia’s mouth before she could stop them. She pressed her lips together and put one gloved hand in front of them to hide her grin.
Leander did nothing to hide his.
“I think that can be arranged. I will be holding a party at my house in the near future. Father has already mentioned doing so but he is thinking about other things to celebrate rather than just having the party in honor of the season.”
Hestia thought she knew what Leander was talking about. The Earl of Coventry wanted to hold a party to honor the upcoming marriage of his son. But would that marriage be to Miss Drusilla? Or to Hestia?
Hestia’s heart hammered against her chest as she pictured arriving at the mansion of the Earl and Countess of Coventry, intending to marry their son.
“I hope to be invited,” she said softly.
“That is a guarantee, Lady Hestia.”
“I am expecting my mother to arrive at any moment,” Hestia said.
Leander’s eyes opened wide and his eyebrows raised. “Oh? It will be my pleasure to meet her.”
Hestia smiled. “My mother is a brave woman. She has a good heart and is very loyal to my father, despite the problems that have come up. I am happy she is coming.”
“I am happy for you, Lady Hestia.” He looked around the room, that was quickly filling with guests. “It looks as though many people were invited.”
Hestia nodded. “I believe Lady Eugenia invited half of London.”
“Ah,” Leander’s eyes scanned the crowd. Hestia thought she knew who he was looking for.
“Miss Drusilla was not on the list, I believe.”
Leander glanced at her quickly. He did not want to say it did not take an invitation for Miss Drusilla Sirey to show up wherever he was. If there was truly a spy in his household, she would come without invitation, knowing that he was attending.
“I do not see her, no.”
Hestia watched as Lady Eugenia made her way back to the couple, stopping at times to say a few words to her other guests. She finally reached the table and sat down in the chair she had abandoned.
“Well, there are certainly a lot of people responding to my invitation!” she said in an exhausted voice.
“It is too soon for you to be tired, Eugenia,” Hestia said in a soft voice.
Lady Eugenia nodded but fanned her face with one gloved hand. “Oh yes, I know, little Hestia. But nonetheless, I am exhausted from just one round in the parlor.”
“You have more guests coming in,” Leander pointed out, gesturing with his head as two gentlemen came through the parlor door.
“Ah, Baron Wake’s sons. They are always good for a laugh. I believe Mother and Father will start the music soon. I will mingle a bit more and come back before the first dance. I will have my dance card filled by then, I am sure.”
“
I am sure you will,” Leander said. “I would be honored to take a spot on it if you would like.”
Lady Eugenia smiled, handing him the card. “Why yes, that would be fine.”
“I will leave the first dance to the man of your choosing,” Leander said, taking the card and placing his name on the third dance slot. “I do intend for my first dance to be taken.”
He slid his eyes to Hestia and her body shook with sudden adrenaline. She smiled at him.
At that moment, the Viscount of Culross clapped his hands together, drawing attention to himself. He was standing in front of a quartet of musicians. He was facing the crowd.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said in a loud, booming voice. Hestia noticed when he spoke that way, his large belly bounced a little. She remembered his warm voice when he gave her advice and spent just a moment wishing her father was more like him.
“We are honoring our daughter’s first season and would like to invite you all to have a wonderful time, enjoy the dancing and dinner. We do want you all happy and to go home with full bellies. Cheers.”
The resounding sound of clinking glass filled the room as everyone lifted their hands up in the air, responding with “Cheers” back to the Viscount of Culross.
The viscount turned to the musicians and gave a nod. They began to play the introduction, which would give the dancers time to pair off and meet on the dance floor.
Hestia immediately noticed the room filled with action, as the couples who had signed up for the first dance found each other. She watched the men approaching the seated women all around her, waiting anxiously for Leander to ask her for a dance. If it were proper, she would dance every dance with him.
But it was not possible. She was just grateful Miss Drusilla Sirey was nowhere in sight. She wanted as much time as she could have with Leander when he was not tense and anxious.
Leander seemed to take his time working up the nerve to ask her. She wondered why. She did not think she had hidden her feelings from him very well. If he was nervous to ask her for a dance, it signaled to her that he was experiencing the same feelings as she was.
He was a humble man, it was obvious, and wore his feelings on his sleeve. She liked that about him and vowed to tell him someday.
“Well, I must go find someone to open the dance with,” Lady Eugenia stood up, clutching her dance card in one hand.
“Lady Eugenia, you would do well to wait here for someone to approach you,” Hestia said.
“Do not worry, Hestia,” Lady Eugenia replied. “I will not leave you alone. If you find no one to open the dance with, I will sit it out with you.”
When Lady Eugenia said, “no one to open the dance with,” she opened her eyes wide and stared at Leander, as if to say, “Ask her, you fool!”
Leander looked up at Lady Eugenia and a bright smile covered his face. He turned to Hestia.
“Lady Hestia, would you care to open the dance with me?”
Hestia felt a surge of adrenaline. She swallowed hard and handed the card to him without hesitation. He took it and signed his name at the top. He handed it back, saying, “It is official. Shall we join the others?”
“Yes, that is a wonderful idea.”
Leander looked at Lady Eugenia. “We will wait until you have a partner for the dance, Lady Eugenia.”
“Oh, you do not have to…”
Leander shook his head. “Nonsense. I can already see we will not have to wait long.”
He moved his eyes to look beyond her and she turned to see one of Baron Wake’s sons approaching them with a smile.
Chapter 22
Leander and Hestia walked behind the baron’s son and Lady Eugenia as they went down the hallway to the ballroom.
They lined up on the dance floor with the other participants. Leander was pleased to be looking at the lovely, uniquely beautiful face of Hestia, instead of the over-excited look Miss Drusilla always had. He thought twice about it and shook his head.
That look was not present when she looked at him. She did not strike him as being all too infatuated with him. When Hestia looked at him, he saw warmth, compassion, a genuine liking for him. Miss Drusilla looked at him as though he were her pet dog that sometimes got under her skin.
He drank in the warm look Hestia was giving him as they readied themselves for the dance.
As they spun around the floor, Leander was delighted each time they had the opportunity to brush their hands against the other’s, sending warm smiles back and forth.
Leander noticed how graceful Hestia was. She had learned to dance from a good teacher. He could tell by the swaying of her body that she had a natural talent as well as a good teacher.
These were two things missing from Miss Drusilla and her style of dancing. She went through each step as if she had been taking lessons for a week and could not quite grasp the concept of gracefulness.
Leander did not mean to be cruel and was glad that no one but himself could hear his thoughts. He never wanted to make another person feel bad about themselves. But he did not want to sacrifice his own happiness for that purpose either.
When Leander passed Lady Eugenia, he made sure to give her a sly grin, hoping she understood how thankful he was she had requested the party from her parents. From her returning smile, he thought she perhaps did understand.
Leander’s thoughts whirled through his mind at the same rate as he danced with Hestia. He lifted her hand high in the air and passed by her, turning back, still holding her hand.
The light touch sent a tingle down his arm. He was fully aware of their hands being together, no matter how softly.
“You are a wonderful dancer, Lord Price,” Hestia complimented him in a quiet voice. “I enjoy dancing with you.”
“I find you to be the same, Lady Hestia. Perhaps we were meant to dance together. Natural partners, you might say.”
“I might say that,” Hestia nodded. “Yes, Lord Price.”
Leander could not help noticing the vast difference between Miss Drusilla and Hestia’s movements. Miss Drusilla showed her lack of breeding when she danced. It was obvious she was going through the steps as she had learned them.
Hestia was not like that. She moved with the music and seemed to glide across the floor. Leander’s heart would not stop thumping as they moved together.
In the years he had been attending the parties and balls, he had not danced with anyone as graceful as Hestia.
He told himself it was all in his mind, that Hestia was probably a mediocre dancer and his attraction made her more elegant to him.
But the more he danced with her, the more he wanted the tune to last for an hour. He would sacrifice sore feet to stay near her. She exuded a quiet beauty and etiquette that he highly admired.
Through the course of the season so far, he had been tutoring Miss Drusilla in manners, though she rarely listened to him. Her jerky movements while dancing and brash laughter when it was inappropriate lingered in his mind as he danced with Hestia.
He wished he did not have to think of Miss Drusilla so often. He had become so used to her, he had begun to think he would never escape it. He had resigned himself to his fate.
That was before he saw Hestia.
If only Hestia’s family was not in need of financial help. That was a factor his father would find unforgivable. His mother knew of the Stalwood family. He wondered if his father did, as well. He hoped his mother had not revealed who it was Leander was interested in. He wanted to explain it to his father on his own.
It would take him forever to find a way to explain. In the meantime, he planned to enjoy as much time with Hestia as he could. The party was not quite yet in full swing, it being the first dance. He was looking forward to an entire evening of entertainment, free of the constraints he felt when Miss Drusilla was near.
“I am anxious for dinner to be served,” he mentioned in a low voice as they danced close to each other. She smiled at him.
“As am I. The Callows have a wonderful cook. I b
elieve you will be very happy with the food.”
“I have not been eating well. I plan to change that tonight.” He was not going to admit to her that he had been eating light due to a lack of appetite. He had seen such a dismal future for himself for so long, he did not feel like eating.
His appetite had returned with full force when he realized Miss Drusilla would most likely not show this time. He was hungrier than he had been in weeks.
