“Will you come with me, Alice?”
“Mama and Papa requested that you come, they did not ask for me. Go and meet your future husband, Vi.”
Violet quickly hugged her then skipped down the stairs, nearly falling once she got to the bottom.
“Good heavens! Do be careful, Violet!”
Violet righted herself, dusting off her dress before making her way to the parlour. Alice sat and waited for them. Whatever the outcome, her sister would need her by her side. Finally, Violet came rushing out of the parlour towards her. Alice met her halfway down the stairs, steadying her sister as she lost her balance.
“Be careful, Violet! This is hardly the time to fall and hurt yourself.”
“Oh, but Alice! I shall soon be a married woman!”
“Papa said yes?”
“Yes! Both Mama and Papa are happy to call him their son-in-law.”
Alice hugged her sister tightly. “I am so happy for you, Vi. This is wonderful news. Did I not tell you that they would say yes?”
“Yes, you were right. Will you come downstairs? I told them it would not be right to celebrate without my sister.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let us go and meet my future brother-in-law.”
Violet linked her arm with hers. “Do you know what this means, Alice?”
“Besides the fact that we shall gain a new member of the family?”
“Yes, you will have to find a dress for my day.”
Alice rolled her eyes dramatically. “As if I do not have enough on my plate already.” She waited for a few heartbeats before laughing, her sister eventually joining in.
***
Luke could not believe that his friend had taken the plunge so early into their courtship. He must love her to want to marry her so soon. He knew that Norton was serious about Violet as they had discussed it often enough. But he no idea that he would have gone to her house and asked for her hand in marriage.
“And you say you did this yesterday?”
"Yes. I was quite stressed as I travelled to Violet's home, as I did not know what her parents thought of me. But when I saw her just before I entered Lord Campbell's study, I suddenly got a burst of courage, and I knew that all would be well. Her father spoke with me for quite some time, asking various questions that I would expect any father to ask the man who wished to marry his daughter."
“Did he ask you about your financial position?”
“Yes, and I told him the truth. I have come to realise that money is of great import to Lord Campbell. He would have immediately refused me had I not had the money to take care of his daughter.”
Luke knew that only too well. Had not the very same man used his daughter to pay off his debt to his father?
"Your grandmother was a wise woman to have provided you with an inheritance, Norton. Have you informed your family of your upcoming nuptials, yet?"
“No, you know that I hardly speak with my family, Shore. I imagine that I shall see at least one of them at the ball next week.”
It was unfortunate that he was not close to his family, but it could not be helped. It was every man for himself in the Norton family, one of the many reasons why his friend was so keen to help people less fortunate than him. He did not have any family with him to celebrate this happy moment, thus Luke felt compelled to step in and be there for him.
“Tell you what, old friend. I would like to throw a dinner party for you and Violet.”
“Oh, no, Shore. I do not wish to make this too public. You know how I have always hated the public eye.”
“Yes, but no one else but you and I will know that the dinner is my way of congratulating you on your betrothal to Violet. I shall leave you in charge of the guest list, and if you so choose, you can announce your betrothal. What say you?”
Luke did not want to say that this would also be his way of seeing Alice again, it sounded selfish of him. However, he was near desperate to see her once again as the last time had been on the road, and then for but a brief moment. He needed to see her again to find out how she felt about him. Luke had taken his father's advice and thought about a potential marriage to Alice, and he found that he was not against it. Seeing her again would give him an indication of the extent of his feelings towards her, and if marriage was the best option for them. But what if she decided not to come?
He could have Gregory speak to Violet and have her convince Alice to come with her. A part of him believed that she was avoiding him by not attending any balls or parties, and if that were the case, then it meant one of two things: one, she liked him but did not want to; or two, she did not like him and believed that he did. Luke hoped it was the first option.
“A dinner party sounds good to me, Shore. As long as it will not be too much trouble to you.”
“Not in the slightest. You can stress to Violet for her whole family to accompany her, and I shall ensure that there will be no gambling.”
The last thing they needed was Lord Campbell to become drunk, gamble and lose more of his money. Surprisingly, the man had not recently attended any balls that had a heavy emphasis on gambling in the background, but that did not guarantee that he would not do so once given the opportunity to.
“Yes, I would like the dinner to go as well as possible for Violet.”
“So, do we agree? We can have the dinner in two days from now, giving us enough time to send out the invitations. My father's house has a bigger drawing room for dancing. We can host the party there. I am sure that Suzannah will only be too pleased to plan a dinner party.”
“Then it is decided, Shore.”
Now, it was for Alice to come and see him. If all went well, then there would be a second wedding on the horizon. The idea of marriage did not repulse him as much as it did before. Luke knew that he had Alice to thank for that. How would he tell her about the plan between their fathers? He did not want to keep her in the dark any longer, or she may believe that he had a hand in the arranged marriage.
“She will hate me,” he said.
“Who will hate you?”
“Oh, Suzannah will if I do not give her enough time to plan the dinner party. I shall go to the house today and discuss it with her.”
“Very well, you do that. I would hate for your stepmother to become angry. Frankly, she scares me a little.”
Luke laughed. “She scares everyone, Norton. Let us discuss the guest list that I may give it to her when I go to see her.”
He fetched some paper and a pen, handing it to his friend. Luke could not have been any less concerned about who attended the dinner, all he wanted was to see Alice and speak with her.
Chapter 11
Alice could feel Luke's eyes on her, but she refused to look his way. Why was he looking at her when Rose Charpentier was in attendance? She had come here for her sister, not for him. Therefore, she did not have to speak with him if she did not want to. From the moment that Alice had walked into the drawing room, she had instantly picked out the fair-haired woman. It had not been difficult. All she had to do was follow the admirers who surrounded her like fireflies to a flame. She had been glad to not see Luke numbered with the admirers, but her relief had been short-lived when she saw the woman walk over to him. Alice quickly turned away then, not wanting to see the admiration in his eyes.
“Alice, why do you frown so? Are you not having a splendid time?”
“I am merely thinking, Vi. Of course, I am having a good time. But I think that I am in need of somewhere to sit. The food was excellent, and I may have overindulged a bit.”
Violet looked around the room and, spotting a place, pulled her towards it. They moved through a sea of bodies with Alice ever mindful of just where Luke was. Fortunately for her, they were moving away from him. They reached a few vacant chairs that had been placed in the far corner of the room, and she gratefully sat down, instantly shielding herself from his grey eyes.
“Will you tell me why you are avoiding Luke?”
“I do not know what you
mean. Did I not greet him earlier on?”
“Yes, but that is all you did. From then onwards, you seemed to make it your mission to avoid him like the Plague.”
“Coincidence, Vi.”
Her sister raised her eyebrow. “Do you expect me to believe you? Very well, I shall leave the subject for another time. For now, let us enjoy this dinner party. Gregory told me it is Luke's way of congratulating us on our betrothal, but because he does not like his personal affairs in the open, they have not named the dinner party as such.”
“That is generous of Luke. Where is Gregory now?”
“Working his way around the room, I expect. They are his guests, after all. He knows them better than I do.”
“But you shall have to know them as well eventually, as Mrs Norton.”
“Mrs Violet Norton... do you think it sounds good?”
"Yes, more, especially because you will make it sound good."
Violet looked around the room for a moment, her eyes narrowing before she returned her gaze to her. “Have you seen Rose Charpentier?”
“How could I have missed her?”
“Point taken. She certainly makes an entrance, does she not? Luke has not looked in her direction at all.”
“Violet, why are you telling me about this? It does not matter to me what he does.”
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
“Goodness, is it such a challenge to enjoy ourselves without concerning ourselves with Luke or Rose Charpentier? Surely we have better things to talk about?”
“Would my wedding be counted as something to talk about?”
“Yes, of course. I would much rather discuss your wedding, Vi. We have all the time in the world, well, at least until it is time to go home.”
Alice began to relax and enjoy herself as she spoke with her sister. She was able to push thoughts of Luke and Rose to the back of her mind, but they were never far away. It helped that she could not see them through the thicket of bodies that were in front of them.
It seemed as though the dinner party was winding down, and Alice found herself looking forward to going home and getting under her bedcovers. When the unmistakable sound of the harpsichord penetrated the noisy air around them, she groaned. Please, please, please do not let Luke come this way! To hide herself better, Alice began to move her chair behind a screen.
“Alice, what on earth are you doing? Why are you moving away?”
“Do not ask questions, Vi, just do as I am doing. We need to get behind that screen.”
“Whatever for?”
“Alice, Violet, are you enjoying the party?”
Alice stilled. Too late. She should have stood up and moved the chair instead of trying to inch it away with her bottom still firmly on it.
“Gregory, Luke. The party is wonderful!” her sister exclaimed. “Is that not so, Alice?”
“Yes, lovely.”
"Do you mind if we sit with you, ladies?" asked Gregory. "There are two extra seats I see."
“Of course, take a seat. I am sure that Alice does not mind, do you, Alice?”
Alice's eyes narrowed at her sister. Oh, I see that you are enjoying this, sister dear. “Not at all! Take a seat, please.”
Luke took the seat closest to her, but where else might he have sat? It was only natural for Gregory to sit beside her sister, but she would have preferred it that he sat next to her.
“Alice, it has been a while since I last saw you. Has your carriage had any more problems?”
“No, thank you for your concern, Lord Shore.”
“When did our carriage have a problem, Alice?”
"The day I accompanied you to Hyde Park. Peter went into a hole, and it damaged the wheel. Fortunately, he was able to repair it quite quickly."
“But where do you come in, Lord Shore?”
Why would her sister not leave this subject alone? Had she not already explained what she needed to know? What else was there to say?
"I met your sister on my way back to my house. I offered to help, but she was adamant that I would not."
Alice felt her cheeks go warm as they coloured. “It was unnecessary, Lord Shore. As I said before, you had things to do. A man like yourself will constantly be busy, am I not right?”
"That may be, but I would have gladly helped a friend, Miss Campbell. Family and friendship mean more to me than anything else, Norton can vouch for me."
“Shore speaks the truth. He often feels useless when he cannot help someone he loves.”
Gregory had thrown the word 'love' out there so carelessly, but how was he to know that if it had to do with Luke, it would affect Alice? Sitting beside Luke was bad enough, but now she had to hear of how he loved his friends and family. And Luke just referred to her as a friend. Did that mean that he loved her?
“Fine, the next time that the wheel comes off and Lord Shore happens to be near, I shall let him help me.”
"Not just with the wheel, Miss Campbell, but anything that you need help with. You need only call, and I shall help you."
Alice saw the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke to her. He meant every word he said, and really, he was a good man. It was not his fault that she felt more for him than he did for her. She had been treating him unfairly, almost blaming him for her feelings. Alice felt ashamed at how selfish she had been. Luke genuinely wished to be her friend, and she was avoiding him. She would make more of an effort to speak with him, even if it hurts her.
“Thank you, Lord Shore, I highly appreciate it. I imagine that you arrived home full of dust?”
He smiled. “I had it in everything, and my housekeeper was not impressed at all.”
Alice laughed. Surprisingly, it was not forced but came out naturally. Perhaps this would not be as difficult as she initially feared. The four of them continued to chat as they watched some couples as they danced. Alice felt her tension ebb out of her body as she spoke with Luke.
Who would have thought that she would be here right now, enjoying this conversation as though nothing had happened?
As the couples moved across the floor, her parents came into view. They were having an animated discussion with the duke, more so her father than her mother. It was good that they were able to set aside their debt issue and speak comfortably around each other. She noticed that Luke was also looking in their direction, his expression mildly interested.
“I am glad that everything worked out for the best after the gambling issue. There does not seem to be any hard feelings between them.”
Gregory chose that moment to ask Violet to dance, whisking her away. Alice looked at Luke from the corner of her eye. Was he going to ask her to dance as well? She did not know how she felt about that. When he stood up, she knew exactly what he was about to say.
“Miss Campbell, would you do me the honour of dancing with me?”
Luke held out his hand to her, a smile on his face. She could not deny him. Alice placed her hand in his, allowing him to help her out of her seat and lead her to the dancefloor.
***
Violet's eyes widened when she saw her sister being led to the floor by Luke. She had gone out of her way to avoid him, only to end up with him on the dancefloor. She shook her head. You could not run away from love. It had a sneaky way of getting its way. The dance performed was a jovial one with lots of movement. Gregory had just spun her away, but as she came closer again to him, he gave her a raised eyebrow.
The Way to Capture a Marquess's Heart: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 18
