Samuel Beresford did not want to be here. He found balls a tremendous waste of time, the dancing and the flirting and, thinly veiled beneath it all, the bargaining. For that was what marriage boiled down to, a bargain. It was all about striking a deal where each person involved believed they had the advantage over the other. If it were not for his brother’s pleading, he would never been seen at a fancy affair like this. Dressed in his naval uniform, a blue coat with gold epaulets and trimmings and white waistcoat and breeches, he attracted more attention than he wished.
“Stop scowling, Samuel,” said Percival as he returned to his brother’s side from a brief sojourn with a group of lords. “You look positively dour.”
“Did you find the man?” Samuel inquired.
Percival sipped his wine and shook his head. “It is no matter. Let us concentrate on the women. We should be enjoying their company and you seem intent on scaring them all off with your sour expression.”
Unlike himself, Samuel’s older brother Percival loved the frivolity of these occasions. As the eldest son of an earl it was very nearly an obligation of his office to enjoy them, so Samuel could not begrudge his brother doing his duty.
“You think it my expression and not our looks that are to blame?” Samuel asked, only half in jest. To appease his brother he hid his scowl behind the rim of his wine glass.
The Beresford brothers were not of disagreeable appearance, but they lacked the boyish looks so favored at the moment. They did not look gentlemanly, the brothers were too large, their features too distinctly masculine, for the women to fawn and coo over. Additionally Samuel had been sent to the Royal Naval Academy at the age of twelve, a life that had led him to be solidly built, broad across the chest and shoulders. He felt a giant amongst the gentry.
“Smile a bit brother, and let us find out.” Percy elbowed Samuel in the side.
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The Duke’s Daughter ~ Lady Amelia Atherton
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The Lady to Match a Rogue: Faith (The Baggington Sisters Book 4) Page 23
