"You don't look as though you're having much fun, Felix." Philip's drawl startled Felix, nearly causing him to jump, he'd been so focused on watching Gabrielle and Braden perform the intricate steps of the quadrille. Both of them as stiff and proper as prigs. Which Braden was, but Gabrielle certainly wasn't.
"It's a ball, who's having fun?" he drawled back, turning to his friends and giving Cordelia a wink even though his heart wasn't in it. Standing with her arm in Philip's, she was looking quite fine in a violet and silver gown, matching feathers decorating her hair. The feathers were the newest fashion. Gabrielle was wearing rose and gold ones, to match her rose silk gown with its golden net overlay and puff sleeves. Felix had bought them for her that morning, and she had thanked him so civilly and with such lady-like reserve that he'd pounced on her and licked her to completion right where she sat. Blinking back the pleasant images in his mind, Felix straightened and bowed to Cordelia. "You look lovely this evening, my lady."
"Thank you, kind sir, and you look very handsome," she said, giggling. Twisting her head to look up at her husband she smiled broadly. "Although perhaps not quite as handsome as Philip, here."
"Philip is quite the handsome specimen," Felix said, chuckling as Philip rolled his eyes. "But has he taken you to the dance floor yet?" Felix knew damn well that he hadn't. Since this was his and Gabrielle's first ball since they'd arrived back in town, she'd been in high demand, and Felix had spent his entire evening so far watching the dance floor and occasionally dancing with a lady here or there himself. Already he could tell that there was quite a bit of gossip circling because of his focused attention on his wife and the fact that every other lady he'd danced with thus far was a highly respectable matron. The tongues were wagging in acknowledgment that another of the ton's rakes had been brought to heel and tamed.
"He has not," Cordelia replied, smiling up at Felix.
Philip gave her an apologetic look. "I'm trying to find Manchester, I need to have a word with him about that corn bill that Sussex wants to put in front of Parliament next week. Would you take her out, Felix?"
Felix held out his hand and made an exaggerated bow. "Allow me, my lady."
Laughing, Cordelia took his hand and he led her to the floor just as the previous dance was finishing.
Chapter 17
When Gabrielle looked over to her husband, she nearly stumbled over her own feet when she saw who he was speaking with. Damnation! Her lips tightened around the curse that she wanted to utter. Lord Braden would be shocked if she lost control of her tongue - he'd been highly complimentary about what a fine young lady she was. Personally, she thought he rather fitted Arabella's description of a dull young man, and he was patronizing to boot, but she'd still appreciated that someone recognized her efforts.
Even though Felix had been paying a great deal of attention to her the past two days, she was starting to realize that he was not as approving at the changes in herself as she'd initially thought - but, at the same time, he seemed almost obsessed with her. This seemed more like what Cynthia had said about being chased by her husband than the effort Gabrielle had made before. Not that she thought this was how Cynthia enticed her own husband to chase her, but it did seem to be working on Felix. Perhaps he didn't approve of having to seek her out constantly? In the country, they had naturally spent all their time together. Now that Gabrielle was acting as a typical tonnish lady, she had forced herself to those activities, which also meant that she didn't insist on her husband staying by her side.
Felix did anyway.
Of course, he'd danced with other ladies this evening, but not a single one that flirted with him. He'd ignored every flirtatious glance, every importuning invitation, and had only sought the company of his wife and other highly respectable matrons who had never had a breath of scandal whispered about their name. Gabrielle had already been congratulated - or jealously sneered at - by more than one lady about Felix's transformation from rake to devoted husband.
But that was before Cordelia had arrived.
She couldn't help but turn her head to see better, missing more than one step of the quadrille as Felix spoke to the Marques and Cordelia. As always, Cordelia looked stunning. Her violet gown enhanced all of her features, clinging to her curves, and making the most of her bosom. Next to that, Gabrielle felt almost childish in her pink and gold gown, which would be acceptable for a debutante to wear. She'd originally loved it, but now she wished she'd chosen a dress that was a more vivid color than her favorite hue... one that she wouldn't have been able to wear as a debutante, since fashion dictated they must be kept in lighter, softer shades of color.
"Are you quite all right, Mrs. Hood?" Lord Braden asked, concern on his handsome face. Their fingers were barely touching as they moved through the complicated steps.
"Oh yes, just a dizzy spell," Gabrielle said, forcing herself to smile at him. Coolly. Calmly. Collected. "I'll have some lemonade once the dance is over."
Ever the gentleman, Lord Braden escorted her to the refreshments for her drink. When she turned back to the dance floor, the lemonade turned to ashes on her tongue as she saw Felix and Cordelia dancing. What had happened to the Marquess? Where had he gone and why wasn't he dancing with his own dashed wife?!
Beside her, Lord Braden was becoming increasingly concerned. "Mrs. Hood, you're looking rather pale, would you like me to find you a seat?"
"I-" The words felt frozen in her mouth as she struggled with her emotions. Cool. Calm. Collected.
"Gabrielle, dear heart, there you are!" Arabella came through the crowd like an angel come to earth. The pale orange and yellow dress she was wearing set off her dark good looks beautifully, bringing out lighter highlights in her hair and eyes that weren't normally perceived. No feathers in her hair, she had a suitably innocent yellow ribbon threaded throughout her locks, which was all she was allowed as a debutante. She gave Lord Braden an impish smile, and the poor man smiled back helplessly. "Good evening, Lord Braden, would you mind if I steal my friend away from you?"
"Of course not, Lady Arabella, I mean -" Before the poor man could finish his sentence, Arabella was whisking Gabrielle away on her arm.
Doing her best not to spill her lemonade as Arabella tugged her through the crowd, Gabrielle caught another glimpse of the dance floor and Felix staring down adoringly at Cordelia. Her heart felt like it was being wrenched out of her chest. How many times could this happen to her? How many times could she feel this hurt, this much pain before she would become numbed to it?
By God, how she wanted to be numbed to it.
When Arabella pulled her into a small, intimate nook at the outer edge of the ballroom, Gabrielle noted with relief that the dance floor was no longer visible through the crowd. At least she wouldn't have to watch, although her imagination kept throwing up plenty of upsetting images for her to fret over.
"I'm going to murder him in his sleep!" Arabella exclaimed vehemently.
Gabrielle blinked, rather surprised by her friend's passion. She appreciated the support of course, but-
"He's going to marry some twittering nitwit," Arabella said, her dark eyes blazing with frustrated fury. "He's going to marry some milksop, because he thinks that a woman will be able to control me better!"
It occurred to Gabrielle that Arabella had not been offering to murder Felix. Which meant that she was rather confused.
"Who's marrying who?"
"Isaac! He's decided he's going to marry, as soon as possible, because I need 'feminine influence.'" She said the last two words derisively, obviously imitating her older brother. "The nodcock is going to leg shackle himself to some milk and water social climber and be miserable the rest of his life! Because he thinks I need a female figure in my life! What utter rot!"
Surprisingly, Arabella's overly dramatic devastation was actually starting to cheer Gabrielle up. Maybe it was the way she was waving her hands around like a loon, or the utter disgust on her face, or the fire in her eyes that said she was going to make whoev
er ended up as Isaac's bride completely miserable... but there was just something incredibly amusing about her temper tantrum. Gabrielle couldn't help but giggle.
Arabella pointed an accusing finger at her. "Don't you dare laugh at me. This is all your fault, you know. You should have thrown yourself at Isaac when you had the chance."
Gabrielle laughed harder. "I thought my lack of interest in him was why we're friends."
Making a humphing noise, Arabella swiveled away, looking out over the crowd. "So what are we going to do about your husband?"
Any mirth Gabrielle was feeling trickled away. "What do you mean?"
"I saw him and Cordelia dancing. What do you want to do? Do you want to follow through with your plan to be a lady?” Disdain dripped from Arabella’s tongue as she said the word ‘lady,’ as though it was something nasty and unappealing. “Or do you want to get his attention?"
Given those two options, her current state of frustration, and the more spirited part of her personality that she'd kept damped down for the past two days, Gabrielle only hesitated a moment before coming to a decision.
******
There was a small stir on the other side of the dance floor, drawing Felix's attention midway through the dance. He nearly knocked both himself and Cordelia over when he stumbled at the sight of his wife dancing with Lord Montague - a well-known and accomplished rake. All night she'd been dancing with proper gentlemen, meek gentlemen who would never think to flirt, much less poach another man's preserves. Now she was dancing with one of the foremost wolves of the ton, a man who gave both Felix and his brother Walter a run for their money when it came to reputations. Well, former reputation in Felix's case.
The bastard was holding Gabrielle much too closely. Worse, that reserve that he hated so much seemed to be gone. Gone! For Montague!
"Careful, Felix," Cordelia murmured, nimbly stepping out of his way as he made another misstep.
"Sorry, sorry," he muttered, refocusing his attention on the dance so that he didn't injure himself or anyone else. Pink and gold flicked at the corner of his eye, trying to draw his gaze again.
"She can handle herself," Cordelia said, although her expression had turned slightly worried, her lips a little thinner than they had been before. "It's just a dance."
"It's what he might try after the dance that concerns me," Felix growled.
Cordelia made an exasperated noise and turned her attention to keeping them from running into anyone else, as Felix's focus was decidedly diverted for the rest of the dance. Returning to the sidelines, they managed to find Philip talking with Manchester in short order, but not before the next dance had started up. When Felix turned back to the dance floor, he was incensed to see Gabrielle smiling prettily at yet another well-known rake, Lord Carter. To add to Felix’s consternation, the dance was a waltz. Slightly older than Montague, he was inherently more dangerous as well, and he looked far too intimately entwined with Gabrielle as she fluttered her lashes at him.
Where the hell had her reserve gone? If it kept her away from rakes then he loved that damned reserve!
Possessive fury made Felix's limbs stiff as he stalked to the edge of the dance floor.
"Mr. Hood! How delightful." Lady Arabella suddenly inserted himself into his path, halting him, her cool tones making it clear that she actually wasn't all that delighted at all.
"None of your tricks tonight, Arabella," he said in a tight voice. "I'll get your brothers if I have to."
"Tricks? What tricks?" Her dark eyes widened in an unconvincing display of innocence. Her skill at lying hadn't improved any, something her brothers must be grateful for.
Trying to step around her only drew the attention of those standing around them, as there wasn't much room to maneuver. Grinding his teeth, because he didn't want to draw the scrutiny of the gossips, he realized that he was not going to be allowed to reach the dance floor without doing so. At least, not without Arabella in tow.
"Lady Arabella," he said, loudly enough to be overheard. "I apologize for my tardiness, this is my dance, I believe?"
She scowled as she took his hand, finding herself outmaneuvered. If she refused him, she would have had to let him by. That or create a scene herself, something which he'd been fairly certain she didn't want to do - she'd just been relying on his reluctance to do so as well.
So he wouldn't be able to cut in on Gabrielle and Carter; at least he'd be close by and next dance he could take with his wife. Or at least ensure that her next partner wasn't a lascivious rake.
"Ouch, watch where you're going and stop glaring at Gabrielle." Arabella's voice was tart.
"She's dancing with a rake, and I know you had something to do with it, so if I were you, I'd keep quiet," Felix said, low and lethal. Unfortunately he didn't intimidate Arabella in the slightest. Not surprising considering that her eldest brother was even taller and broader than he was, not to mention a Duke and one of the most powerful men in the country. She barely heeded him, so why on earth would she heed Felix?
"Perhaps if you'd been choosier in your own dance partners, Gabrielle would have been more circumspect in hers," she said with a derisive sniff.
Felix narrowed his eyes, suddenly changing his focus to the young woman he was dancing with. He hadn't realized that Gabrielle's sudden change in behavior was reactionary to him. Once Arabella had planted herself in front of him, he'd thought the two of them were up to some mischief again. Other than feeling insanely protective and possessive, he realized some part of him had been slightly relieved to know that Gabrielle was getting into trouble with her friend again. It would have at least been a sign that she was acting like herself. Now he realized there was something even deeper going on.
"What do you mean?"
"I think I was quite clear, Mr. Hood."
"My dance partners this evening haven't been objectionable in the slightest. Not like that bounder she's dancing with now.
The disdainful look Arabella gave him was a thing of beauty, making him feel smaller than an ant despite his innocence in whatever she was implying. "Not objectionable to you perhaps."
With a suddenness that nearly made him stumble, clues came together in his head with a great jolt - the rivalry between Cordelia and Gabrielle, the timing of Gabrielle's sudden change in dance partners and the loss of her reserve, and Arabella's heavy handed hints. Felix felt a headache coming on.
"I don't suppose you feel like explaining to me why dancing with Cordelia might be a problem? It's nothing I haven't done before. And I've danced with Gabrielle several times tonight already. I was only dancing with Cordelia as a favor to Philip while he looked for your brother."
The haughty expression on Arabella's face slowly melted away into real puzzlement as she studied his face, apparently confused by what she saw there. Which was fair, considering how confused he was by this entire situation. "You really don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" He could feel himself becoming more frustrated with this nonsensical conversation.
She sighed in exasperation. "You should speak with your wife. And perhaps try to pay more attention to her and less to other men's wives. Especially those who have already been linked to you by gossip on multiple occasions."
Silently dancing for a moment, Felix reviewed his evening in his head.
"Are we still talking about Cordelia?"
"Yes!"
Arabella muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'you twit.'
It took him a moment to realize that the music was ending and that he and Arabella had ended up on the opposite side of the dance floor from Gabrielle. When he finally managed to find his pink and gold clad wife among the rainbow of colors all the ball gowns made and saw the company she was with, pure male fury slid through him. Handing Arabella off to her brother the duke - who didn't look all that happy to see her as she practically bowled through the bevy of young beauties vying for his attention - Felix stalked back towards his wife.
Time to get to the bo
ttom of this, and he didn't care if he had to spank her to kingdom come to do so.
******
Discovering Mr. Pressen in the Waverly's ballroom had been a bit of a shock to Gabrielle. After all, she hadn't seen the man since he'd kissed her and then been punched by Felix when they'd been caught. It had been her first kiss and a very nice first kiss until Felix interrupted. However, she could now say that it paled in comparison to the kisses that Felix gave her. Not through any fault of Mr. Pressen's, but she just didn't feel the same way for him that she did for Felix.
Although, she could do with a little less feeling for Felix currently.
To her surprise and consternation, Mr. Pressen didn't seem at all daunted by her newly married state. In fact, he seemed more interested than before. Gabrielle, although becoming used to the ways of Society, didn't realize that married young ladies were actually quite a bit more in the way of a rake's taste than the young debutantes. Debutantes were risky - especially if they had a powerful father or guardian who might insist on a wedding. Of course, Mr. Pressen had been willing to risk that at the time because Gabrielle had also come with a large dowry.
Now the dowry was no longer available, but, as a married woman, Gabrielle was riper for plucking than ever. At least, that was how the rakes saw it, especially since it seemed she might be searching for a lover... she'd gone from dancing with the prigs to more dangerous fare, which they were taking as open invitation.
Attracted to her lush figure, pretty pink lips, and classic beauty, they were more than happy to circle, offering up their own flirtations and blandishments in hopes that she might pick one of them to dally with.
Completely naive of the dangerous waters she'd walked into - since neither she nor Arabella had the experience to fully understand what they'd started - Gabrielle simply smiled and stated how glad she was to see Mr. Pressen again. When he asked her to dance, she said yes immediately, making Lord Carter sigh before he nodded his head and handed her off to his rival. Not that he ceded the floor entirely; like the other ballroom predators, he waited on the sidelines, watching.
Gabrielle's Discipline (Bridal Discipline Book 3) Page 25
