Page 8 of Courting Miss Lancaster
“Well... I...” Harry fancied he could see her thoughts tumbling in her head as she strove for an answer. “There is a very fine holly tree near the gates to Falstone Castle.”
“Holly,” Mr. Howard replied, nodding gravely, brow furrowed with contemplation.
“Shall we escort the ladies to their seats?” Harry suggested to Mr. Howard.
His suggestion was taken up with enthusiasm by Mr. Howard, if not by Athena. She cast him a very brief but very loaded glance of surprise. In the end, civility required she accept the arm Mr. Howard offered and endure the ongoing list of trees he continued to belabor as they moved slowly back to the spot she and her sister had occupied during the first part of the evening.
Mr. Howard took his leave of the ladies in the ponderous way Harry had come to expect before making his way back to his own seat. Harry, by virtue of having accompanied the ladies to the Hardfords’, had a seat between Athena and her sister and was not obliged to remove himself from their presence.
“Was there a reason, Mr. Windover,” Athena whispered over the sounds of the assembly settling in, “for your rather pointed introduction to Mr. Howard?”
She sounded slightly put out. Harry took that as a good sign.
“Did you not like Mr. Howard?” Harry asked.
“It is not a matter ofdisliking him,” Athena replied. “I simply wonder if you had anticipated that I would like him so very much. I have never known you to be so obvious in making Persephone and I known to your friends.”
Friend?Mr. Howard hardly fell into that category.
“Am I to assume then, my dear”—Harry kept the endearment light all the while assessing her reaction to it. She seemed not to notice—“that Mr. Howard has not proven the object of your matrimonial searching?”
“I beg your pardon?” Athena replied, her voice a shocked whisper.
“He is, I assure you, both a gentleman and quite eligible. You informed me only last night that those were your only requirements.” Harry managed to keep his tone and expressioninnocent. “I thought you would be pleased to meet the fulfillment of all your hopes and dreams.”
“What do you know of my hopes and dreams?” Athena asked, turning her face away from him and toward the pianoforte at the front of the room.
I guarantee I know more of yours than you know of mine.“Again, I remind you of your declarations of not twenty-four hours ago,” Harry said aloud, though quietly. “A gentleman who is eligible. I see no way in which Mr. Howard does not meet those requirements. Unless there are other things you desire in a potential suitor of which you have not made me aware.”
Athena turned back to look at him, her mouth set in a line of growing annoyance. “I should very much like any suitor for my hand to have more conversation than a ceaseless listing of flora.”
“So the man who will win your heart ought to be a gentleman, eligible,andconversant.” Harry made a show of setting this bit of insight to memory.
“And not be so decidedly serious,” Athena added, shaking her head. “I would hope he would improve upon greater acquaintance, but somehow I find myself doubtful. I could not bear the continuing company of a man who was so very grave all the time.”
“A gentleman, eligible, conversant,andwith some degree of lightheartedness.” Harry nodded in approval. “Should I find myself in company with such a one, I shall be certain to introduce him to you.”
Any response Athena might have made was prevented by the resuming of the musical showcasing common to theton’s musicales.
Harry’s mind was already turning. Athena’s list had become a little more specific—precisely what he had hoped for. But it was hardly specific enough to prevent a catastrophic misalliance.The question remained: which absolutely essential charactertrait ought he to convince her of next?
Chapter Four
VW
Obviously, it had been abad idea.
Athena tensed, watching Adam out of the corner of her eye. He was not happy. At all. They were moments from departing for another ball, one Adam had no intention of attending. It had seemed an opportune time for Persephone to bring up a very touchy subject. But it hadn’t worked as well as Athena and her sister had hoped.
“Every young lady making her debut must have a come-out ball, Adam,” Persephone said quietly but firmly. “And it would be exceptionally badly done of us not to host it for her. You are her guardian, her brother-in-law, her sponsor in society. It falls to us to give Athena her ball.”
“I danced with her at Debensham’s,” Adam replied curtly. “Society will not expect more of me.”
Athena was close enough to them in the drawing room to overhear Persephone and Adam’s conversation but far enough away to be unnoticed by them. Feeling tense and worried, Athena sat on a straight-backed chair and lightly rubbed her fingers against her forehead, closing her eyes and willing the disagreement to end swiftly. Persephone had been so certain Adam would agree to the ball. Athena didn’t want to push him beyond his limit. She had heard of the duke’s infamous temper. Though she had not personally been witness to any violence on his part, she did not doubt that he was every bit as harsh as his reputation painted him.
“Do not declare defeat yet,” Mr. Windover said quietly from just beside her. He had listened to the proposal of a ball at Falstone House but had not joined the ensuing debate. “Adam did not say no outright. He would have if he were absolutely set against the ball.”
“But he is so obviously unhappy about the idea,” Athena answered quietly. As always, Mr. Windover’s presence was calming. “I don’t see how we can ever convince him to agree to it.”
