Page 10 of Loving an Earl
Lilly cringed at the lady’s false words.
“Lady Wilmington, this is my cousin, Lilliana Weston, Countess of Langford.”
Lady Wilmington made a big show. She grabbed both of Lilly’s hands with her own and squeezed. “How terribly dreadful to be widowed at such a young age. Howoldare you, my dear?”
Emeline and Lilly eyed one another, knowing she only wanted to know her age to surmise if she was a threat to her two daughters and their chances of snagging husbands this season. “I’m nineteen.”
“Oh, my. So young, but looking...” She frowned, then whispered, “Perhaps you should use cucumber slices on your eyes to ease the puffiness.”
Before Lilly could gasp in outrage, Lady Wilmington bid them farewell and left with her daughters in tow.
Her fingers flew to her eyes. “Do I have puffy eyes?”
“No,” Emmeline said reassuring her. “It was Lady Wilmington’s way to hurt you. She sees you as competition for her daughters, whom she didn’t bother introducing. Lady Grace is the taller one, although I’m afraid there’s nothing graceful about her. She’s twenty-two. Her sister is your age and not very bright I fear. Her name is Lady Faith. Both of them are pretty, sweet, and kind, nothing like their mother. I feel bad for them; they can never get a word in with the way their mother prattles on. No eligible bachelor wants Lady Wilmington as a mother-in-law, so the girls have become wallflowers.”
“How unfortunate. What happened to the older sister?”
“Sad, really. She died in a carriage accident shortly after I married Aiden.”
“How tragic,” Lilly said as they gathered up their things and left Gunter’s to find Simon, their coachman, outside waiting for them.
Fortunately for Emmeline, because her husband didn’t possess a title, nothing he owned belonged to the crown. He named her the beneficiary of his will and everything was put in a trust for her, so it would all stay hers when and if she married again, including her townhome in London. Not unlike her trust, Lilly thought. When she married again, she would retain the funds.
*
That evening, withthe help of Daisy, Lilly prepared for her first ball of the Season, held at the Duke and Duchess of Westport’s London residence. As promised, Madam Serena delivered Lilly’s and Emmeline’s gowns late that afternoon. Lilly sighed with relief as she surveyed herself in front of the mirror. The lovely silk gown in sage green emphasized the green of her eyes, and the high waist and scooped neckline did wonders for her figure. The white satin ribbon woven through her hair matched the ribbon trimming beneath her breasts and at the hemline. All she needed was her matching cloak, reticule, and fan, as she already had the slippers on her feet, and she’d be ready to go. Her pulse soared with excitement and nerves.
Just then, Emmeline swept into the room dressed in a sapphire-blue gown, looking gorgeous. Lilly was envious of her cousin’s dark hair and light-blue eyes.
“You will have every gentleman vying for your attention tonight,” Emmeline said with a twinkle in her eye.
“As will you,” Lilly said, touching her stomach. “I’m so nervous. My very first ball. I’m afraid I’ll embarrass myself and cast up my accounts.”
*
“Nonsense.” Emmeline wrappedLilly’s arm around hers and led them out to the hallway and down the stairs where her mother, Vivian, the Dowager Baroness Connolly, awaited.
“Ah, my girls, you both look stunning. I’ll be beating the gentlemen off with my fan tonight.” She smiled as they approached.
Immediately, they went out the door and into the coach. The ride was not a long one, but Emmeline knew the queue for exiting the coach would be. Everyone who was anyone would be in attendance tonight, which had her insides humming with excitement. She’d had her sights on one particular gentleman for a long time. The only problem was she didn’t think he noticed her at all anymore, even though they had been close friends at one time. Why would he look her way at her old age of twenty-eight? Not with the young debutantes and the ladies in their second or third Season available. He would need an heir. Even if they married, could she give him one?
Nonsense, she scolded herself. Many women had children well into their thirties. But would he think her worth the risk?
“You have become quiet suddenly,” Lilly said from her seat opposite her and her mother.
“Forgive me. I was thinking about whether a certain gentleman would be in attendance tonight. He is in partnership with Langford and Caldwell, and since they are both in London, perhaps he is as well.”
Her mother humphed. “You know he will be.”
“He may be in attendance, but he may not want to see me.”
“Do you think I don’t remember two young gentlemen vying for your affections ten years ago? I will never forget you crying in my arms, trying to decide between the two. As I understand, he never wed. And you are a widow, beautiful, and kindhearted. He will be there tonight. Approach him.”
“But he’s a duke now.A duke. He needs a young bride to give him heirs.” She had known him as the Earl of Quincy, but right before he’d returned to London, his father had passed making him the new Duke of Blackstone.
“Heirs,” Vivian flicked her wrist, “which you can give him. Nothing says he cannot marry a young widow.”
“Thank you, Mother, but I think you are biased. He is good friends with the Earl of Langford. I highly doubt the new earl speaks kindly of me anymore.”
