Page 35 of A Mismatch Made in London

As soon as they moved away, two more gentlemen who had danced with us at the last ball drew near and asked us to dance. And so the rest of the night progressed. There were only one or two gentlemen I was acquainted with who seemed to pointedly avoid dancing with us.

At one point, Jeremy was talking with his sister and me when a gentleman came and asked Juliet to dance, leaving the two ofus. After an awkward moment, Jeremy asked me, “Would you honor me with this dance, Miss Moore?”

“Of course.”

As much as I knew he disliked me and I disliked him, he was an agreeable dance partner, and I’d rather dance than watch everyone else.

At a slow point in the dance, as we waited our turn, he said, “Everything seems to be going well with Juliet.”

“Yes, I daresay. Thankfully.” Of course, we were both thinking of what Mrs. Bloomburg had said, but enough gentlemen had asked Juliet to dance that we were allowed to hope it was only an isolated incident.

He was attentive to me, even when I saw Miss Snowden gazing in his direction while she danced with another young gentleman. He had a respectful look in his eyes and held my hand just the right amount of time, not too long and not as if my hand were a hot iron he must release as soon as possible. And I knew from observation that he treated other women that way.

When the dance was over and we walked back to our place, a gentleman turned abruptly and bumped into my shoulder, so hard that I stumbled back a step.

“Please forgive me.” He turned to Jeremy. “Beaumont, introduce me to this lady so that I might ask her properly to forgive my clumsiness.”

“This is Mr. Oglethorpe of Bedfordshire. May I present Miss Amelia Moore of Buckinghamshire.”

“The pleasure is mine,” he said very courteously. “And please forgive me for being a boorish lout. I’m forever bumping into things. I blame my height.”

He was rather tall.

“All is forgiven, Mr. Oglethorpe.”

“Would you do me the honor of dancing this next dance with me, if you’ve not promised it to someone else?”

“Of course.”

The dance was about to begin, so we joined the others. I was beginning to consider him as handsome and agreeable as Lord Gotthurst. He escorted me back to where Jeremy was talking with another gentleman.

As we reached Jeremy, an older woman approached us. I could see that Mr. Oglethorpe was about to introduce me. But the lady, who I suspected was his mother, swatted him with her fan and whispered loudly, “You are not to waste time with that lady. She has no fortune.”

Mr. Oglethorpe’s expression froze. Before he could react, I turned my back to them both, pretending I hadn’t heard, my cheeks beginning to burn.

Lord Gotthurst was walking toward me. As soon as he reached me, he said, “Would we cause the gossips’ tongues to wag if you danced with me this last dance?”

“I neither know nor care.”

He led me to the floor, and Mr. Shelley and Juliet followed us.

Having danced the first and last dances with the same partners, a few words would probably be said about us, but since we’d danced with other partners in between, I hoped we were safe from being labeled “off the market.” I little cared for myself, but I didn’t want Lord Gotthurst to feel trapped in any way.

Mostly, I was just happy Mr. Shelley hadn’t been put off, for I believed Juliet very much liked him.

As we were making our way to take our leave of the hostess, Mrs. Kendall, whom I’d seen occasionally throughout the evening, came hurrying up to me and pulled me aside.

“I managed to hush up the gossip very well, as you have seen.”

I was glad she was speaking low enough, and we were far away enough, that no one could hear her, but I kept glancing around, praying no one would approach.

“You have caught the eye of the baron, Lord Gotthurst. Well done, my dear, well done.” She smiled triumphantly.

Thinking of Mr. Oglethorpe and his mother, part of me wantedto tell her that I had no fortune and therefore was too poor for any baron, or anyone else in her social set, but I refrained.

The next day, Mr. Shelley and Lord Gotthurst called on us again. Jeremy, as usual, was with us. In fact, he’d rarely left the house without us, and only for an hour or so, since Juliet’s carriage ride with Mr. Fairweather.

We were just beginning two different conversations, one between Lord Gotthurst and me and the other between Mr. Shelley and Juliet, while Jeremy was mostly silent, when more callers were announced.