Page 11 of A Single Obsession
“I’m not much different from you.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You’re completely different. You want to get married.”
“But I’m only interested in one man. Dressing up in your finest and parading around on your best behaviour to attract a husband like some animal up for auction is wasted on me.”
“Humph. Then I’ll make sure I’m not on my best behaviour, and then maybe I can scare any potential suitors away.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“If anyone flirts with me, I’ll scream.”
“You mustn’t,” Eliza said, fixing Charlotte with a fierce stare. “Georgie would be so mortified.”
“No, I suppose you’re right, but it will be hard to restrain myself.”
Eliza gurgled with laughter. “What a pair we are. Georgie has warned me to keep myself in check and now I’m urging you to do the same—for the sake of family honour!”
Chapter 5
As they entered the ballroom, Eliza plastered a smile on her lips, and tried to quell the fluttering in her stomach. For Georgiana’s sake, she was determined to play her part. She was relieved to see Charlotte followed her lead, though she could tell her smile was as forced as her own. As long as she saw Beau, Eliza knew it would be worth it.
However, her excitement at the prospect of seeing him dissipated when she found herself surrounded by a sea of unknown faces. She cast an envious glance at Georgiana, who seemed to revel in all the attention. What an admirable countess her sister made.
Georgie was taking her role as their chaperon seriously and selected two young gentlemen out of the throng to introduce to her sisters and lead them into the first dance.
“What a waste of time,” Charlotte said as they met again at Georgiana’s side when the set ended. “My partner had no conversation whatsoever.”
“I think that would be preferable to mine,” Eliza said. “The gentleman I danced with paid me a string of compliments that made my cheeks burn with embarrassment, leaving me with very little to say.”
“My partner tried that,” Charlotte admitted, “but I just ignored it and asked him who his favourite composer was. He seemed surprised, and lapsed into silence.”
Eliza sympathised with the man. It was the sort of question she would have struggled to answer.
She found her second partner no better than her first. He paid her such outrageous compliments that it would have been laughable if she were not so embarrassed. She hoped her lack of conversation would discourage him, but the gentleman did not seem to notice anything amiss with her inability to find a suitable response.
When she returned to Georgiana’s side, Eliza found her sister talking to Anthony. He stopped his conversation, turned to her, and bowed.
It was a relief to see a face she recognised, but she had become a little wary of his company since that humiliating day when he had uncovered her masquerade at the hunt. As far as she could tell, he had kept his word, and not told anyone of his discovery, but he delighted in reminding her that he was the keeper of her secret.
Eliza hoped he was not in a teasing mood tonight. She was not sure her nerves could cope with it.
Before she had figured out what to say to him, she was distracted by the sight of Charlotte, striding across the ballroom without her partner, a fiery expression in her eyes.
“Oh no,” she murmured.
Georgiana jerked her head around and took a deep breath as their sister joined them.
“If that horrid man ever touches me again, I will slap him,” said Charlotte.
“What did he do?” Anthony asked, his face alight with amusement. “Should I call him out?”
Charlotte glared at him. “It is no laughing matter. He pressed my hand in a familiar way.”
Anthony struggled to stifle his laughter. “Don’t be too harsh on him. He’s a younger son and needs a rich wife.”
“Well, I wish he would pester some other lady. I have no intention of marrying him or anyone else. It is not as if he has an ounce of intelligence either. A man who can’t tell the difference between German and Italian has clearly got no brain.”
Anthony smirked. “Don’t tell me you tried to talk about the opera with him.”
