“I’m afraid he only wishes to be.”
“I gather you had a lovely dance, then,” Talbot said in a dry tone, but his eyes were laughing.
“I’m afraid I might never recover,” Lizzie replied, and for the first time since she’d arrived at Almack’s, she felt lighthearted.
“Pardon my boldness, Miss Hawkins,” Talbot said dramatically, and Lizzie knew she would like whatever he said next, “but would you be so kind as to explain your colour choices?”
Elizabeth looked down at her dress, then out into the sea of pastel on the dancefloor. She remembered Lady Burnham warning her not to discuss her working days with her suitors, but this was not a potential husband, so she decided on a half-truth.
“I spent a lot of time at a modiste’s in the company of knowledgeable seamstresses before I became a refined young lady,” she said jokingly. “And that experience has given me a good eye for fashion but has also left me with an aversion to pastel dresses.”
Talbot thought about her words for a moment, and she saw the exact moment he understood.
“Purple is just too dark,” he said after a while.
“This isn’t purple, it’s mulberry.”
“And the yellow at your brother’s ball was too shrill.” He ignored the correction.
“It wasn’t yellow, it was jonquil,” she persisted.
“Did your time at the modiste’s also help you develop a fascination with ridiculous names for ordinary colours?”
“How can a colour calledlove-lies-bleedingbe ordinary? Orblush?Orponceau?The coat you’re wearing iscorbeau.”
“It’s dark green, Miss Hawkins.”
Elizabeth inclined her head to the side as she pretended to be thinking. “I can see your point. After all, all horsesdolook the same to us women.”
Talbot barked a laugh that seemed to surprise and inconvenience him so much that he had to cover it up with a cough.
“The cough might have been worse than the laugh,” Elizabeth said, highly amused.
Talbot wasn’t.
“Who are you dancing the second waltz with?” he asked, unwilling to respond to her teasing.
“Corporal Harding.”
“He might be a good match for you,” Talbot said thoughtfully.
“We shall see,” Elizabeth replied. “I have to have a meaningful conversation with him in order to get a sense of his character, and I’ve already exerted myself so much this evening.”
“There is a smaller tea-room to the left of the ballroom.” Talbot frowned slightly as he spoke, at himself, it seemed. “Be careful, the large card room is to the right of the ballroom, do not enter there unaccompanied.”
Elizabeth’s shoulders slumped with gratitude before she remembered herself and straightened them.
“Thank you,” she said and gently squeezed Talbot’s hand.
She truly appreciated his help and the relief she felt in his company. Whenever she danced with the Duke, she was able to briefly forget the pressure to behave as she was taught to and to make a good match, and just be a young woman at a ball. Lady Burnham was right; itwasenjoyable.
After the dance, he led her to the refreshments, frowned at the table, bowed, and walked off.Probably to that card room he mentioned, she surmised.
After she enjoyed her silent moment in the tea room, she was more than prepared to dance and converse with the Corporal, who turned out to be a rather interesting man.
“So, this is your first Season as well?” Elizabeth teased, and he smiled.
“It is, indeed,” he responded good-naturedly.
