Of course, she has the luxury of speaking of love, Elizabeth thought with a bitterness that surprised her.
She was spared from having to answer by the arrival of and introductions to the other guests: Miss Elinor, Lady Helena Grey (She’s Earl Sinclair’s cousin, Isabella informed her in a whisper), a young man by the name of Mister Arthur Pratt, Colonel Harding, Lord George Slaymaker and his father’s heir, Nathaniel, styled Baron Waldegrave.
Lady Helena’s low and graceful curtsy to the Baron caused a pang of jealousy in Lizzie’s heart. She took in her perfect posture, her elegant pearl-grey silk gown, the delicate gold necklace and sapphire earrings that adorned her, framed by shiny curls, and Elizabeth knew that she herself would forever remain a poor forgery of a lady.
“Lady Helena,” Elizabeth and Elinor both smiled at the haughty blonde, who rewarded them with a practised smile of her own.
“Miss Hawkins, Miss Woodhouse,” she greeted them with a regal nod of the head.
Elizabeth could feel Elinor’s nails through her gloves from how hard her friend was gripping her elbow at the disrespect. Elizabeth wasn’t offended by Lady Helena Grey, and she suspected that the young woman treated everyone but potential husbands or those with higher titles poorly.
The sound of the dinner bell saved them from further conversation.
Just as they were about to move into the dining room, Nicholas and Sophie entered the drawing room. Elizabeth’s heart wanted to leap out of her chest. Whenever she saw her brother after a longer separation, during the first few moments, her mind would mistake him for their father. Even their voices were the same. It no longer hurt Elizabeth to see him; nowadays, it only brought her joy.
Instead of the hug she wanted to give and receive, she got a brief press of his cheek to hers, a squeeze of the hand.It’s all right,she thought,this is what they are like.
Nicholas and Sophie explained that they had been delayed by putting her niece to bed, and Elizabeth knew she had lots of warm hugs to look forward to the next day, so her evening was salvaged, although some bitter aftertaste lingered in her mouth for the rest of it. She couldn’t understand why.
*
Ever since she could remember, Elizabeth had the habit of waking up dreadfully early, unlike Mary, who cherished hermorning sleep more than family and friendships (a truth that many of them had learned upon trying to wake her earlier than she liked).
It proved to be a great disadvantage to her this Season, seeing as many of the events were held late into the night. Her first morning at Winchester was no exception, and she rose early, despite having retired to bed very late the previous evening. She performed her morning ablutions, hoping that the water would dispel the remaining cobwebs of sleep from her eyes.
Dear Lord, let this be a day that shall be good for me, and a day in which I shall be good, Lizzie said a brief prayer as she stood at the window and rebraided her hair.
She then sat down at the escritoire and penned a letter to her mother, informing her of their arrival, the names of those present, and sending love to the members of their little household. There were no other letters to write, for almost everyone she kept a correspondence with was in the house with her.
After putting on the morning frock Mary had laid out for her the night before in order to avoid getting up too early, Lizzie rolled her plait into a chignon and secured it with pins. She then put a white muslin cap on, examined herself in the looking glass, decided against it, took it off, and made her way downstairs in search of some breakfast.
A footman directed her towards the dining room where the breakfast was set up, but when she reached its doors, she hesitated, just as she always did before entering a room that was full of people. She halted for a moment to compose herself. Someone cleared their throat to her right. She turned and sawthe Duke of Norwich sprawled out in an armchair, playing with the signet ring on his ring finger.
“Duke Talbot,” was all Elizabeth managed to say, and her tone must have reflected her thoughts very clearly because, after he’d unfolded his long body and gracefully lifted it from the armchair so he could bow to her, Talbot explained, “The Viscount invited me for the fox hunt. I arrived late last night with some of the other guests.”
His eyes took in every detail of her appearance, and he then added, “Good morning, Miss Hawkins.”
“Good morning to you as well. You seem to do that a lot. Arrive late, I mean,” she clarified.
“Some might view that as a good thing,” he replied, his voice suddenly deeper and more secretive.
Elizabeth’s cheeks flamed because, although her mind couldn’t make sense of his words, her body seemed to recognise his seductive tone. She looked towards the door. Colin shifted from one foot to the other. They were both surprised at the sudden change in the mood between them.
“Emerald green,” he suddenly said softly.
Elizabeth looked down at her dress.
“Very good,” she smiled.
“Shall we go in together?” he offered his arm, and she accepted.
When they had filled their plates, they joined the guests who were already at the table. Talbot’s plate held a balanced meal of toast, eggs, ham, and some fruit, whereas hers only held sweet pastries, and Talbot eyed it with his usual sardonic brow lift, but, for once, said nothing.
Lizzie enjoyed a conversation with the Corporal, whereas Talbot seemed very at ease with the young man called Pratt. After breakfast, the men went off on their hunt, and Elizabeth retired to one of the drawing rooms to do some needlework until her friends came downstairs to join her.
That night at dinner, she was sitting between the Baron and Louisa, and the duke was sitting across from her. It was a house party, not a formal affair, but to be safe, she decided to talk to those on her left and right unless someone else addressed her. She longingly gazed at Nicholas, who was sitting to the host’s right at the head of the table. She hadn’t had the chance to see him all day.
Baron Waldegrove turned out to be a perfectly agreeable and interesting man, and nothing like his brother. And with some prompting, Louisa soon relaxed as well, and the three of them spent an enjoyable dinner together.
