Matilda chuckled. “I am certain I am not qualified in such a matter. I was a hopeless, reluctant, defiant debutante. I never danced, never entertained the idea of finding a husband until one found me, never behaved as a debutante should.”
“Well, I would still read it.” Caroline smiled. “Indeed, I am still hoping that you will write about The Spinsters’ Club one day.”
Matilda sipped her drink, her eyes alight with mischief. “Perhaps I shall, but not yet. Until I know how it ends, I could not possibly write about it.”
I think we all know how it ends.Anna held her tongue, dreading the idea of being the cautionary appendix in the tale. Her friends might not have thought of her that way, but society certainly would.
Just then, the circle went silent, Olivia and Phoebe looking at something over Anna’s shoulder. A prickle ran up Anna’s spine, as she sensed the presence, and noted the shadow falling across her. Judging by the narrowing of her friends’ eyes, it was not someone she wanted to see.
Before she could turn, a deep voice rumbled, “Lady Caroline, if your card is not yet full, I was hoping you might do me the great honor of dancing the next set with me.”
Caroline was already staring at the man, her eyes wide as she was forced to tilt her head back to look up at him. A sweet smile that Anna did not like one bit spread across Caroline’s face, her cheeks flushing pink.
Anna knew that voice. She would have known it anywhere.
“Your Grace, this is a surprise.” Caroline pulled away from Anna and dipped into an elegant curtsy.
Percival bowed his head in response. “Not an unpleasant one, I hope.”
“Not at all,” Caroline replied, a note too eagerly. “But I do not know where my mother is, to grant permission, and my brother is not here.”
Percival offered his arm. “I saw your mother not a moment ago. Please, allow me to escort you to her.”
“Caro, I do not think that is wise,” Anna intervened. “You should not take his arm if you have not been properly introduced.”
Caroline frowned in confusion. “But I know of him.”
“Maybe so, but you do not know him.” Anna did her best to keep her anger off her face, certain that Percival would only delight in it. Just as she was certain that he was doing this just to annoy her, after saying last week that she would rather shove Caroline into the path of a runaway horse than have him court her.
Her friends knew, to some extent, that there was a frostiness between Anna and Percival, but being the sort of person who kept many things to herself, she had never fully described the reasons behind the hostility. Now, she wished she had.
Olivia took Caroline’s arm. “I will take you to your mother. As for you, Your Grace, please do accompany us.”
As Olivia led Caroline in search of Amelia Barnet, the Dowager Countess of Westyork, Anna watched in crushing dismay. She blamed herself, wishing she had said something different, wishing she had come up with a more viable excuse to keep Caroline and Percival apart, but it was too late for that now.
Her blood boiled as Percival glanced back over his shoulder and flashed her a wry smile. No one saw what she saw, no one knew that he was a wretch beneath that fine façade that made other ladies’ hearts flutter.
“He is woefully unsuitable for her,” she muttered.
Matilda patted her gently on the back. “All will be well, Anna. They will dance, they will part, she will be distracted by someone younger and more handsome, and she will forget she ever danced at all with the Duke of Granville.”
Phoebe nodded. “Amelia is an excellent judge of character. She will not allow Caro to dance with anyone unsuitable.” She paused, chewing her lower lip. “That reminds me, Imustinform Daniel of the gentlemen that cannot be deemed suitable for her when he returns from Ireland.”
“I trust you will put Percival at the very top of the list,” Anna said, digging her fingernails into her palms.
“If you think I should, certainly,” Phoebe promised, though it was not long before they all had to watch as Caroline and Percival took to the dance floor.
* * *
Percival danced with the same inelegance he showed whenever he was in Anna’s presence. At least, that was her opinion, though there were plenty of young ladies swooning and fanning themselves as they observed his stiff quadrille and his frankly pedestrian country dance.
“She is dancing well, is she not?” Phoebe said with clasped hands, as if she were Caroline’s mother.
Anna nodded, struggling to concentrate on Caroline when Percival’s tall stature and broad shoulders kept blocking her from view. She realized he was more muscular than he had been the previous year, his arms punishing the dark burgundy fabric of his tailcoat whenever he swept his arms through the air, the buttons of his waistcoat straining against his chest as he turned this way and that, and she would not permit herself to mention the unseemly tightness of his Brummel-style trousers, revealing every fiber of his thigh muscles.
Perhaps, hewashandsome, but that did nothing to compensate for what he lacked in character.
The orchestra could not fade to a close soon enough, and as it did, Anna counted the seconds as Caroline and Percival curtseyed and bowed respectively, marking every step they took back toward the slightly reduced Spinsters’ Club. For Caroline’s sake, she would not say anything about Percival’s dull dancing, allowing the sweet young lady to enjoy herself.
