“Who noticed my absence?” She covered another yawn with her hand. “I imagine no one did because no one wanted to be present at that ball. Allow me to guess—did it end before midnight because all the guests decided to depart early out of utter boredom?”
Ezra’s jaw clenched. “That is beside the point.”
“AndI left a note, and had it delivered to you by one of the footmen, so you would not worry about my whereabouts,” she continued, too tired to spend eternity in another argument. “No one is angry with Matilda and Anna, so why should you be angry with me? Indeed, you ought to be proud of me for putting the health of my friend and her sisters above the trivial entertainment of an out-of-season ball.”
“Sarah!” Ezra bellowed.
Leah rolled her eyes. “What is the use of calling for Mama? She will only agree with you, we shall argue in circles, we shall both tire of it, and we shall walk out of this room agreeing to disagree, as always.”
It really had been a long night, and she would not have exchanged a moment of it. Though Phoebe was too proud to admit it, she really had been in desperate need of help, and when Leah, Anna, and Matilda had arrived after fleeing the ball, the relief upon Phoebe’s face had been worth every anxious thought about what would be waiting for Leah when she returned home, even though shehadmanaged to write a note for her mother and father explaining where she was going and why.
And the dancing was not unpleasant, either,her mind whispered, reminding her of the dreamlike part of the evening. Even now, in her afternoon-after fatigue, it did not seem real. Of course, she would have preferred it if Jonathan had not been at the ball at all, and she had not needed to rely upon a stranger’s help, but seeing him storm off in a thinly veiled fury had given her a morsel of satisfaction to soften the hard edges of his cruel abandonment—a fine memory to bolster her courage for when the season began properly.
“What is the matter, darling?” Sarah poked her head around the drawing room door.
Ezra jabbed an accusatory finger at Leah. “Your daughter!”
“How are Phoebe and the girls?” Sarah asked, slinking in. “Are they well? I thought I might send you there tomorrow with some soup, for I cannot bear the thought of them all suffering without a mother to tend to them.”
Leah resisted the urge to flash a gleeful smile at her father. “They are very muchnotwell. The physician had arrived when I departed, and Anna has promised to write to us to inform us of their welfare. She stayed, you see, while Matilda and I left.”
“Being the closest, that is to be expected,” Sarah said, for though all of the ‘Spinsters’ Club’ lived within two hours of one another—with the recent exception of Olivia—Anna’s residence was the nearest to Phoebe’s. “It sounds strange to say, but it is a shame they did not fall ill while we were all in London. I could have taken soup myself.”
Leah nodded. “I said that to Phoebe. She agreed that the timing could not have been worse, for they were in the midst of packing for the London season. Now, I do not think she will be joining us at all.”
“Oh, what a pity!” Sarah looked genuinely crestfallen, for while she often pretended to be her husband’s ally, she secretly adored Leah’s friends—especially Phoebe and Phoebe’s sisters.
Ezra clapped his hands, startling the two women. “I did not call you in here for a fishwives’ meeting, Sarah!” He tutted under his breath. “Our daughter embarrassed us last night!”
“Oh, Ezra, she did not,” Sarah replied, showing more defiance than usual. “She went to care for a dear friend. I would have expected nothing less, and if something were to happen to us, and she were to fall ill, I would hope that her friends would do the same for her.”
Ezra opened and closed his mouth like a stranded fish, clearly in disbelief that his wife was taking his daughter’s side.
“And how can you say she embarrassed us when, for the first time in three years, she danced with a gentleman? Not only that, but she danced with him at the same ball that her formerbetrothedwas attending with his wretched young wife! I am surprised you are not pouring yourself a brandy to celebrate.” Sarah had, apparently, awoken with a fire in her belly that day.
Leah blinked at her in astonishment. “You… saw the dance?”
“Of course, darling.” Sarah took hold of Leah’s hand. “I was searching for Lady Ponsonby while your father was in the smoking room, and there you were, dancing so elegantly with that fine gentleman. Rather handsome, was he not?”
Ezra clapped his hands again. “Excuse me? Have you forgotten that I am still here?”
“How could we, darling, when you keep smacking your palms together to remind us,” Sarah replied drily, prompting Leah to smother a snort. Indeed, Leah rather liked this side of her mother though it was rarely seen.
Ezra pulled a churlish face. “Who was this gentleman?Wasthere a gentleman, or are you conspiring together, so I will not punish our daughter?”
“Do not be absurd, Ezra,” Sarah replied. “I saw it with my own two eyes. I might have wept a little, too, for you looked so beautiful, Leah. I had forgotten how graceful you are when you dance. It warmed my heart; it truly did.”
“Well,” Ezra barked, losing what remained of his patience, “whowasthis gentleman? If therewasa gentleman, then that rather changes things. Or, perhaps, it does not, for if you fled from a respectable gentleman who might have been an excellent prospect, then you have been twice as foolish!”
Leah and her mother exchanged a look, the former trying to decide if her mother knew more than she was saying. Was her mother already aware of the gentleman’s identity? If she had spoken to Lady Ponsonby, it seemed likely, for Lady Ponsonby knew everyone.
“Whowashe?” Ezra practically screamed, his entire face sweaty and red.
Leah narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to answer when the drawing room door opened, and the butler, Mr. Gibbs, shuffled inside. “There is a visitor for you, my lord,” he said. “The Duke of Bergfield.”
Anything Leah had been about to say died upon her lips as she turned to Mr. Gibbs and gasped, “He is…here?”
“Who is here?” Ezra replied, frowning.
