“Unpleasant, perhaps,” Lady Esther said at length. “But nothing a gentleman like yourself needs to worry about.”
“If someone or something in this garden is troubling young ladies—”
“There’s no need for a display of heroics,” Lady Esther said.
She’s laughing at me,Hugh realized.She thinks I’m being foolish.
Lady Esther went on. “We merely saw a romantic moment we would perhaps have chosen not to see, had we known what we were about to discover.”
“Ah,” Hugh said. “And that’s what set you running—and not watching where you were going.”
He knew his words would provoke Lady Esther, and so they did. “It’s you who wasn’t watching where you were going, My Lord,” she said. “And what excuse have you? Were you fleeing an unpleasant sight? Or do you, like every other gentleman at this ball, feel entitled to go where you want, to look where you’d like, and ignore what doesn’t interest you, without regard to the effect it might have on others?”
“Esther, please.” Lady Eugenia’s voice was nearly a moan now. “Let’s just go, please.”
“He’s just like the gentlemen we met inside, Eugenia,” Lady Esther said. “Did you see the way he was looking at me? And he never looked at you, did he? Not until you spoke.”
Hugh frowned. For the first time since he’d run into Lady Esther, he felt confused about the conversation. “What do you mean, I didn’t look at her?” he asked. “Ought I to have looked at her?”
“She’s here, too,” Lady Esther said. “It’s not right to just ignore someone who’s standing right in front of you, My Lord.”
“Forgive me,” Hugh said. He was beginning to feel a little frustrated in spite of how interesting he found her. Surely she could relax a bit. “It’s just that you were the one who ran into me and made me spill my drink, Lady Esther, so you were the one I noticed first.”
“You ran intome,” she said again, haughtily, insistently.
He turned pointedly to Lady Eugenia. “My Lady,” he said, offering her a slight bow. “You must forgive my rudeness for noticing your much more conspicuous cousin before taking note of you. I meant no offense.”
“No offense was taken,” Lady Eugenia assured him. She was stammering, her cheeks flushed bright red, and if Hugh had not been certain before that she knew who he was, her behavior in that moment would have removed all doubt.
He had been treated like this in the past by many a young lady. They weren’t all forward and direct the way Lady Catherine had been. Some—many—treated him as though he was too frightening to talk to.
To tell the truth, that was what made Lady Esther so unique. No one ever acted the way she had.
“It’s my cousin and I who should be apologizing to you,” Lady Eugenia went on. Her eyes were downcast, as if she was afraid to look at him.
“Apologizing for what, Eugenia?” Lady Esther said. “At worst, this gentleman and I ran into one another, for which we would both be to blame. He certainly hasn’t apologized forthatyet, so why should we?”
“Yes, but Esther—”
“And besides,” Lady Esther went on, talking over her cousin, “youought not to apologize to him at all, Eugenia. You didn’t collide with him, did you?”
“Well, no, I didn’t, but—”
“I won’t have you believing that you owe every gentleman in this place an apology,” Lady Esther said firmly. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
Lady Eugenia looked helplessly at Hugh.
He took pity on her. “Your cousin is quite right, Lady Eugenia,” he said. “You have done nothing to apologize for. Please, go and enjoy the remainder of the ball. We’ll say nothing more of this encounter, if that’s what you ladies would prefer.”
“But your shirt—” Lady Eugenia’s hands fluttered nervously around the wine stain on Hugh’s shirt.
“My own fault,” Hugh assured her. “I’m the one who was carrying a glass of wine and not looking where I was going. Neither you nor your cousin bear any responsibility for the fact that my drink spilled. And after all, it’s only a shirt.”
Lady Esther was looking from Hugh to Lady Eugenia, and Hugh could see the surprise on her face.
You didn’t expect me to be kind. You didn’t expect me to treat your cousin with grace.
He wondered why that was.
