Still, Tabitha couldn’t help feeling a bit angry at Eugenia herself.
If only her daughter would try a little harder! If only she would work to find herself a suitable match! Even if the Dukewasbeyond her reach, surely she could findsomeonewho would be appropriate.
But I don’t think she’s even trying. She simply follows Esther around like a puppy, hoping for scraps of her cousin’s attention. Hoping, perhaps, that some gentleman Esther rejects will pay attention to her.
Tabitha had really begun to regret allowing Esther to stay with her this Season at all. If she could have gone back in time to the moment her brother had asked her, she would have said no.
Then the Duke’s attention would be unclaimed, and Eugenia’s chances with him would be much more straightforward!
She wasn’t ready to write the Duke off, though. Not yet. Esther had only been on one outing with him if you didn’t count that ridiculous tea. Tabitha was no fool. Her brother and his wife had only arranged that meeting as a way of displaying power, showing Tabitha that they could kick her out of rooms within her own home.
I’ll make sure that the next time the Duke takes Esther out, Eugenia goes along with him again.
Perhaps her daughter would put up a fuss about it. She hadn’t exactly been agreeable lately. But as willful as Eugenia might try to be, her will was not stronger than Tabitha’s.
I’ll ensure that she does what she needs to do. By the time this Season is over, Eugenia will have made herself a worthy match—either the Duke of Hallowbinder or one of the other gentlemen who are almost as good.
Her mind made up, she went in search of her daughter, hoping that she could correct the impression of Eugenia that seemed to be growing amongst the ladies of theton.
Chapter 22
“Eugenia!”
Eugenia felt her heart skip a beat. She had finally begun to relax and enjoy the ball. She had found a glass of wine and a nice quiet place to stand by the wall so that she could watch the ladies and gentlemen dancing.
She had almost managed to forget that her mother was here at all.
But now her mother came bustling up to her, her face red with rage or embarrassment—Eugenia couldn’t tell which.
What on Earth can I have done now?she wondered.I’ve just been standing here.
“Mother,” she said cautiously. “Are you enjoying the ball?”
“Don’t you get smart with me, miss,” her mother said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to the side a bit.
That was unnecessary.
They were already well away from anyone who might overhear them. Her mother had only done that out of a desire to be rough with her.
Eugenia was surprised by the thought. It was the kind of thing Esther might have said. It was not the kind of thing she herself usually thought of. And yet, she knew it was true.
“What is it, Mother?” she asked, extricating her arm from her mother’s grasp.
“Do you mind telling me what you’re doing over here by awall, all on your own?” her mother demanded. “This is a ball, Eugenia! I didn’t pay for that gown to see you waste it like this.”
“For heaven’s sake, Mother,” Eugenia said. “I haven’t been asked to dance. If I’m asked, I’ll dance. Surely that ought to satisfy you.”
“And until you’re asked, you intend to stand here like a statue?” Her mother’s face puckered. “How do you intend to be noticed, when this is the way you behave?”
“What would you have me do?” Eugenia asked. “Force my company upon gentlemen? Be one of those brazen ladies who walk right up to whomever they like anddemandattention?”
“That may be the only way for a lady like yourself to gain any attention,” her mother said. “God knows we can’t depend on your looks, can we? I always assumed your good breeding and manners would be the thing that would carry you through in the end. But lately, it seems as if even that has deserted you.”
“My manners are more than adequate,” Eugenia said, stung.
“Well, I don’t know who taught you to speak to your mother that way, but it certainly wasn’t me,” her mother said. “And I think if any of the gentlemen at the ball could hear you right now, they would run away from you as fast as they could. So perhaps it’s for the best, after all, that you’ve chosen to keep yourself apart. Perhaps that will keep you from making any more of a disgrace of yourself.”
“Anymoreof a disgrace?” Eugenia said. “I don’t know what you mean by that.”
