Besides, guests were coming through the door now, and he knew that most of them were people Lady Valeria would not know by name. He took care to introduce each person as they passed through the doors.
“That’s the Earl of Stratford and his wife,” he said, indicating a rather haughty looking gentleman who had just passed through the door. “It’s widely thought that she only married him for his money, because he certainly doesn’t have a very appealing personality.”
“He does look rather as though there’s somewhere else he would like to be, doesn’t he?” Lady Valeria said.
“Well, he no doubt thinks he’s above this party,” Thomas said. He broke off, as the Earl was drawing nearer now. “Hello, Lord Stratford. I haven’t seen you in some time.”
“No, I daresay you haven’t,” Lord Stratford said, raising any eyebrow. “We might not have come tonight, but Lady Stratford very much wanted some entertainment, and we thought this might be the perfect amusement. Lady Earlington does know how to throw a party.”
“She certainly does,” Thomas said. “And it’s most generous of her to have this ball in our honor.”
“Generous, yes,” Lord Stratford agreed, looking Thomas up and down rather appraisingly. “Well, we’ll move along now. It was a pleasure to see you again, Lord Woodsford, and it’s lovely to make your acquaintance, Lady Valeria.”
“Good to meet you,” Lady Valeria said.
Once Lord Stratford had gone, she turned anxiously to Thomas. “He doesn’t seem very nice.”
“No, he isn’t,” Thomas agreed. “He thinks he’s better than me because he’s an Earl, and I’m only a Baron.”
“Are people really so concerned with such trivial things?”
“This can’t be your first time encountering that fact,” he said. “What about your brother? Didn’t he care at all for his title?”
“He did,” Lady Valeria said. “He prized it very highly. But, of course, I thought it was a flaw in his character, like the way he was quick to anger. I didn’t think thatmostpeople were that way.”
“You never saw that trait in other people? Friends of his?”
She hesitated. “In truth, he never allowed me to socialize with other people,” she said.
“What? Not ever?”
“Well, I shouldn’t saynever,” she said. “On occasion, his friends would come to our home, and I managed to speak with them. Some of them were kind to me, and some of them seemed even to wish that we could have spent more time in one another’s company.”
“I have no doubt that they did,” Thomas murmured, wondering whether Lady Valeria might have been courted by and eventually married to one of those gentlemen had her brother not been arrested.
“Richard wanted to control every aspect of my life,” Lady Valeria said, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. “If I had ever been permitted to marry, it would have been to someone he had selected by hand for me. I would have been given no say in the matter at all.”
“That’s not right,” Thomas said.
She smiled at him. “I knew you would think so,” she said. “That’s why I said yes to you.”
Henry now made his way in the door. He had a young lady Thomas didn’t recognize clinging to his arm, and as they approached Thomas and Lady Valeria, the young lady giggled.
“Lord Woodsford,” Henry said, offering a bow that looked a little funny coming from one of Thomas’s best friends. “Lady Valeria.”
“Welcome, Lord Harlston,” Lady Valeria said with a smile. “We’re so pleased you could be here.”
Thomas remembered suddenly the fact that Lady Valeria had always gotten along with Henry—had, in fact, been quite charmed by him when they had first met. He had worried, for a time, that she might prefer Henry over him.
Suddenly, a very jealous, unworthy part of him wished that he had not invited his friend here tonight.
What am I thinking? Henry would never do anything to interfere with my courtship. Besides, he appears to have a young lady with him.
“This is Lady Lydia,” Henry said, by way of introduction. “Her father is the Marquess of Lancashire. I’m sure you know him.”
Thomas would have liked to say that he had no idea who the Marquess of Lancashire was—it was clear that Henry was boasting about being here with the daughter of a Marquess. But he couldn’t lie.
“Yes, of course I know your father,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Lydia. Lady Valeria and I are so pleased you could join us tonight.”
