Once they got into the ballroom, she glanced up and saw that the ceiling too was adorned with gold.
“Lady Stafford certainly likes gold,” she whispered.
“She does; the rest of the house is just as spectacular,” her cousin murmured as they made their way around the ballroom. Ladies in opulent gowns sauntered around the room while gentlemen conversed deeply, occasionally clinking their glasses together.
“Goodness, I feel out of place,” she whispered, feeling a mix of excitement and trepidation. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Balls like this? No, I suppose not. You do not have anything like this up north. Lady Stafford prides herself on being the premier host for such affairs. There are other venues, sure, but none quite like this. You’re fortunate to have received an invitation.”
“Something I must thank you for, no doubt,” Charity replied.
“Your mother was quite keen for you to attend. She’s very eager for you to find a husband,” her cousin confessed. “Although my mother indicated that might already have happened.”
Charity groaned quietly. “If Lord Markham had his way, yes,” she admitted. “He came calling this afternoon.”
“Pray, what exactly happened when Lord Markham came to call?” Millie inquired, her curiosity piqued.
Charity grimaced. “Oh, it was dreadful. He proposed, and mother intended to pushed me into his arms.”
Millie gasped, turning around so quickly that the ringlets framing her face continued to dance even after she stopped.
“No, the cheek of him! Did you accept?”
“I told him no, but mother insisted that I would reconsider. He is here tonight, I hear. I did not want to come as I wish to avoid him but I am afraid that will not happen. Oh, Millie. Lord Markham of all people! He’s a vulture! He spent time around Pembroke even before my father fell ill.”
“Do you think he was after you then?” Millie asked as they stepped into the room adjoining the grand, crowded ballroom. From there, they could stand out of the way while still looking into the ballroom.
Couples twirled and laughed while music filled the air, a blend of lively string notes and soft conversation.
“I suspect perhaps he was. My father was wealthy and influential,” she admitted, her chest aching as she realized she was speaking of her father in the past tense. “Oh, Millie. I do not know what to do. I do not know how to get out of it,” Charity said.
Her cousin sighed. “Oh, you are fortunate to have me. Because I can tell you exactly how you’re going to get out of it, dearest cousin. Your mother wants you to marry, and she’s insisting on Lord Markham because he is readily available. Well, what you need to do is ensure that there are other gentlemen just as readily available. And just as eager.”
Charity paused for a moment. “But how would I do that? I have never been to a London ball and know nobody outside of you and our family.”
“Do not fret. You need only know me for I know everyone else. Now, the first thing we have to do,” Millie said, “is introduce you to many gentlemen. You are in luck! I am well known in London society, so it will be no trouble for me to introduce you to a great number of people. Then we will find you some gentlemen to dance with, and then all you have to do is be your charming self.”
“And then,” Charity interjected with a smile as she was beginning to understand her cousin’s plan, “one of them will almost certainly ask me to go promenading. I will agree, whoever it is, and then this evening when I come home, I will tell my mother that I have found somebody else.”
“And just like that, you are free of Markham and who knows? You might find someone you like.”
Her cousin was making it sound as though it was going to be so easy to find someone other than Markham, but would it really be? So far, she has hardly been the center of attention. In fact, her dance card dangled empty from her wrist.
“There is but one problem. Nobody has asked me to dance yet,” she said, and raised her wrist in the air.
“People will ask you; do not fret! You are titled, you are young, you are beautiful, and your mother has one of the nicest townhouses in all of St. James. Come now!”
Her cousin linked their arms together, and they walked out into the crowd. However, as they approached the first gentleman, Charity felt a very bad sensation in the pit of her stomach. This wasn’t right.
“Millie, you cannot approach gentlemen and ask them to dance with me, it is not proper, people will talk. Where is Lady Miles? She was to chaperone us,” she said, not wanting a scandal on her hands. Millie had always been more forward thinking than other ladies in their society but this was a step too far even for her. Surely their chaperone—who ought to have greeted them at the door—would have something to say about this.
“My dear aunt is over yonder, visiting the land of nod,” she said and nodded at a woman sitting in a chair with her head on her chest and her eyes closed. Lady Miles, Millie’s paternal aunt, was meant to be their escort for the evening and introduce Charity to society, but that did not appear to be the case now.
“I know most everyone there, so I can introduce you. If we wait for my aunt, it will be a long night. Now come.”
She pulled Charity along the room toward a tall gentleman standing by himself with a glass of wine.
“Lord Hancock,” Millie said. The man eyed them both and smiled, but in a weary manner.
