Instead of going a separate way, Felington decided to follow Callum so that even as he entered the dining room. He was still talking animatedly about the woman he had jilted. Callum was exhausted but he could not quite get Felington off his back. What made it worse, Felington made Callum sit beside him at dinner. Moments after the gentlemen had taken their seats, the ladies entered the room.
Callum caught sight of Louise, who was looking radiant as always. Anyone who did not know what she had been through would never have believed it if they were told. Callum marveled at her strength but he also knew that she had to be hurting inside despite putting up a tough exterior. Callum's heart went out to her. When Louise was about to take her seat at the table, she looked around as though searching for someone and when her eyes met his, she seemed to relax even more and she smiled at him.
Callum smiled back at her, but she looked away.
“I wonder why she is staring at me,” Felington said.
“Who?” Callum asked.
“Who else? Lady Louise, of course,” Felington said, “she stared at me when she arrived, and then, she smiled at me.”
“Is that so?” Callum asked, trying to hide his laughter.
“Yes, she did. I cannot believe you did not see her staring blatantly at me,” Felington said.
“Maybe she was not staring at you and you only believe so because of the awful things you have done to her,” Callum said.
Felington scoffed. “If she was not smiling at me, then who could she possibly be staring at?” he asked, “no other man would even give her the time of the day now.”
Callum shrugged. “Well,Iam the person she was smiling at,” Callum said.
“Oh!” Felington's eyes widened in realization as he winked at him, “of course, she would smile at you. I forgot you said you are courting her.”
“Indeed,” Callum replied.
“Or would I say, you are pretending to court her,” Felington continued, laughing, “it is such a pity that she would never know the truth until she gets heartbroken again.” Callum did not humor his friend.
It was at this point that soups were brought to the table. Soon enough, everyone was delving into their soups. After this, they ate the other dishes until everyone was happy and merry. For a moment, Callum truly forgot about Felington's obnoxiousness and Lady Louise's predicament. After dinner, the guests were led to the parlor for some games. Since Callum was not particularly interested in any game, he simply walked around the room, looking at the players.
Suddenly, loud laughter rang through the entire room, and for a moment, there was silence as everyone tried to look for the source of the rather loud laughter. While looking for the source of the laughter, Callum was surprised to see his grandfather seated opposite an old bespectacled lady who currently had her head thrown back in unbridled laughter.
“Oh, Your Grace! You are so funny,” she said.
His grandfather chuckled, looking proud of himself. To say that Callum was shocked would be an understatement. His grandfather had always been a rather severe man who lived a strict life. Therefore, seeing him making jokes and laughing around with a lady was surprising.
Callum approached them. “Grandfather,” he said, the moment he got to their seat.
“Ah, Callum,” his grandfather said, patting him on the back.
“I see you are enjoying yourself,” Callum said.
“Indeed, this good lady has been making me laugh,” he said.
“Oh, quite the contrary, Your Grace. You are the one who has been making me laugh all evening. If I spend any more time with you, I might end up getting a broken bone from laughing so hard,” she said.
The Duke laughed out loud until he coughed.
“You will be the death of me, Lady Theodora,” he said, “I suppose you have not met my grandson, the Marquess of Langton.”
The lady shook her head and squinted her eyes in an effort to see better. “Not quite.”
“Just like me, his name is Callum. We have a tradition of naming all of our heirs Callum, therefore we have the same name,” he said, “you must think that is peculiar but our family holds a great tradition over the centuries.”
“How could I ever think that?” Lady Theodora replied, “in fact, I think it is a beautiful tradition.”
“Good evening, Lady Theodora,” Callum said as he took the lady's hand and kissed it.
“I can see your grandson has some of your charm, Your Grace,” Lady Theodora said.
