Callum gave her a bow when the dance finally ended.
"I will be expecting you in my study soon," Callum whispered to her before he left the ballroom.
Louise had another glass of wine and she was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip out.
"Lady Louise," one of the bachelors that had signed her dance card said, "may I have this dance?" Lord Bacon asked.
"Oh, Lord Bacon," she said, making a show of touching her forehead with the back of her palm to show exhaustion.
"I am perfectly exhausted at the moment and my legs are just aching from the dances that I have had," she said, "I would rather sit still for now and maybe we can have our dance at the next session."
Lord Bacon looked a little disappointed, but he smiled and told her he would be back before he left. Louise was just heaving a sigh of relief when she saw yet another one of her admirers approach her.
Seeing as he probably was approaching her to ask her to dance, Louise rose from her seat and walked away. When she had walked for a moment, she looked back and saw that he was no longer following her.
She knew now that she could not afford to go back to her seat lest one of her many suitors came around to ask her to dance yet again. Instead, she stood close to the door so that she could easily slip away to Callum's study when she felt the time was right.
She had been standing by the door for a moment, watching the dancers when she saw someone approach. It was when the person moved closer to her that she realized that it was no other than Catherine herself.
"Louise," Catherine said, smiling sweetly at her.
Louise was taken aback, after all, there was no love lost between her and Catherine after what Emily had done to her. Moreover, Catherine had just made a show of glaring at her when she was dancing with Callum. With all these in mind, Louise knew that whatever Catherine wanted with her, it was no good news.
"Catherine," she responded in equal vein, smiling right back at her former friend.
"Isn't it just funny that I found you here, Louise," Catherine said.
"How so?" Louise asked.
"After all, a dance session is on, and from what I heard, your dance card is quite full," Catherine said.
"Hmm! You seem to be unusually interested in what I am doing, Catherine," Louise said, "why is that?"
Catherine looked angry and Louise chuckled. Catherine now had a deep frown on her face as she glared at Louise, who did not seem perturbed in the least. "You do not have to be so smug about the fact that you have so many admirers," Catherine said.
Louise was confused. "You are the one who seemed concerned about the number of admirers I seem to have, Catherine."
"Fine!" Catherine said, "It does not matter, anyway. You are still nothing but a sham and a lady who could not even keep a fine man like Felington from breaking an engagement with her."
Louise laughed out loud. "Your attempt at an insult is rather amusing. In case you have not noticed, the both of us are, in fact, young ladies who are yet to be engaged, therefore, when you insult me, you might as well also be insulting yourself."
"Is that so?" Catherine seemed to be growing angrier by the passing minute, "Well, at least I am not so pathetic that a Lord had to pretend to be courting me."
Louise blinked in confusion.
"What... What are you talking about?" Louise asked.
Catherine seemed to be pleased with herself because she now had a smug smile on her face.
"I suppose you did not know then," Catherine continued.
"Know about what?" Louise asked.
"That Callum courting you was nothing but a sham, of course," Catherine said.
"That is, in fact, a lie," Louise said, trying to save her face.
"Is that so? Because I heard that it was, in fact, Felington who told Callum to court you in order to distract you so you wouldn't ruin his engagement with Emily," Catherine said.
