Instead, she crept into the room on tiptoes and plucked two flowers from her corsage, delicately laying one on the pillows beside each of her sisters.
She paused at Mary for a second, silently thanking her for pushing her to attend. She most definitely did not regret it now.
As she slipped from the room and returned to her own, she carefully stripped off her garments and laid them out for Sophia to take care of in the morning.
When, finally, she threw herself into bed, she fell asleep with a smile, feeling quite intoxicated with the sudden joy she had found in life.
The ball had renewed her spirits, and she found herself grateful to her father for having pushed her to do something she had never considered herself. Even in death, he was watching over her; she was certain of it.
He had thought of everything. And for the first time, she felt confident when she looked towards her future.
Perhaps things wouldn't be nearly so bad as she had believed.
Chapter 10
“Your Grace!”
The lady dowager countess looked quite surprised to see George the next morning, and it took all he had in him not to show his amusement.
“We did not expect your presence today.”
Clasping his hands behind his back, George dipped his head to the lady who was sitting in an armchair, looking quite pale indeed.
“It is my job as chaperone to be in attendance for callers, is it not?”
The lady blinked, dumbfounded, and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lady Cecelia looked just as shocked.
Mary's expression was quietly excited, and he suspected she felt some pride at having been the one to convince him to take his chaperonage seriously.
Catherine, too, looked excited, and she nudged Lady Cecelia as if to encourage her to speak.
“Th … thank you for coming, Your Grace,” Lady Cecelia said, rising to offer a curtsey.
“It is a good job I did. You seem to have callers lining down the driveway.”
At that, she glanced out the window, and her eyes grew wide. The way she paled suggested that she wasn't quite ready for so many visitors, and George was glad again that he had decided to take this duty seriously.
He couldn't stand the thought of her entertaining the wrong type.
“Mama, I think perhaps your presence is not so needed as we believed,” Mary said, sauntering to her mother's side. “Perhaps with his grace here, you might retire back to your room?”
For a second, George feared the lady might protest. Then she looked at him and asked, “What have you to say about that, Your Grace?”
With a raised brow, he turned to Lady Cecelia and said, “I think we ought to be able to handle it. Don't you, My Lady?”
Though she appeared to try to hide it, George did not miss the way she blushed.
“I think we are capable, Your Grace.”
“Then it is decided,” George said, and he stepped to offer his hand to the dowager countess. “Please, allow me to escort you to your room before we begin.”
“That is very kind of you, Your Grace, but I think I shall manage,” she said, rising on clearly unsteady legs. “Besides, we cannot keep Lady Cecelia's callers waiting.”
Almost as soon as the event began, George wished it hadn't.
The first gentleman in attendance was one George most definitely did not wish for Lady Cecelia. And as they sat together conversing, he thought up a way to remove him.
Interrupting their conversation about the weather, George said, “Is it not said, Lord Barnaby, that you have little care for taking a wife this Season?”
