A Thin Line (6 page)

“I truly dread this evening and am so glad that you decided to come,” Kala sighed.

“At least he didn’t meet us here,” Dru put in.

“True.”

“Who are we talking about?”

“Lord Dewhurst.”

“That little rat?”

“You don’t like him either?”

“Not so much that as he just reminds me of a little rat.
 
He’s never done anything I could put my finger on he’s just. . .”

“Trust me, I know.
 
I would have been rescued from having him escort me if Justin Southerby had arrived five minutes earlier.”

“Don’t be too trusting with Lord Southerby either Kala.”

“Why do you say that Richard?” Kala asked intrigued.

“I just think there is more there than appears to be,” he attempted to shrug off her questions.

“I’ll be careful.”

“See that you do.”
 
They stopped and picked up Derek and Tessa before traveling on to the Chatham’s.
 
On the way they informed them that Dewhurst would be joining their party once they arrived at the ball.

“Kala, I thought you were a better judge of character,” Derek said disgustedly.

“He cornered me,” Kala defended.

“He really did, Derek,” Dru joined in.
 
“If Lord Southerby had been earlier, the circumstances would be entirely different.”

“Dewhurst, Southerby and McKenzie.
 
Mikala, don’t you think you have enough men sniffing at your skirts?” Her brother asked irritated.

“I didn’t ask for their attention.
 
Besides, what harm will it cause?”

“Have you thought about your reputation?”

“If my father were titled, it would be a different story entirely.”

“But there’s the rub.
 
Your father is not titled and half the women of the
ton
despise you already.”

“Derek, that is enough,” Drucilla interceded, foreseeing her niece’s temper making an appearance if she did not diffuse the situation.
 
“There is nothing wrong with Kala having several men seek her attentions as long as she is properly chaperoned.”

“And has she always been properly chaperoned, Auntie?”

“Derek,” Tessa swatted her husband’s leg.

Kala’s guilty flush answered his question.
 
“And where were you not chaperoned, sister dear?”

“When Mack and I went riding in the park.”

“You will not call him Mack!”

“He gave me leave to.”

“I don’t care if he gave you leave to call him King Tut!
 
You do not refer to a man that intimately until he is your husband.
 
Do you understand?”

“Derek, calm down,” Richard said.
 
“You know what happened to you the last time you upset Dru.”

“Apologies,” he bit out, still staring daggers at his sister.
 
The carriage settled into an awkward silence.
 

The conveyance lurched to a stop indicating they were now in line to disembark.
 
They did not have to wait overly long for their carriage door to be opened by one of the Chatham’s servants.
 
Once they left the carriage, they were met by Dewhurst who greeted Their Grace’s first, then Derek and Tessa.
 
Finally he turned to Kala and gave her a smile that never met his eyes.

“You look simply stunning this evening, Miss Simmons.”

“Thank you, Lord Dewhurst,” she said in her naturally raspy voice.
 
She had yet to realize what a voice like that could do to a man.
 
“You look very nice, as well.”
 
And he did, as he was always turned out in the latest fashion.
 
“Shall we go in?”

“Of course,” he held out his arm for her to take.
 
She had to hide the little shudder of revulsion that ran through her.
 
He seemed like such a nice man, why couldn’t she like him?

“Good evening, Miss Simmons,” a familiar voice said on the other side of her.

“Miss Simmons, is it?” She asked playfully.
 
“Very well then.
 
Good evening, Lord Southerby.
 
How are you this evening?”

“Ever watchful,” he replied and stepped behind her and Dewhurst in the receiving line.
 

“Odd.”

“What is that?” Dewhurst asked unconcerned.

“Nothing,” she replied and turned to greet her host and hostess.
 
Richard and Drucilla were first announced to the group in attendance followed by her brother and sister-in-law then herself and Dewhurst.
 
She happened to glance over and saw that the man practically beamed from ear to ear.
 
She heard Southerby’s name called and then their little entourage made their way down the stairs into the ballroom.

Dewhurst led her onto the dance floor with the first announced dance.
 
They were still lacking a partner group when the Duke of Hawkescliffe and Lady Clarissa Blackerby were announced.
 
Kala felt anger that the man could still make her heart race even after everything that had happened.
 
Kala looked up to find the object of her reverie and his escort pairing them for the dance.
 
Gabe never danced, so what had possessed him to begin dancing now?
 
He looked intently at her as if she had done something wrong.
 
How dare he look at her like that?
 
She had not committed the crime.

Before she could decide on the sanity of questioning him, the music started, delaying the confrontation.
 
Kala and Dewhurst spent the first several bars of music together before she became Gabe’s partner.

He spun her in a perfectly executed move before he bent and whispered fiercely in her ear, “What are you doing here with Dewhurst?”

“I don’t believe that is any of your business.”

“Do not play games with me,” he bit out.
 
“Just answer the question.”

“He escorted me tonight.
 
Jealous?” She teased.
 
He said nothing, just seemed to stiffen more as he left her and partnered with Clarissa once more.
 
She gave Dewhurst a smile when they came back together, but did not speak to him.

Gabe came back to her and she took a deep breath to bolster her courage.
 

“You know, I’m really happy for you and Lady Clarissa.”

“What do you mean?”

“She will make a wonderful duchess.
 
I hope you two will be very happy together.”

Gabe should have been happy by this announcement.
 
Didn’t this prove an end to Kala’s interference in his life?
 
Instead he felt like he had been punched in the gut, much like Dewhurst this afternoon.
 
What was wrong with him?
 
He didn’t care for Kala, not in that way.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine,” he hissed turning away from Kala once more.
 
He studied Lady Clarissa as they went through the next steps together.
 
She was a diamond of the first water, of that no one could argue, and she
would
make the perfect duchess.
 
She knew the right people, and served her father well in the role of hostess.
 
Clarissa handled difficult situations with dexterity, as she had shown since her father had remarried a much younger woman after her own mother’s death.

“Your Grace, is something wrong?” Clarissa asked in a timid voice.

The music came to a halt.
 
Gabe shuttered his expression.
 

“Would you like some refreshments?”

“That would be nice,” Clarissa said on a sigh.
 
Gabe led Clarissa far across the room from where his best friend and his family stood.
 
He knew he had begun alienating himself from his friends, but he didn’t know what else to do.
 
He had made his choice and everyone needed to recognize that fact and move on with their lives.

Dewhurst returned Kala to Richard and Dru and then excused himself to retrieve her a glass of punch.
 
Justin came and stood at her side sandwiching her between himself and Drucilla.

“What’s wrong with everyone tonight?”

“What do you mean?” Dru questioned.

“Gabe and I just had the oddest conversation during the dance and now Justin is acting as if he is my protector.”
 
The man she talked about just glanced down at her before looking out over the crowd once more.

“I don’t know.
 
Perhaps it’s something in the air.”

“Perhaps they should quit breathing it.”

“Tell me about your conversation with Gabe.”

“First he asked me why I came with Dewhurst.
 
Then I wished him and Lady Clarissa the best.
 
He just clammed up.”

“That
is
odd,” Dru said with a gleam in her eye.
 
A waltz began to play.
 
“Richard, I would like to dance.”

“Whatever you wish, my love.”

“Kala?” Southerby queried.

“I would be enchanted, if it is all right with my brother,” she stared mutinously at Derek until he acquiesced.
 
By the time Dewhurst returned, all three couples were dancing around the ballroom.
 
He watched as Southerby held Kala closely and spun her around the dance floor, and in his opinion, a bit too closely.
 
That should be him out there that she laughed and talked with.
 
He seethed as he realized that she had not spoken once to him while they danced, but had found a few words for Hawkescliffe.
 

Dewhurst noticed the music had stopped and the couples were leaving the dance floor.
 
He forced himself to relax and fix a smile on his face.
 
Miss Simmons approached him and he noticed that her smile seemed a little more forced than it had been only moments earlier.
 

“Oh, thank you, Lord Dewhurst,” she took the punch from his hand, sipping gratefully.

“Anything for you, Miss Simmons,” he bowed over her hand, attempting to contain his anger.
 
Soon another unwelcome visitor joined their group in the form of Stuart McKenzie and once more he watched another man escort Mikala onto the dance floor.
 
He could not wait to have her to himself.

***

Kala caused waves once again when she granted a dance to Stuart McKenzie upon his arrival.
 
The rest of the evening she spent chatting about mundane topics with Dewhurst while trying to determine what exactly the other three gentlemen were about.
 
Gabe stared daggers at her from across the ballroom, while McKenzie and Southerby stood like two sentinels on either side of her.
 
She wanted to stomp her foot in impotent fury, but knew she would look childish.

Thankfully, Dru would not permit her to waltz with Dewhurst after having danced with him once already.
 
In this society, more than one dance could mean a looming engagement, and Mikala did not want that.
 
Wanting to refresh herself, she excused herself from the group and wove her way through the throng of people to the retiring room.
 
She opened the door and the talking and giggling quickly became an uncomfortable silence.
 
This was not the first time she had received this treatment.
 
Most of the women considered her an enemy, a commoner who might take one of their allotted men from them.
 
She turned to leave the women to their opinions when the door opened and Lady Clarissa entered.

“Mikala, you look absolutely delightful this evening.”

“Thank you, Lady Clarissa,” the two moved toward a vacant corner.
 
“That dress is a beautiful match with your eyes.”

“Thank you, and you know you have leave to call me Clarissa.
 
I consider us friends and hope you do as well.”
 
The few women present gulped audibly at that statement and scurried out of the room to share the latest
on dit
.
 
Mikala could only imagine what they were saying,
Imagine a duke’s daughter lowering herself to befriend a commoner!
 

“Clarissa, you really shouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh, but it is fun to stir their blood once in a while,” she said mischievously and the two giggled.
 
“I saw that three gentlemen are dancing attendance on you.
 
How very lucky you are.”

“I wouldn’t call it luck, Clarissa.
 
Dewhurst is an acquaintance only and the other two are friends.”

“Did you know them before this season?”

“Actually, no.
 
Southerby and I met at the museum.
 
We were both confused by an artist’s work.
 
A gentleman explained it to us.
 
We looked at each other and just laughed and the man took off in a huff.
 
The gentleman was the artist of the work in question.”