Midnight Bride (33 page)

"You do not much resemble him," Edgerton said spitefully.

"Thank you, my lord."

"I
did not mean it for a compliment." Edgerton strolled off, his eyes on his former
fiancée.

"What are we going to do?" Dunstan asked Louisa, his face still wearing a frown. His eyes followed Edgerton around the floor.

"Nothing," she said, watching her cousin circle the floor. "Elizabeth must take
caie
of the situation herself."

The dance finished, the captain led Elizabeth from the floor. Edgerton was waiting. "Shall we dance, Elizabeth?" he asked, holding out his arms. "Remember how well we danced together?"

"This dance is already promised, my lord. Perhaps you should ask someone of a lower class. I am certain she would not refuse you," Elizabeth said proudly as she took her escort's arm. "I only dance with gentlemen." She smiled up at the major, and they walked toward the dance floor.

Edgerton flushed. His eyes flashed. "She will pay for that," he muttered to himself, not willing to give up the thought of her very large dowry.

"Did you say something, my lord?" Lord Hathaway asked
,
his arms folded across his chest. He looked at the other man, noting the slight paunch and fleshy jowls.

"No." Edgerton looked around the floor, hoping no one else had seen his humiliation. They were the center of all eyes. Chalking up yet another grievance against Elizabeth, he made his way to the card room, where he had promised to meet a friend.

"Did Miss
Beckworth
greet you with open arms?"' his friend asked.

"No, but she will," Edgerton said, his teeth clenched in anger. Time after time during the next few days, he approached Elizabeth. Time after time she turned him away. Charles especially stayed close to her side, ready to protect her if she should need it.

But he was not present when Edgerton faced her once again. "As cold as ever," Edgerton taunted finally. "I wonder if your friends will believe your actions or my words when I begin to tell my tales."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth
asked,
her blood running cold with fear. The white gown she wore was no whiter than her face.

"How sad it is to me to find such a passionate young girl repressed into such a sour old maid. When I remember how sweetly you responded to me, how sad I am that you ignore me now, how will you be received then?" he asked, expecting her to collapse in fear.

"Shall we see, my lord?" Elizabeth smiled at him, a cold, hard smile of a lady who was not willing to be coerced. She glanced over to the chair where her stepmother sat, her eyes on Elizabeth though she carried on a conversation with someone else and then to where her brother stood, gathering strength from each of them.

He drew back in anger. "Watch how your escorts disappear," he said menacingly. "You are mine. You will always be mine!" Elizabeth watched as he walked across the room to where Lord Hathaway and the major stood. She took a deep breath and waited for the repercussions.

With effort Elizabeth presented a calm appearance to the world. Her callers and bouquets arrived every morning as they had been. She went riding or walked along the
Steine.
Even the presence of Lord Edgerton, who did everything he could to attract her attention, did not seem to ruffle her composure.

To her family's delight, her behavior became the standard by which proper ladies were judged. Several young ladies whose behavior had been less than perfect last Season had to listen to their mamas extolling Elizabeth's aged virtues. The addition of Edgerton to the ranks of her admirers angered her and caused a few of the older ladies who had hoped to ensure comfortable marriages for their daughters to watch her with narrowed eyes. The presence of the officers they could ignore. Most of them were without private incomes and would expect their wives to follow the drum. But to watch while three of the most eligible men in Brighton made Elizabeth, a lady long on the shelf, the center of their attention was too much. If she had had the decency to encourage her brother to notice other ladies, they could have forgiven her. Edgerton, after all, was not what they would have chosen for their daughters. But she did not. Within a small circle, discontent grew. But even they agreed
that Elizabeth's treatment of Edgerton had been completely correct.

Elizabeth did not realize the problems that were fomenting around her. Avoiding Lord Edgerton, enjoying a harmless flirtation with the officers, and watching Dunstan whenever she thought she was unobserved took all of her time. As more and more people arrived, her social schedule increased.

One afternoon at tea, however, Lord
Ramsburg
appeared, his face beaming. "It has come," he announced.

"What?" Lady
Ramsburg
asked, her face glowing with happiness as it usually did when he appeared. She reached up to smooth back the gray hair at his temples.

"The invitation to view the royal stables.
But we must go before the prince arrives next week. The prince's factotum suggests that we may wish to have a picnic on the grounds." He sat back and took a cup of tea.

"A picnic?
Nonsense, my dear.
Far too common.
Now, a breakfast.
Yes. Louisa, a moment of your time," Lady
Ramsburg
said, the look on her face causing some concern to her children.

"The stables?"
Elizabeth asked. "But Amelia and John are arriving in a day or two," she began. Then she looked at her brother's face. He was smiling broadly. "Oh, well, perhaps they could join us. Is there a limit to the size of the party, George?" she asked.

"None at all.
And with the weather so pleasant now, the grounds will be lovely."

"And what a wonderful opportunity to return the hospitality of some of our friends," Lady
Ramsburg
said. Although they had held dinner parties since their arrival, their house did not
pos-
sess
a ballroom, a definite lack as far as the lady was concerned.

"Nothing too large, my dear.
We would not want to frighten the horses," her husband said with a laugh.

When the morning for the expedition arrived, the weather was clear, the sky was a beautiful blue, and in spite of their casual attitudes, most people were excited about the expedition. While they toured the great domed structure with its stalls, still only partially filled, the servants were outside on the grounds preparing the meal.

"Take out the stalls and this would be a wonderful ballroom," Elizabeth said as she craned her neck to look up at the dome.

"Never.
Only think of having to decorate it," her friend Amelia said as she reached out a hand to stop her eldest son from dashing into a stall. "It is interesting, though.
So different."

"Come. We have seen the place. Let us leave it to the men," Elizabeth said, laughing. Her stepmother and cousin had already finished their cursory inspection and had returned outside. "This young man needs fresh air and running room. Don't you, John?" She picked him up and laughed as he tried to squirm free.

Outside, the blankets had been spread. "They will be inside for hours still," Amelia said as she sank to the waiting blanket. "Let John go to Nurse, and you and I can have a quiet talk. Your letters have been less informative than usual lately."

Elizabeth took her place beside her friend and was silent for a moment, watching Louisa and Lady
Ramsburg
stroll across the carefully groomed lawn. Then she sighed. "I wrote you about Jack." She paused for a moment.

"You don't feel anything for him, do you?" Amelia
asked,
horror in her voice.

"No, of course not.
But everything has changed since he arrived. At first Brighton was simply wonderful," she said, tossing her hands over her head and lying back, laughing. "I never had this much fun during our Season."

"You are not supposed to, my sweet. You are supposed to be seriously looking for a husband," Amelia reminded her. "That is difficult, as I'm sure you remember."

Elizabeth sat up suddenly. "
Amelia, that
is what is wrong with our way of life." Her face was serious.

"What do you mean?"

"As girls we are plunged into society before we know who we are. Or at least most of us are. You knew exactly what you wanted the moment you saw John. But I wasn't ready."

"That is a very broad statement, Elizabeth. For years the social system has proceeded along very definite lines. If there were errors, don't you believe they would have been found?"

"But there are. Look at how many young girls make disastrous marriages. How many of your friends are as happily married as you and John?"

This time Amelia lay back, her eyes closed. Elizabeth waited. Her friend opened her eyes, glanced to see where the nurse and her son were, and said quietly, "A few. Not many. But would the marriages be better if the girls had waited until they were older?
Most older
ladies never find husbands."

"But if everyone waited?"

"What would we do in the meantime? Living with my mother made me unhappy at times.
If I had had to stay home longer with nothing to do?"

"In the country most of us have occupations.

Didn't your mother insist that you oversee the washing or jam making?"

"Elizabeth, even the dirtiest households will not keep a young girl busy constantly. And jam making is a seasonable occupation. Besides, my
friend, all of these occupations are
merely ways of preparing young ladies to be the mistress of their own households."

Her friend opened her mouth to continue the argument. Then she too lay back down on the blanket. "If Miller were to see me now," she
said,
a laugh in her voice.

"My maid would be in hysterics. She spent hours choosing the right dress for the occasion. You would have thought I was meeting the king instead of viewing the prince's horses."

"I know what you mean. Miller produced this dress as the only suitable choice. I feel totally out of place."