The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor (17 page)

It was a
lmost time for dinner when Madeleine returned to the c
astle
.  Eleanor
experienced a pa
ng of
jealousy as she sat at her bedroom window, watching
the
Hungarian
alight
from the carriage.
Being a widow,
Madeleine was allowed much more freedom than herself
,
and she certainly appeared to be making the most of it.  Eleanor, on the other hand
,
had
endured several more hours
embroidering ghastly daisies on
to a ghastly bag with the ghastly
d
owager
. 
How much longer, she wondered, would she have to stay here and
endure
this mindless
boredom?
  If the only alternative was marriage, then she feared she
could well
be
endu
r
ing mindless boredom for the remainder of her life. 

Eleanor was
dreading Felicity Carmichael’s
come
out
b
all.  In
deed the only positive
she
could
glean from the event was that, as
preparations had taken the best par
t of the day,
she
had missed
both her dancing lesson and pianoforte practi
ce -
both with the
d
owager
’s reluctant approval. 

Eventuall
y, having placed
the last diamond comb in
h
er mistress’s hair, Milly stood back and gazed at Eleanor.  Rather
than her usual effusing
,
though, the
girl
appeared uncharacteristically lost for words.

Panic began tickling
Eleanor
.  What was
so wro
ng that Milly couldn’t tell her?
  Then
it dawned on her.  S
he must look ridiculous.  Yes, that was it.  She lo
oked utterly ridiculous and poor Milly
ha
d not the courage to tell her
.
  She knew the gown
was too low
cut.
  She had told her godmother
so the day they
were at the mantua-maker i
n
London.  An
d she should never have given in to
Milly’s insistence that she wear a l
ittle rouge
.  She
must look completely absurd.

‘
Don’t worry, Milly,
’
she
smiled
. 
‘
I know I look ridiculous.  I will inform my
g
odmother immediately that I am not to attend the ball.  I will
tell her that I am
feeling
quite out of sorts
.
’

Milly gasped
loudly
.
 
‘
Are you meani
ng to say, miss, that
I’ve spent all day getting you ready and now you’re not wanting to go?
’

‘
No, but I-
’

‘
And what’s this about looking ridiculous?  I
’ve never seen you looking more beautiful, miss,
’
she
sai
d, her
blue eyes
brimming with tears. 
‘
Now
come over and look in the
mirror.
’

Eleanor
did as she was bid, her eyes widenin
g.  Rather than
her usual girlish features, t
he image that
star
ed
back at her was
that
of a beautiful, sophisticated young
woman
.

Her gown, chosen by the
d
owager
,
and in which Eleanor had shown absolutely no interest until now,
was a stunning creation in silver satin with a spider gauze overlay
.  The s
kirt
artfully skimmed her slim hips
, while the
low cut bodice
showed off her
bosom
perfectly
.  As usual, Milly had done a superb job
with her hair
, arranging
it
in a mass of loose curls,
then clipping it to one side so that it
tumbled
softly
over her left shoulder.  The trace of rouge
she had used merely
added a subtle glow to her flawless complexion. 

‘
And don’t be forgetting your shoes, miss,
’
instructe
d Milly, holding out
a pair of kid slippers
in exactly the same shade of silver as her dress
. 
‘
Now all we
need
is your bag.
’

Eleanor cringed. 
‘
Oh no,
Milly.
I have to take that dreadful thing
I have been embroidering
myself
and I still haven’t finished it.
’

Milly rolled her eyes. 
‘
Well you’d better hurry
up,
miss.  You’re due to leave
here
in an hour.
’

Flying barefoot
along the corridors and stairs
to the drawing-
room, Eleanor prayed
that
she
would
not encounter her godmother
.  The woman h
ad been nagging her for weeks
to
complete
the blasted reticule
i
n time for the ball and, desp
ite the dowager’s
scepticism
,
Eleanor had assured her that it would be
ready
.  She now had no wish to see the self-satisfied look on the
d
owager
’s face,
or to incur the woman’s wrath.  Seeking out the sewing basket, she retrieved the reticule, a need
le and thread and the box of white pearls and
hastily
began
to
sew
.   

The eight chimes of the grandf
ather clock echoed
around the enormous entrance hall as El
eanor tentatively made her
way
down
the castle
’s
imposing s
tone staircase. 
H
er god
mother’s booming voice
,
competing
admirably with the chi
mes of the clock
, added to her
apprehension.  As she
descended the stairs, she spotted the
d
owager
talking animatedly to Lady Madeleine.  She was wearing a hooped, old-fashioned gown in mauve, which made her
appear twice as large
.  James
, dressed all in black,
stood
a little way
from the two women, looking deep in thought and, Eleanor reluct
antly
admitted
, quite dashing. 
But i
t was Lady Madeleine’s gown
that
caused Eleanor
’s eyes to widen
. 
E
verything about the exotic creation, from the daring front and back
cut, to the almost
sheer, clinging gold fabric, was verging on the outrageous. 
Yet, with her pile of white
-
blonde hair adorned with two
curled feathers,
th
e
re could be no disputing that
the Hungarian
looked
stunning.  Indeed, her ethereal beauty put Eleanor in mind of a
Grecian goddess.

‘
Ah, Eleanor.  At last,
’
puffe
d the
d
owager
,
as Eleanor walked across the hall towards them. 
‘
Now where is Mr Lovell?
’

All eyes turned to James
.  He
appeared
not to have heard the question.  Instead, he
was staring
a
t Eleanor with
the same strange expression
on his face
she had seen
several times
before
.  Eleanor came to a halt directly in front of him and gulped. 
Why was he staring at her like that?  He was making her very uncomfortable. 
At a loss as to what to do,
she stared
at her feet.  Still she could feel his eyes burning into her.
Why didn’t he say something?  Why didn’t he make one of his usual pathetic jibes?  Did he think she looked ridiculous?  If he did, she had little doubt he would voice his
thou
ghts
,
after all, he had made no secret of his low opinion of her so far.  Anyway, she remonstrated silently, why did she care what he thought?  His worthless opinions did not matte
r
one jot.  She lifted her head defiant
ly and met his eyes
.  The intensity of his dark gaze sent a shiver flashing down her
spine
and caused her stomach to perform
a rather strange somersault
. 

‘
James!
’
roared the
d
owager
, breaking the moment and causing them all to start. 
‘
Where
is Mr Lovell?
’

James s
hook himself out of his
musings. 
‘
I
, um,
belie
ve he is to meet us there, Aunt
.
’
 

Lady Orm
iston began striding towards the
door. 
‘
Very well then,
’
she boomed. 
‘
Now come along, Eleanor
,
or we shall be late and you know I cannot abide tardiness.  It is a most unbecoming characteristic.
’

They took their seats in the plush bot
tle-green carriage,
Eleanor and her godmother on one side
, James and
Madeleine on the other.   

‘
Well, I must say, Eleanor,
’
announced the
d
owager
, as the door of the carriage was closed
.
‘
You are in
quite
acceptable looks this evening.  Indeed
,
I would go as far as to say that you look quite the thing.  A
nd, if I may s
ay so,
I made an excellent choice with that gown.  Doesn’t make you look like a knitting needle at all.
Would you not
agree
, Lady Madeleine?
’

‘
Oh, indeed I
would,
’
purred Madeleine
. 
‘
Although
I must confess that I
thought
silver was quite out of vogue this season.
’

‘Hmph’ snorted the dowager dismissively. 
‘
Things are jumping in and out of vogue so quickly these days, on
e can hardly keep up with it all
.  Still, the girl looks a damned si
ght
more presentable
than she did a few weeks ago.  If we’re lucky
someone
might
show a bit of interest in her tonight and we might be a step nea
rer to getting her wed
.
’

Madeleine regarded Eleanor through narrowed eyes. 
‘
Hmm
. 
P
erhaps i
f you are
very
lucky, ma’am.
’

Blood rushed to
Eleanor
’s c
heeks.  Did her godmother really have to
talk about
her so in front of James and Madeleine?  She
was completely
mortified – a feeling that had not been helped by
Madeleine’s
scrutinizing look
s
and
unconvinced response.  The only thing for which she was grateful was that James appeared not to be list
ening to the conversation
- completely lost in t
hought as he gazed out of the carriage window
.  U
nfortunately for Eleanor
, the other two
occupant
s showed no such signs of becoming distracted.