Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
The dance came to an end, and Tricia gave a short curtsy.
“Thank you for the dance, my lady,” Victor said with a smile. “May I offer you a refreshment?”
It would be rude to refuse, though Tricia desperately wanted to go talk to Lady Ashford and Thomas. It wouldn’t be out of place, after all. They were practically family.
“Of course,” she said. “That would be lovely.”
Lord Victor offered his arm and she slid her gloved hand onto his elbow as they walked toward one of the refreshment tables.
“Wine?” he asked.
“I shall stick with lemonade for now,” Tricia said. “Wine does make me fretfully tired.”
“We don’t want that,” Lord Victor said with a wink. “I’d like you fully alert so we can share another dance.”
Such a brazen flirtation might have normally unsettled Tricia, but she felt absolutely nothing at Lord Victor’s suggestion. Her gaze—and her heart—remained steadfastly focused on Thomas, who had still not taken a single young lady to the dance floor.
“I should enjoy that,” Tricia said.
Indeed, Lord Victor was handsome and a wonderful dancer. She knew next to nothing about him, other than he was a friend of the duke’s and a neighbor of Thomas’s, as his father’s estate was adjacent to the Ashford’s. She would ask Cameron, but when she looked for him, she saw that he and Rose were dancing. They looked so beautiful together. Rose’s pale blondness contrasted Cameron’s hair as dark as coal, just like Tricia’s.
Now what?
She couldn’t monopolize Lord Victor. Nor did she want to. Though Thomas seeing her dance with others wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
She glanced again toward Thomas when another young gentleman approached them. “Lord Victor,” he said, “I would consider it a favor if you could introduce me to this lovely young lady.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Of course. Lady Patricia Price-Adams, I’d like to present Mr. Jonathan Jameson, cousin to the earl.”
“Oh!” Tricia nearly dropped her lemonade. “How have we never met then? You know my brother is married to the earl’s sister Rose.”
This time Mr. Jameson nearly dropped his jaw. “You are that Patricia? I’m truly charmed.” He took Tricia’s hand and brushed his lips over her white glove.
She drew her hand away, and beside her, Lord Victor looked anything but pleased.
“Might you honor me with the next dance, my lady?” Mr. Jameson asked.
She eyed the earl’s cousin. He was devastatingly handsome. Indeed he resembled Thomas a bit—the same dark good looks—though he was a few inches shorter.
“Yes, of course, sir,” Tricia said.
She took Mr. Jameson’s hand and let him lead her back to the dance floor where the next dance, a waltz, was beginning.
Tricia knew how to waltz well. She and Kat had spent many fun afternoons practicing the steps around their small home on the Lybrook estate near Bath while Cameron strummed his guitar or plucked out a tune on their old pianoforte.
Tricia loved living the luxurious life, but there were times when she looked back on those simpler days with fondness. They were always together, and even though they didn’t have a lot, they were happy. She and Kat were, at least. Cameron was always a bit broody, especially after he met and fell in love with Rose and knew he couldn’t have her.
Mr. Jameson was an even better dancer than Lord Victor, and more handsome as well. Perhaps he could be a substitute for Thomas, if the earl didn’t look her way again.
But as handsome and fluid on the floor as he was, Jonathan was not Thomas.
Jonathan hadn’t kissed her by his father’s gravesite.
Jonathan didn’t make her pulse race, or make that forbidden place between her legs quiver.
When the music ended, Tricia curtsied politely and smiled.
“Thank you, Lady Patricia,” Jonathan said. “It was an honor. I’m so glad we met.”
“As am I,” Tricia said. “But if you would excuse me, I need to rest for a moment.”
“Of course.” He bowed politely and then strode toward his cousin and aunt.
Tricia drew in a breath and walked out of the ballroom and toward the ladies’ retiring room.
Sarah was there, and she pounced on Tricia. “Two such handsome men! I’m fraught with envy, Tricia.”
Tricia sat down on a velvet stool and stared at her reflection in the looking glass. “Not the man I want, though.”
Sarah sighed. “The earl is scrumptious, to be sure, but either of the two you were dancing with would be suitable substitutes.”
Sarah’s words triggered a rush of warmth to Tricia’s face. She quickly looked around the room.
“Lower your voice!” Tricia warned. Indeed, they were alone, thank goodness. Sarah was the only person in whom Tricia had confided about her unrequited love for Thomas. “You’re welcome to either of them if you’d like. They’re perfectly fine gentlemen, but I’m not feeling so much as a spark.”
“Who needs a spark?” Sarah laughed. “We can get all the sparks we need by reading The Ruby. Surely you’ve…you know.”