Loving a Fearless Duchess: A Historical Regency Romance Book(5)

She stretched her hand and put it on top of Penelope’s. “You’ll do fine. It will be fun. We’ll see Kitty, Isabel, and Dinah when we get there. You’ll never be alone.

Helen came back and put Penelope in the vanity chair. She started dressing Penelope’s hair the same way Penelope always wore it – the way it helped minimise how much of the scar people saw. It hung slightly over her left side. Helen powdered the scar lightly.

Then Helen slipped on Penelope’s chemise and her dress overhead. Helen turned Penelope around so she could button every tiny button on the back of the dress and then tie the dress’s bow.

“Sit, My Lady,” she said so she could put on Penelope’s stockings and tie each of them just below the knee with a more serviceable ribbon. And finally, she slid on Penelope’s slippers and buckled them across the top of each foot.

“Stand up, My Lady,” she said. She turned Penelope around in a circle to make sure everything was ready for the ball.

****

Avery walked into the ball with Penelope on his arm and a wide smile on his face. He waited for them to be announced then stepped down the three steps to the ballroom floor with Cecilia, Edward, and Henry behind him.

The floor cleared for him. Avery nodded to the band, and they began to play a waltz.

“You look lovely, my dear,” Avery said. “All eyes are on you. Gentlemen who would not have noticed you on the sidelines are noticing you now.”

“All because of you, Uncle Avery. Thank you for doing this for me. Because of you, I feel like a princess.”

“As well you should, my dear, as well you should.”

When the music stopped, Penelope curtsied, and Avery bowed in the middle of the empty floor. Then, he took her hand, curled it around his arm, and walked her to Cecilia. The music started again, and guests went onto the dance floor in droves.

“Cecilia, she is lovely tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed our dance. Now, I must greet my peers before they think I’m snubbing them.” He turned to Penelope, “Thank you for the dance.”

Avery turned away, not to be seen by them for the rest of the evening. No matter, he did what he said he would. It went off without a hitch.

Only after the dance with her uncle did Penelope notice the ballroom. Pink print fabric was draped from the four chandeliers to the corners of the room. Pink and white rose arrangements were everywhere. Swags of pink fabric outlined each of the three French doors leading to the balcony, and large potted plants stood between each door.

Candles burned in the four chandeliers and rose scented candles from France burned in the sconces placed along the walls.

Penelope thought it looked magical. The couples were dancing in step as if dancing on air. The orchestra was able to play so many familiar tunes, and the dance floor was always full. Penelope thought she walked into another world.

Avery’s attention to Penelope had a twofold effect. Avery was commended for his attention to his niece, and men noticed her. A cynic would say that the men noticed her because of her uncle’s standing in nobility and her likelihood to have a large dowry.

Penelope thought Henry was like a bee flying around her head. She could try to swat it away, but it might get angry. She couldn’t understand why he attended the ball, his standing all but guaranteed by his father. His decision to marry after the age of thirty meant he didn’t need to be there. She feared he would attend more balls.

Henry looked the picture of a son of a Duke. He wore all that was super fine. His height along with the perfect tailoring of his expensive clothes made him look like the most eligible of gentlemen. He had a perfectly straight, long nose, and beautiful white teeth he showed often. She thought his stance ridiculous, with his hand inside his jacket like Napoleon. Penelope thought his smile ridiculous also, but she was used to its fake, calculated curve. The girls enjoying their first season saw it as beautiful. They treated him as the catch he seemed to be, but they didn’t have the faintest idea what he was like.

Every time he talked to a girl, Penelope wanted to rush up to her and tell her to run. But of course, she couldn’t do that. She let Henry talk, and soon enough the girl was ready to run of her own volition.

When there was a particularly dense girl or a girl who didn’t care about his personality, only his title, Dinah took great pleasure in telling the girl about Henry’s body rash. Suffice to say, Henry didn’t have much luck with the girls. Penelope warned Dinah more than once to make sure Henry didn’t hear about his ‘body rash.’

Edward stood next to Penelope and Kitty, Isobel, and Dinah. His main job at the ball was to introduce acquaintances of his who had approached his group to the ladies. No gentleman was allowed to approach a lady without proper introduction, and Edward served that purpose. He was, after all, a member of White’s, and most of the gentlemen in any ballroom had a membership there as well.

It was evident when a gentleman approached the group who they were interested in. The gentleman would come to Edward then Edward would introduce his friend to the group. Edward, as the gatekeeper, let everyone through. She, Dinah, Kitty, and Isabel, as a group, attracted gentlemen. They would all chat together until the gentleman asked one of the ladies to dance.

This was the part of the ball where Penelope was usually passed over. She would silently look at her mother and Edward. They would have tight smiles on their faces, pretending that Penelope had not been snubbed.