* * *
She knew what he was doing. Felicia had had a very good cry, the Lady Daphne had come in and put a stop to it, and then they had a very wonderful talk where she had gained a great deal of insight.
She had after Lady Daffy’s ‘talk’ decided not to give up on the duke.
How could she give up on him, when he was the ‘love of her life’?
He was honor-bound to keep her at a distance. He was honor-bound to see to it she had a choice of suitors and the ability to freely choose. He was, in an awful nutshell, honor-bound. Well, he had one month to cater to his honor, and then, she would make certain, he catered to hers!
This had made her laugh to herself, and now, looking up during their waltz, into eyes that told her she was not wrong, she felt her world come together.
Softly he said, “You should be dancing with one of those beaus dangling after you.”
She decided to torture him in the interim and pouted up at his face. “La, but I don’t want to dance with anyone else. Why must I?”
“You know why.”
“I do, but I don’t like it. I would much rather dance all night with you,” she said truthfully.
“Don’t you like your, er … Willy or any of the others here tonight?”
“Oh, yes, Willy especially because he is quite a nic
e young man, and very accommodating as well, but you can’t think he would be a good fit for me? Why, I should run him ragged. I don’t need a boy, Your Grace, I need a man.”
“Don’t call me ‘Your Grace’. We are in a sense, family, and it would be proper for you to call me Glen.”
“I shall call you Ashton, then, for it is how I came to think of you when neither one of us thought we were … er … like family.” She twinkled as the tease took over her face.
He laughed. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I could answer that, but I would rather you see it for yourself,” Felicia said meaningfully.
“What, my dear, is it that you want me to see?”
“Ah, now giving you the answer would spoil all the fun,” she said and turned to smile to a young man who had arrived to nod respectfully at the duke and bow to take her hand for the next cotillion.
She gave her guardian a demure smile as she allowed the young man to lead her off.
* * *
Hours and hours later, somewhere in the wee time of night, Felicia tossed in her large bed. Thoughts of her duke were keeping her fitfully awake.
Lady Daphne had been ecstatic, telling her she had been quite a hit and was the ‘new darling’ of the beau monde. She had smiled and thought that while that was very pleasant, it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was how she felt about the duke—how he felt about her.
The duke had declared the rout a modest affair, but she had thought it quite splendid in every imaginable way. She had danced with many, so many very pleasant young and older men. Scott had even stood up with her for a waltz, saying his shoulder was not so very stiff after all and that he wanted to practice for when Becky arrived. She had laughed at him, and he had turned red but took her teasing with good grace.
When Beau Brummell arrived and was presented to her, she thought the night perfect. She had heard so much about the arbitrator of men’s fashions and was thoroughly enchanted with the Beau. She had been both shocked and delighted at his outrageous comments and conversation and it was remarked upon by both the duke and Lady Daphne afterwards that the Beau had been quite taken with her. In fact, the duke whispered that the Beau had told him, “Your ward is not only a bright star but a refreshing change from the insipid misses I have lately encountered.”
She had laughed and said, “Indeed, I may be many things, but insipid?” She shook her head and laughed again.
“Well, my dear, now all of the ton know, as I do, that you are a ‘diamond of the first water’.”
“I don’t give a fig for anyone’s opinion but yours … and Lady Daphne’s,” she said demurely, peeping up at him.
“Don’t you, my dear?” He laughed. “What of Scott?”
“Oh, well, he and I are friends and are forever giving one another our opinions on this or that, but it isn’t the same, is it?”