e you.”
This made Katherine relax and, with a laugh, the very first person she was presented to was, to her surprise, Mr Marwick.
“Miss Fenton. I am enchanted,” he murmured, kissing the back of her hand. And indeed he really looked to be. His dark eyes sparkled, and his glossy moustache tickled in the most interesting way as it touched her flesh, sparking the sudden idea that it would be interesting to know what it felt like caressing her lips.
Almost immediately she saw Jack, who was of course the only man she had kissed, and since Jack’s presence had the effect of making her feel comfortable and at ease in this alien company, she didn’t object when her mama truncated Katherine’s conversation with Mr Marwick and steered her in the direction of her old friend, saying, “Jack, you look very dashing this evening. Won’t you lead Katherine into the next dance? This is all very new to her, and with you, I know she’ll be in safe hands.”
Katherine couldn’t resist a quick glance over her shoulder at Mr Marwick before she surrendered herself to Jack. When she saw that the tall, slender gentleman with such dangerously alluring saturnine looks was staring intently at her, heat burned her cheeks and her heart rate accelerated wildly. As their glances interlocked, he kissed the tips of his fingers and offered her a very elaborate bow.
“I see you have a new admirer,” Jack remarked as she turned back to him. His eyes were warm. “Not that I’m surprised. You’re far and away the most beautiful girl in the room.”
Delight fizzed through Katherine but before she could reply, Jack seized her hand and pulled her away.
“Heavens, Jack, that’s no way to manhandle a lady!” she said crossly.
“Sorry! Your Cousin George was making a beeline for you, and I thought you’d feel safer on the dance floor with me and out of his orbit.”
“Well, if it’s a choice of having you step all over my toes or to have to suffer George’s arms around me, I don’t know what I’d choose,” Katherine grumbled. But it wasn’t long before she was tipping up her face to say admiringly, “You’re actually quite a marvellous dancer, Jack. You haven’t stepped on my toes, once.”
“Oh, that was all an act for George. Surely you knew that?”
“But you were so convincing.”
“Of course. A foundling home lad only survives through pretending to be whatever is required at the time.” His grip tightened about her waist, and he drew her closer as they negotiated a manoeuvre between a couple who’d left them little space. Katherine reflected that while it was wonderful to be admired by Mr Marwick, everything about the London social whirl was still rather daunting, and having Jack close was more of a comfort than she would have believed.
“And what is required of you tonight that you must pretend?” she asked playfully.
He appeared to consider this. “I must be a fine upstanding gentleman, older than my years if I’m to compete with all the other rich, titled, and experienced fellows currently admiring you throughout the room. And I must definitely not step on your toes in order to maintain your current high opinion of me which I know will be in shreds the moment I say something to make you cross. I might look at my ease but inside I’m quaking, walking on eggshells.”
“Goodness, was I such an imperious child?” She laughed as she was assailed by fond memories of those distant days. “Yet I don’t recall that you were ever angry with me.”
“Again, that’s due to the skill required of a foundling home child. I learned how to manage you, Katherine. And really, I quite enjoyed doing your fetching and carrying which, might I add, I only did because I wanted to.”
“Wouldn’t you do whatever I asked…even if you didn’t want to?” she asked slyly. “You only do things that you want to do? Is this your way of telling me you’re a man of unyielding principle?”
“I like to think so though perhaps it’s not yet been put to the test.” He grew serious. “It’s one of the things I intend to work on when I’m away. I don’t want to be known as the foundling lad who was only able to make his mark through the support of his generous adoptive parents. I want to come home having made my fortune through my own efforts, and known as a man of honour and principle.”
“Fine words, indeed, but I can’t bear the thought you’re leaving in only five days. I will miss you, Jack.”
“Will you, really?”
Katherine glanced up, surprised at his tone and the intensity of her own feelings. She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “It was lovely having you there at Quamby House, and it would be so nice to have you here throughout the season as…well…a comforting presence as I”
“Navigate the multitude of gallant offers from so many gallant men,” Jack supplied for her. “No, thank you. I don’t think I could bear the jealousy. But, here is the first of those gallant admirers ready to seize his moment now that our waltz is over.”
He dropped his hands from Katherine’s waist. “Good evening, George. What a relief it will be for Katherine to swap her dance partner for one who really can dance.”
Katherine flashed a colluding smile at Jack. “Really, I don’t know how I’ll be able to walk tomorrow after what you’ve done to my feet, Jack!”
George nodded. “We can’t all be good at everything.” He gripped Katherine’s hand and pulled her into the centre of the dance floor. “Let’s show Jack how it’s done, eh?”
Jack shook his head. “I’ll just bow out gracefully and see what other enticements are on offer. As it happens, I’ve spied a very pretty girl by the supper table who looks like she needs some company.”
Katherine followed Jack with her gaze from over George’s shoulder as he waltzed her about the room. She was surprised by the chagrin that welled up inside her as she saw the responsive smile the aforementioned very pretty young lady directed at Jack. Mr Marwick, who was waltzing with a plain ginger haired girl passed, by. His glittering black eyes bored into hers and his moustache twitched as he whispered, “Promise you’ll reserve the next dance for me, Miss Fenton.”
The thrill of being singled out by such a dashing gentleman, both rich and in line for a title, restored her spirits. Tonight, she decided, she would make advances in properly assessing whom she’d consider a suitor. Aunt Antoinette’s words had bolstered her confidence. She’d said Katherine could have her pick of the gentlemen, but Katherine needed to assess who was worthy. It was important to discover what it felt like to kiss a gentleman with a moustache before she furthered that acquaintance. What did it matter that she’d only met Mr Marwick last night? After all, she had only a few weeks in London to make the most important decision of her life.
She had to start somewhere.