Sophie highly doubted that. He seemed to like her show of intelligence yesterday over tea. Their talk had been refreshing. The only person she ever had such stimulating conversation with was Avis. And talking with Nicholas was much more enjoyable.
He bowed over her hand and then led her to the floor. They danced a quadrille, which gave them precious little time to speak with each other. Although, even when they had the chance, they didn’t seem to talk.
“You really must stop staring at him,” said a whispered voice near her ear.
Sophie turned her head to see Avis standing next to her. “When did you get here?”
“A while ago. There are so many people here I could barely make it across the floor to find you.”
She
smiled at her friend. “But that is a good thing. A year ago, not even half these people would have been here. Jennette and Blackburn are making good progress with both their house and their position in Society.”
“I agree,” Avis said. “But back to you. The staring must stop. If you don’t marry him, someone else will. And I know I speak for all your friends when I say we would much prefer you over any other woman.”
Sophie turned to her friend with a frown. She didn’t dare mention anything about her pregnancy concerns. Instead, she would pretend she could not marry him. “Marry him? I cannot marry him.”
“Why not?” Avis sipped her lemonade.
“I am not one of you,” Sophie whispered.
Avis tilted her head. “How many people in this room have you matched?”
Sophie looked around and shrugged. “Near twenty. Not that they care. Once they are matched, I am invisible to them.”
“Not to me.”
She squeezed Avis’s hand. “Thank you.”
Even with Avis’s kind words, Sophie realized that she wasn’t part of this crowd and never would be. Nicholas should find a woman who was already a member of Society. As duke, he would need a wife who understood how to move in the ton. Something she could never do. She feared she would be an embarrassment to him and hated that thought.
If only life were easier. If only they could wait until the baby was born to discover its sex. Then he could support her if she happened to be delivered of a girl. But she knew he would never take the chance that she might be carrying his heir.
She would tell him of her worries tonight.
Jennette approached them with a tight smile on her pale face. Something was wrong. And Sophie was determined to discover the cause so she could help her friend.
“I’m so glad you both made it,” Jennette said as she reached them. “I cannot believe how many people decided to come.”
“You look a bit overwhelmed,” Avis commented. “Are you all right?”
Jennette smiled. “I am well.”
Sophie clasped Jennette’s hand in greeting or so Jennette would believe. “Thank you for inviting me, Jennette.”
As she held her friend’s hand, she sensed why Jennette appeared so pale. She was pregnant. Early in her pregnancy but definitely with child. Sophie smiled. If she was with child as she strongly suspected, then her baby and Jennette’s would be very close in age.
“Avis, Lady Cantwell asked me to retrieve you. She needed to ask you a question but was too tired to move from her chair,” Jennette said.
“Of course.”
Once her friends had left her alone again, Sophie glanced around the room. She still wondered what had caused him to dance with Charlotte Randall. She walked closer to where Nicholas stood speaking with a man to whom she was not acquainted. Slowly he walked away until she lost him in the crush again.
A few minutes later, sensing his presence behind her, she said, “Miss Randall is not the woman for you.”
“Indeed?” he whispered and stepped closer. “And why not this time? Is she already betrothed? Already in love with another man?”
“No. She is painfully shy. She would be a detriment to your position.”