Dominic (13 page)

Allowing the press to precede hi
m
,
his lordship languidly
followed into the ballroom, standing just to the side of the door as the quintet struck up a quadrille. Once more he raised his quizzing gla
s
s to scrutinize those in atten
d
ance, realizing h
o
w few faces were fa
m
iliar to hi
m
, still only t
o
o aware of the com
m
ents his
m
ere presence evoked. He watched the
couples
going
down
the mov
e
m
ent of the dance and felt
n
o desire to join the
i
r nu
m
bers, indeed it took but a short while for him to decide that
he
had
seen
enough
of
country
society
and
prepared to
m
ake his retreat.

However, much
to
his
chagrin,
his
departure
was forestalled.
As
he
turned
t
o
ward
the
door,
Mrs. Lewis,
a
m
atron of uncertain years who was the self-i
m
p
osed
leader of the community, hurried toward hi
m
, the purple feathers in her head dress nodding as she approached.

“My lord, you
m
ust allow
m
e to welco
m
e you to our happy gathering,” she enthused. “We have heard so
m
uch about you. Indeed the pro
m
ise of your co
m
pany excited much interest a
m
ongst our nu
m
bers,” and she held her hand
out
toward
him not
even
noticing
that
he
took
it
in only
a
perfunctory
clasp,
letti
n
g it
g
o
al
m
ost
im
m
ediately
when
their fingers touched.

“I
thank
you,
m
ad
a
m
,
but
I
was just
on
the
point
of departure,”
he
replied
in
a
tone
that
anyone
who
knew
him would have recognized
as a set down, discouraging any further discourse from
this presu
m
ptuous
m
atron.

“You
cannot
possibly
depart
t
h
is
early
in
the
evening,”
she
reproved,
co
m
pletely
oblivious
of
his
m
anner.
“There
are so
m
any who would wish to
m
ake your acquaintance.
W
ill
you
not
at
least
take
so
m
e
refresh
m
ent
and
then allow
m
e to
m
ake introductions?
As you can see there are
m
any young ladies sa
d
ly
in need of a
partner.
W
ill you not join t
h
e set
s
?”

Casting
her
an
al
m
ost
pitying glance and drawing slightly
apart,
Vale
beca
m
e
at
his
most
haughty.
“Mada
m
, I
see
n
o
t
the
need
to dance.
T
h
ere
see
m
s
a
surfeit
of partners
for
the
young
ladies
and
I
w
ould
not
wish
to
add to their numbers.”

Undaunted, Mrs. Lewis co
n
tinued to press her point, totally
una
w
are
of
his
obvious
dislike
of
the
situation.
“If it
is
not
your
desire
to
dance, sir,
then
perhaps
a
ga
m
e
of Silver Loo or
W
hist?
W
e
have card tables set up in one of the anti-roo
m
s and several of the gentle
m
en have already found their way there.”

Recognizing that she would not be easily swayed from her
purpose
and
seeing
that
apart
from appearing unacceptably
crass,
t
h
is was
his
only
line
of
retreat,
he turned
away from
the
door.
“An
excellent
idea,
m
ada
m
, perhaps a ga
m
e of cards.”

“Then I shall send
m
y
husband to you and he will
m
ake the
i
n
trod
uc
tions
in
the
card
roo
m
.
There
is
no
need
for you to feel uncomfortable; we are a very friendly crowd I assure you.”

“There
is
n
o
necessity for
your
h
usband
to trouble hi
m
self on my account,” drawled Vale,
m
oving away. “I am
quite
able
to
m
ake
my
own
introductions.”
So
saying he
r
e
tre
a
ted
in
the gene
r
al
d
i
rection
of
where
he
assu
m
ed the
card
ro
o
m
s
to
be
situated, relieved
to
have
finally
rid hi
m
self
of
her
attentions.
Howev
e
r,
it
was
not
the
card
room in
wh
i
ch
he
found
hi
m
self
but
the
supper
hall,
which was
now
milling
with
couples
freshly
arrived
from the ballroom
as the supper interval began.

As he
m
ade
his way through the roo
m
, several daring young
blades
atte
m
pted
to
attract his
attention
and
engage him in
conversation,
even
proffering
seats
at
their
tables. But Vale passed through, showing a bored indifference to their
societ
y
,
finding
t
h
eir
att
e
ntions
decidedly
irritating. In
prefere
n
ce,
he
seated
hi
m
self
at
a
vacant
table
and
sent a
lackey
in
s
earch of
refres
h
m
ent,
whilst
showing
not
even a fleeting interest in his surroundings. He wished only to
m
ake his exit at the appropriate
m
o
m
ent and made
m
ental note to avoid like gathe
r
ings at all
c
ost in the
f
uture. Such entertain
m
ent suffered la
m
entably in co
m
pa
r
ison with London’s superior attractions
a
nd it pleased him not at all to be the
center
of atte
n
tion. Cursing hi
m
self for being foolish enough to have co
m
e, he wondered what possible diversion could he have hoped to find here?

After
what
appeared
to him an
eternity,
h
e
heard
t
h
e orchestra
s
t
ri
k
e
t
h
e
f
i
rst
ch
o
r
ds
that
heralded
the recom
m
enc
e
m
ent
of
the
dancing
and
decided
that,
once the set was well under way, he would
m
ake good his escape.

It was then
with great
annoyance
that
he
espied
Mrs. Lewis
once
more
bearing
down
upon
hi
m
.
Am
I
never
to be free
of this damn woman?
he
swore forcibly
to
hi
m
self. It was not however until she
s
to
o
d at his si
d
e that he noticed that she brought a young
girl
in
her
wake
and
his irritation deepened.