“I don’t know.”
“Lord Withinghall has exposed Mr. Pinegar—or rather, Mr. Pinegar has exposed himself—as the would-be murderer and evil person that he is, and now Lord Withinghall will be safe. Pinegar would be a fool to try to harm him now.”
“That is true, I suppose.” But how was Lord Withinghall feeling after hearing all over again what his father had done and how much Pinegar hated him for it? Even if it were a knife to his heart, he could never show it. Society did not allow such things.
“Is something wrong, Leorah?”
“No, no.”
“Come. Let us dance. There are several suitable partners.”
Soon two young men approached and asked them both to dance. They accepted and followed them onto the dance floor when the music started.
While she was dancing, Lord Withinghall walked out of the card room and stood at the other end of the ballroom.
Her stomach sank. How she wanted this dance to be over. She could not be rude to her partner. Meanwhile, one person after another approached Lord Withinghall, wanting to talk to him.
By the time the dance was over, he was surrounded by three or four ladies. One lady at his side was Miss Norbury, who had been dancing with Mr. Geoffrey Hastings earlier, before the hullabaloo. He glanced around until his eye met Leorah’s.
He seemed to be excusing himself from the women and broke away, heading in her direction.
“Miss Langdon.”
“Lord Withinghall.”
“I must speak with you. Do you think I might call on you tomorrow morning?”
“Of course. I hope you were not too troubled by that horrible man earlier this evening. At least everyone shall hear of his abominable conduct.” She sounded so breathless. Could she blame it on the dancing?
“I am well, I thank you. It is a regrettable fact that he has attached so much hatred to me and to my name.”
“But you have acquitted yourself as a gentleman and with as much good grace as anyone ever could.”
“Thank you, Miss Langdon. Your good opinion is more welcome to me than you know.”
Lord Blakeney stood just to Leorah’s left, pretending not to listen.
“I believe it was in this very room,” Lord Withinghall said with a slight smile lifting the corners of his lips, “when we met many months ago. You and Miss Mayson did not know I was listening when you compared me in great detail to a pirate. Do you remember?”
“How could I forget? We had no notion that you might be listening to us. How ridiculous we must have seemed.”
“I was rather embarrassed, since Mr. Colthurst had also heard, but after I thought about it, I was more astounded than offended.”
“Astounded?”
“Yes. You asked me if insulting gentlemen’s daughters was the fashion amongst viscounts, or some new political strategy.”
“Oh dear. Did I really say that?”
“You did.”
“But as I recall, you called me a reckless, thoughtless girl who ruined more reputations than her own. As it turned out . . . that was not too far off the mark.”
“It was off the mark and very ungentlemanly of me. Most unbecoming and untrue. You are neither reckless nor thoughtless.”
“I do sometimes behave unconventionally, and I can be impulsive.”
“But those things are not, in and of themselves . . . unappealing.”
Her heart beat faster. “At one time you seemed to think them unappealing.”
“It has been many months since I found anything unappealing about you, Miss Langdon.”
Her heart jumped into her throat. “Did I change so much?”
“Your heart and spirit are as beautiful as ever. It was I who changed.”
“You did?”
“I have learned to appreciate people who don’t always follow society’s rules, people who don’t concern themselves with appearances. One person in particular.”
“Lord Withinghall!” a man called from several feet away.
He sighed. “Forgive me,” he said. “I must go and speak to this man. But . . . I shall see you in the morning?”
“Yes. I shall be home. A-at the Maysons’ home.”
“Of course. Good night.” He turned and walked away.
Of course he knew she meant the Maysons’ home. Oh, why was her heart beating fast, and why was she so short of breath? She was becoming giddy. She had never felt this way . . . except sometimes when she was going home to Glyncove Abbey after a long absence and was anticipating seeing Bucky again. Oh my. What was it she used to say?
I could never imagine loving any man as much as I love my Bucky.
Perhaps she could imagine it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Leorah, Felicity, and Felicity’s family arrived home late from the ball. Leorah slept longer than she intended to the next morning, so when she awoke and saw the sun shining behind the curtains, she dressed quickly and hurried downstairs.
No one else seemed to be up yet. What if Lord Withinghall came calling now? Felicity might even be staying in her room for the purpose of allowing Lord Withinghall to speak privately with Leorah.
“Oh dear.” Her heart was pounding. Was it from fear? Surely not. She had made a point of never being afraid of anything or anyone. But lately, every time she thought about Lord Withinghall or saw him coming toward her, her heart or her stomach or her breathing did something strange.
A sound rose from the ground floor of the house, like someone at the door. She gripped the stair railing and listened. A female voice mingled with a male one. Was that her mother? And her father?
Felicity opened her door and looked out.
“Come down,” Leorah called. “My parents are here.”
Leorah ran down to greet them. Her mother embraced her, and the servant went to fetch some tea.
“And bring some pastries and cheese,” her father said, his voice overloud.
“I am very surprised to see you so early in the Season,” Leorah said, seating herself beside her mother.
“We are only early by a week or two. But I wanted to tell you about Julia and Nicholas’s baby. A beautiful baby girl. They named her Jane, and she is perfectly healthy.”
“And Julia?”
“She is well. All is well, and I wanted to come and let you know.”
“Nicholas could have written to me.”
“I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
Leorah smiled and embraced her mother. “It is wonderful news. I can hardly wait to hold my new little niece.”
Her father was out in the hall, still speaking to the servant, when Mrs. Mayson’s voice came from the stairs.
“Come and have breakfast with us. I insist.”
So they all ended up in the breakfast room seated together and eating heartily—Mr. and Mrs. Mayson, Felicity, Elizabeth, two of Felicity’s brothers, Mother, Father, and Leorah.
Leorah ate quickly. Would Lord Withinghall call while they were still eating? If so, would he leave without seeing her?
As soon as Leorah was satisfied that they had all finished eating, she said, “Shall we adjourn to the sitting room?”
Mother sent her a look of mild reprimand.
“Before we go,” Father said, “I want to hear Mr. and Mrs. Mayson’s view about this business with Lord Withinghall.”