“I’m doing well, also.” He bowed slightly, but she saw the changed look on his face. He was surprised. She wondered why. She lowered her head and passed him, entering a room that was filled with laughing, dancing, talking people. There were ladies in fine gowns all around her and men dressed to the nines. She looked down again to make sure she was dressed correctly and watched closely how the ladies around her were behaving. She saw a lot of flirting, but she saw a lot of haughtiness, as well. When the men looked at her, they had mixed reactions. She could see mostly negative looks. It unnerved her.
She pulled in a deep breath and swept into the crowd, picking up a fresh glass of wine as she moved. She wondered who she should approach and searched the faces for one that looked friendly like the man at the door. Most of the people were already involved in conversations and averted their gazes whenever she caught their eye. Finally, she spotted a young man and woman by a nearby table. They were waving frantically at her. She avoided bumping into a couple that swirled right next to her and hurried to join the waving couple.
“Helen! Helen, dear, where have you been?” The woman stood up and grabbed her shoulders, air kissing her left cheek and then her right. “We’ve been waiting ages for you to return! What were you doing?”
“Maybe she found a nice suitor in the hallway and decided to stop and have a chat!” The young man nodded at her. “How are you feeling now, Helen?”
“Oh, Richard!” the woman said. “You can be such a tease! Our Helen isn’t going to simply stop and chat with a strange man. Are you, Helen.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t do that.” Eve tried to sound like the people around her. How would she ever fit in, knowing what she knew about the future? It was a good thing she had read so much about this time but even with her love for it, she was noticing a few negative things as well. The ballroom was extremely hot. She wondered how she would go to the bathroom with no running toilets anywhere. The large window doors that surrounded the ballroom were open, letting in a night breeze that was extremely refreshing.
“Have you lost your fan, Helen?” Richard asked. “You look a bit peaked.”
Eve nodded. “I have. I feel like I should go home. But…” She stopped. This was her home. She felt like an idiot and couldn’t escape the looks of confusion on her friend’s faces. She wished desperately that she knew the woman’s name and the names of all the people in the room. “I was wondering…” She lowered her voice and leaned toward the two of them. “Would you two like to play a little game?”
The confusion was taken over by surprise. Richard’s eyes widened, and he sat back. “A game? You want to play a game, Helen?”
Eve was beginning to think her ancestor had not had many friends and was not an outgoing person in the least. Perhaps that was why she never found love again after only one failed attempt.
“Yes.”
Richard looked at his companion with wide eyes. “Virginia, would you like to play a game?”
Virginia’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. Eve could tell her smile was real. “I would!”
“Wonderful!” Eve smiled at them both and sat back. “Let’s go around the room and you two tell me who you think I should dance with. I am having trouble with my own opinion. I would like to hear yours.”
“Who you want to dance with?”
“Oh Richard, you keep repeating what she’s saying! I think it sounds like a fun game! We should play!”
“But…” Richard shook his head. “I didn’t think you were interested in any of these men, Helen. You’ve talked to and danced with a number of them and had nothing but negative things to say of the experience.”
“Perhaps not,” Eve responded. “But that’s why I said I don’t trust my opinion and would like yours. Do you not have my best interests at heart?”
“Of course I do, cousin!” He responded, jolting her memory. One of the branches on her tree of the family held the name, Richard Webb. She assumed this was that cousin and smiled at him.
“Well, then, give me your opinion of these fine gentlemen we are surrounded by.”
Richard laughed. “Fine gentlemen! You are a laugh, dear cousin. All right, let’s play this game.”
He and Virginia sat forward, putting their elbows on the table and smiling wide. “Okay,” Eve turned and looked behind her. She pointed to a group of three men standing nearby. “Let’s start with them.”
Richard shook his finger in their direction, pointing each one out as he spoke. “You have no affection for Lord Sadler there, I know. What with his big bulging eyes and his groping hands.” She could tell which one he was talking about when one of the men turned to pick up a glass from the tray as the server passed him. His eyes were big, brown and bulging. She could tell why Helen had not been attracted. “Our fine gentleman,” He said the word sarcastically. “Lord Wentworth there, well, we all remember what happened when you danced with him.”
Eve couldn’t think of a good way to ask what had happened with Lord Wentworth, but she didn’t pursue it. If he said it like that, it couldn’t have been anything good.