“I think, unless you are entirely against it, you should invite him,” her aunt told her quietly. “You did agree earlier that you were going to write him a little message of some sort. You didn’t know what you would tell him then, but I think this would be a good way to break the ice between you.”
Georgiana bit her lower lip as she considered it. After a few moments, she glanced up at Walter, feeling the decision would affect him every bit as much as it would affect her.
“What do you think?” she asked him.
“I think … I think he is still your childhood friend. You can invite him and, if he decides he can’t stand the sight of the two of us together, he doesn’t have to accept. On the other hand, he might really want to come.”
“Then, I will invite him as soon as we have the date settled, which I still wish to be in one week,” she replied.
“Very well, one week will have to do then, but we shall have to start immediately planning it, in that case, or else there is no chance everything will be settled by then,” Adelaide said, releasing her husband’s arm to grasp Georgiana’s.
“This minute? But—”
“Come now, you are spending the rest of your life with him, after all. Just help me make a start, and then I will leave you two alone at dinner, so you can have the rest of the evening to yourselves,” her aunt insisted.
Georgiana pouted slightly, still too giddy from the knowledge she was finally engaged to Walter to be too upset. With an apologetic glance at him, she let her aunt lead her away.
Looking back on the last few months, as she walked with her aunt to a quiet place where they could discuss plans, she could hardly believe all that had happened and how much had changed.
If anyone had asked her what she thought would happen when she agreed to attend the season, she never would have guessed that, by the end of it, she would be engaged to Walter, who was in France and not even speaking to her at the time.
However, she was now glad she had agreed to come to London. She felt it to be one of the best decisions she had ever made, at least as good as saying yes when he had asked to marry her.
Chapter 30
Georgiana took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror one last time. At least, she took as deep of a breath as she could in the elegant-primrose colored evening dress she was wearing.
Satisfied she looked perfect, she exited her room and went down the staircase. At the bottom of the stairs stood Walter, who was obviously waiting for her.
She smiled when she saw him and flushed at the look of love on his face. “Are you ready?” he asked, as he took her arm in his own.
“Don’t I look ready?” she quickly retorted.
“You look wonderful,” he told her, making no move to lead her to the ballroom just yet, while he enjoyed the moment alone with her. “I think no one is going to even notice all the preparations your aunt has made. They are all going to be far too busy looking at you.”
She scrunched up her nose and giggled at the compliment. “Well, that is very kind of you to say, but I hope it is not true. After all, she has worked so hard to get everything ready within a week as I asked, she has been nearly frantic these last couple of days.”
“It was her choice,” he reminded her. “She is the one who wanted your engagement party to be extravagant. Didn’t you insist you would have preferred a small gathering?”
“I know, I did at first, but she did make some valid points.”
“Such as?” he asked, having not been a part of that conversation.
“Well, for starters, I am only going to get engaged once, so I am only ever going to have one engagement party. Then, there is also the fact that we don’t want anyone to assume we are doing it secretly for whatever reason, and we plan to be married in just a few months since we don’t want to wait. There were a couple of other, smaller reasons Aunt gave me, but those were the most persuasive.”
“You shouldn’t feel required to have a large engagement party for other people if that isn’t what you want…” he said, slightly concerned she wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted.
She smiled at him, touching his cheek with her hand to get his attention before she said, “Well, I might prefer something small now, but I think my aunt is right when she told me that I might regret it one day.”
“If you are sure,” he said, taking the hand at his cheek and kissing it. “For now, I believe some of the guests have already arrived and are waiting for us in the ballroom.”
“Then, what are we waiting for?” she retorted playfully.
As they walked to the ballroom together, their path took them by the front doors just as they were opened by the butler for another guest. They paused to greet them, freezing when they saw it was Ambrose and Felicia who were walking in.
Georgina recalled Walter had told her his cousin was coming with Ambrose and that she had actually been spending quite a bit of time with him lately, but she was not expecting to run into them so unexpectedly, without the safety of a crowded ballroom between them.
All four of them stood frozen, staring at each other for a minute before Felicia nudged Ambrose. He glanced at her, then took a step towards Georgiana, clearing his throat.
“I … um, thank you. For the invitation, I mean. I really … appreciate it,” he told Georgiana.
She felt Walter tighten his hold on her as though to verify she was alright, as she reminded Ambrose, “You have already thanked me in the note you sent back in reply to mine, but you are still welcome. I am glad you could come. Both of you.”
He winced slightly and hesitated before he replied. “You do know … we know each other too well to be overly polite, Georgiana. I believe what you meant to say was that you are glad I am here instead of sitting in my bachelor lair and sulking because I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you two together…”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, but, fortunately, Walter was there with her, and he said, “I think honesty would probably be best. I fully admit to not liking you, but I do hope you can still be friends.”
Ambrose seemed to appreciate the sentiment, but Felicia chose that moment to cut into the conversation. “I think he might grow on you if you can give him a chance, Walter.”
“I’m sure,” he retorted, looking at her pointedly which, for whatever reason, made her blush.
Georgiana looked up at Walter, curious as to what she was missing, but did not feel like asking directly just then. “Well, shall we enter the ballroom together?” she asked the other two.
“Gladly,” Ambrose replied, as the four of them walked in that direction. There was a slightly awkward silence before he remarked, “I must admit I am impressed at the size of your engagement party and how many people are here.”