“That was Aunt Adelaide’s idea,” she replied with a relieved smile, glad to have an easy topic to talk about. “I was content with the idea of something small, but she convinced me otherwise.”
“Would you have been so easily convinced if you had been the one making all the arrangements? I have little doubt your aunt has done most of the work.”
“Your assumption is entirely correct, and you are right. I probably wouldn’t have agreed if she hadn’t taken over for me,” she admitted.
By then, they were stepping into the ballroom, where everyone wanted to talk to her and Walter. They received many words of congratulations, questions about wedding plans, and hints about forthcoming heirs.
Eventually, however, the couple snatched a moment to talk to each other when dinner was announced and everyone was seated. Georgiana thought it the perfect opportunity to ask a certain question.
“Oh, before I forget again, there is something I want to ask you. What exactly was that look you gave Felicia when we were talking? The look that made her blush?”
He grinned as she asked him, clearly knowing exactly what she was referring to. “Well … I haven’t mentioned it, because we haven’t found the right … the right time to talk about Rowley, but I can now share my suspicions with you and tell you … I think she likes him. And watching them together this evening, I think he is growing to like her, too.”
“No, really?” she asked incredulously, her head swiveling to find the pair where they were seated, as she took a bite of food. “How did that happen?”
“Hmm, well, I know she felt sorry for him that day at the park. Later that day, she mentioned to me more than once he was so sincere and fully aware of how wrong he had been. She has been spending a lot of time with him since then, at first to console him and, lately, because she genuinely likes his company. Though, from the way she speaks of him, I think her feelings go beyond that.”
Georgiana’s eyes had found the pair in question and watched them closely as she listened. She did not know Felicia well, but she did know Ambrose, and the slight flush that came to his cheeks at something she said to him made her grin. “I think you might be right. But didn’t she have someone in France she was interested in?” she asked.
“Hmm, a little. Some fellow had caught her attention, but she never acted in such a manner around him. I just hope Ambrose has learned something.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, Felicia came here to help me, and now she has, there is technically no reason for her to stay. If he gets the courage to ask to court her, then she would assuredly stay. Would you mind them being together? It would make you and Ambrose related...”
“Oh, yes! I have always wanted to be related to him,” she replied, excited at the idea. “And I feel sure he won’t wait to ask her after he waited too long with me.”
Walter was amused at her enthusiasm. “And you wouldn’t feel it awkward?”
She had to pause to consider the question, taking a few bites of food while she thought. Eventually, she admitted, “I think my relationship with Ambrose is still fragile, but we have exchanged notes, and now we are talking to each other, so I feel we are on the mend. Perhaps, one day, we will be almost as close as we used to be.”
There was a thoughtful silence between them for a moment as they ate, before she asked, “And you won’t feel awkward either?”
“I might be a little mistrustful of him, but I don’t mind you being friends again.”
The dinner came to an end as people finished their desserts. Soon, many people were talking to her and Walter again, as everyone began to make their way to the ballroom.
When the music started to play, some of the couples moved to the center of the ballroom, while everyone else shifted towards the sides of the room.
“Shall we dance?” he asked.
“No, I think I want to watch this first dance,” she replied, her gaze surreptitiously drifting towards Ambrose, who was currently leading Felicia to the dance floor.
When she was looking at the two of them, she gave them both a faint smile before quickly turning to gaze about the room, pretending she hadn’t been watching them and had been merely glancing around.
Walter’s look of amusement at the whole interaction earned him a glare from her. That only made him chuckle at her. “You know … if you wanted to watch them, I could have led you directly next to them for the dance,” he teased.
“Oh, be quiet,” she told him. “Maybe I want to look at all the people dancing, and they were simply the ones I looked at first.”
“Mmm … certainly. Then who are you looking at next?”
She quickly glanced around at the other dancers before her eyes alighted on another couple, and she smiled. “I am looking at Miss Rutherford dancing with the Earl of Ferndale.”
That caught his attention, and he looked in the direction she was indicating to see the pair seemingly quite enjoying each other’s company. “Hm … I think they might actually be a good match,” he told her thoughtfully.
“And this isn’t the first time we have seen them in company lately,” she added. “Though, I thought you said he was very fixed up on business.”
“Yes, which does make me wonder how she managed to even get his attention. But she seems as if she is just the sort of woman to happily listen to hours of talk about business-related topics. And he might be able to help balance out the spendthrift habits of her brothers.”
She laughed a little at the mental picture. “I can almost see him talking to her brothers until they invest their money in business with him instead of on the horse races!”
Walter found the idea just as amusing. “Still, it would be good for them, and for the whole family.”
“I agree,” she said decidedly, as her aunt and uncle approached them.
“Well, dear, how are you enjoying your engagement party so far?” Adelaide asked her.
“And why are you standing here instead of dancing?” Jonas added.
“It is perfect. It is so lovely, I simply had to take it all in, which is better done from here than the dance floor,” she replied, only a slight exaggeration in her voice. “But … I may dance the next set if Walter asks me to.”
“Will it count if I ask you now?”
“No, you have to wait until this one is over.”
He pretended to scowl, but anything he might have been about to say was cut off when Adelaide remarked, “Well, I am glad you two are enjoying yourselves. And I see that Ambrose was able to attend, as well…”