“Ah, yes, here it is, a duplicate of your name. My humblest apologies, Lady Barnard. I shall have a word with the butler when dinner is over. You must forgive us, we English often behave far too formally for my liking.” She shot a warning look at the ladies and lords surrounding them before crumpling the other name card in her fist and returning to her place.
My name was not on that card.
A wave of relief washed over Lily as chairs scraped across the floor with footmen helping everyone into their seats.
The dinner began with chatter as the first course of soup was served in silver tureens. Finally finding the courage to look up, Lily met Julian’s gaze.
He offered her a reassuring smile, his eyes kind and understanding.
Yet her heart skipped a beat when she glanced at Miss Everet at his side.
Why does she look triumphant?
Eleanor raised the glass of wine to her lips and smirked, averting her gaze before turning to the lady beside her.
Confusion filled the pit of her stomach as Lily began to wonder what it meant. Eleanor had always been kind to her; surely, she would not take joy in the fact that Lily had made a mistake? Her brow creased into a frown as she looked at the bowl of hotleek soup in front of her. The sweet and rich aroma did little to distract her as the chatter around the table continued.
The rest of dinner passed quite uneventfully, with Lily making conversation where she could, but mainly keeping to herself. She was praying for a miracle to take her home by the time the duke and duchess stood, announcing that the ladies and men would be splitting.
Good Heavens, not again.
Lily began to panic and quickly came up with a plan. She waited until Julian escorted her out and stopped at the doors to the drawing room. “Would you excuse me for just a moment, my lord? I must powder my nose.” She slipped her arm from his.
A frown creased his brow as Julian searched her face. “Are you certain that you are well, my lady?” he asked quietly.
Nodding, Lily forced a reassuring smile. “I am quite well, just a little tired.” She turned from him just as tears began to well in her eyes again and headed straight for the powder room.
Shutting the door behind her, Lily headed over to one of the tables of pitchers and leaned against the cold wood. “I cannot believe that happened,” she whispered tearfully before pushing herself up.
Everything had happened so quickly that she was still not certain where she had gone wrong. She had been doing everything she had been told, yet it still had not been right.
Frustration filled her chest as she looked around the small room for a distraction. Even the powder room was quite grand with gold trimmings on the ceiling, light pink walls, wash basins on tables, elegant room dividers for privacy, and fluffy white towels. Everything that a lady would need to freshen up.
Except, I do not belong here.
She suddenly began to feel trapped as the walls closed in around her. She belonged on a farm in America, not here in England, where the simplest faux pas could ruin a lady forever.
The door to the powder room opened, and Lily looked up to see Arabella shutting the door behind her.
“Lily, how are you doing?” Arabella asked, her voice thick with concern.
Tears began to fall down her cheeks as Lily wiped at them furiously. “I honestly do not know. I am so fed up with all of these blasted rules!” She finally let her anger escape. “I am embarrassing my husband, and what’s worse, the duchess felt the need to lie for me. She will never have us over again, and Julian’s reputation will be ruined.” She shook her head angrily.
Coming forward, Arabella placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a soothing voice.
“You are not ruined, dearest Lily. Most of us make at least one mistake after coming out. Yours is just happening later in life. All will be well, you will see. And I hardly doubt that the viscountis angry with you; on the contrary, he still seemed incapable of keeping his eyes off you. I do not know what kind of spell you have cast on that man, but it is quite effective.”
Lily’s breathing eased a little as she smiled at her friend. “You are one to speak. Mr. Southampton seemed positively fused to your side all evening.”
Color filled Arabella’s cheeks as she reached for one of the towels beside a nearby basin and offered it to Lily. “That is neither here nor there. I think we should discuss why it is that you were not beside the viscount when we all went in. I turned my back for a second, and you had just disappeared.” Her mouth twisted into a question as she sympathetically tilted her head to the side.
“I honestly do not know. I mentioned to Miss Everet that I needed the powder room, but that I would wait until after dinner. She told me that it was best to go before.” Lily shrugged.
Arabella remained quiet but drew her lower lip between her teeth as Lily continued.
“When I returned, the viscount had already gone in, and none of the gentlemen were left to escort me. I was panicking when another young woman told me to just go in alone. She said that the duchess would not mind, as she usually likes things as informal as possible.” The anger in the pit of her stomach began to make her feel ill again as Lily recalled all the glances and whispers.
A look of concern knit Arabella’s brows together. “Who was the lady who advised you?”