‘This is not over,’ Aunt Rockingham said.
‘I should think not,’ Mantheria said, linking her arm with Louisa’s. ‘You will be hearing from my lawyers tomorrow about the misappropriation of your ward’s funds. I suggest that you contact your own solicitors.’
For the first time in Louisa’s life she thought she saw fear on her aunt’s face. The woman’s left eye twitched and her mouth was set in a grim line.
‘You will regret this, Louisa.’
‘The only regret thatIhave, Lady Rockingham,’ Mantheria said loftily, ‘is wasting even a minute in your tedious company. Come, Lady Louisa, there are more important people to speak with.’
Louisa’s heart raced as she and Mantheria walked away from her livid aunt. She supposed that her aunt knew better than to cross swords with a duchess. Even one as young as her friend.
She exhaled slowly. ‘I hope we haven’t ruined Lady Kensington’s ball.’
Mantheria laughed, patting Louisa’s arm reassuringly. ‘Oh, no, Louisa. If anything, we have made it the most talked about event of the season. She will be ecstatic—I promised her fireworks. Lady Kensington really ought to send us a thank-you note.’
A small, nervous giggle escaped Louisa’s lips, but she sobered when she glanced down at the torn flounce that was dragging on the floor. ‘I am afraid Barnabas stepped on my hem and tore it. Do you mind if I go to the retiring room and repair it quickly?’
‘I shall come with you,’ Mantheria said. ‘But I must warn you that I have no skill with a needle. I am coming only to offer emotional support.’
Together they walked into the retiring room, and Louisa let go of her friend’s arm to kneel down and reach the needle she had stuck inside her hem.
‘You have brought your own needle?’ the Duchess said with a little laugh.
Louisa tied a knot in the end of the thread and poked the needle through the inside of her gown, to attach it to the torn flounce. ‘I never go anywhere without one. You never know when you might need a needle.’
‘I am duly chastened,’ Mantheria said solemnly, but her eyes danced with laughter. ‘However, I would more likely prick my thumb than actually accomplish anything if I carried a needle around. My old governess, Miss Nix, was always saying, “Don’t bleed on the cloth.” She was always more concerned for the material than for my poor injuries.’
Louisa made several tight little stitches to secure the flounce to her gown. She made one last loop and knotted it. ‘Then perhaps it is best that you don’t carry anything sharp.’
Mantheria let out a trill of laughter and Louisa found herself smiling, despite everything.
She poked the needle through her hem and stood up. ‘I am ready.’
‘To be the belle of the ball?’
‘Yes.’
Mantheria looped her arm with Louisa’s. ‘Good. For you deserve to be, my friend.’
They left the retiring room just as the musicians began to play a new tune, and Mantheria took her to where Lord Sunderland stood.
He bowed to her. ‘My lady... Shall we dance? Or would you prefer I fetch you a glass of punch after that unfortunate ordeal?’
Louisa would have loved a drink, but she had waited her whole life to go to parties and dance. Holding out her hand, she smiled. ‘Dance, please.’
Lord Sunderland led her to the front of the dance floor, the most prominent position. He was a duke, after all, and for the first time she saw his countenance wore a hauteur equal to his rank. He stared down several matrons, and even a lord. Louisa might have lost a little of her heart to him if she hadn’t known that he was doing it all for Mantheria. The woman he loved and could never have.
He put his hand on her waist and then they twirled together. ‘I’d say our plan is working extraordinarily well. It is obvious that Wick cares for you. He has never made a public scene before, and he’s now nursing his dignity out on the terrace.’
‘Lord Sunderland—’
‘Sunny, please.’
They switched hands in the dance. ‘Sunny, just because Wick cares for me, it doesn’t mean that he’s ready for marriage.’
‘Don’t give up on him yet. I haven’t. You should ask him about his brother and sister.’
Louisa didn’t know to which sister Sunny was referring. Frederica? Helen? Becca? It seemed odd for him to tell her to ask him about his brother Matthew, whom she had never had the pleasure of meeting. Mantheria said he avoided society balls even more assiduously than Wick.