Mantheria gave a little laugh and guided Louisa away from the receiving line. ‘Oh, please tell me that my brother has reserved those dances.’
Louisa swallowed and shook her head. ‘Alas, no. They were reserved by Lord Norwich.’
Her friend appeared almost as disappointed as Louisa. ‘Perhaps Wick, like Sunny, wants to save his dances for the supper waltz. That way he will also be able to escort you to dinner and sit by you during it.’
‘I don’t think he intends to dance with me at all.’
Mantheria sniffed, shaking her head. ‘That will not do. He is not going to spend another ball skulking around the sides and snubbing every young lady here. My mother would not have stood for it and neither will I.’
Louisa’s eyes filled with tears and she cursed her uncontrollable emotions. ‘Please do not ask Wick to dance with me. I shall die of shame on the spot if you do.’
The young Duchess stuck out her chin. ‘Very well. There are plenty of handsome young men who would happily queue up to dance with a beautiful young lady like you.’
Louisa wiped away an errant tear from her cheek and attempted a small joke. ‘According to Lady Sunderland, I am not a bad-looking girl. Even with my freckles.’
‘Don’t listen to that old prune! You are gorgeous.’
‘I’m skinny and freckled.’
‘Your figure is willowy—which is the prevailing style, I’ll have you know. And your skin is perfectly lovely. Your freckles give your face character.’
Louisa glanced down. ‘My Aunt Rockingham always said that they made me ugly.’
Mantheria’s hand touched Louisa’s cheek. ‘Nothing could make you ugly, my friend. You have the purest heart and the kindest soul I have ever known. And they shine through your eyes.’
Louisa’s eyes threatened to fill with tears again, but she shook her head. ‘What do you think of the Earl of Norwich?’
Mantheria gave a little gurgle of laughter. ‘Oh, I never think about men who are prettier than me. How lowering it is!’
Louisa felt her lips tug upwards into a smile. ‘Lord Norwich is very beautiful.’
‘And dresses like a god. Beau Brummell mocks his flamboyant style, but I think it suits Norwich down to his high-heeled boots.’
‘Yes!’
Mantheria’s smile slipped for a minute, but then it was back on her face. ‘He has a lovely estate in Norwich, and two smaller ones, I believe. One near Bath and the other near Brighton. Theon ditis that he’s in debt because of gambling with the Duke of York. But that was last year. I have not once seen him at a card table this season. Perhaps he has learned the lesson that fortunes are only lost at gaming and never won. I start to break out into a cold sweat if my losses rise above fifty guineas.’
‘I’ve never gambled before.’
‘Lifeis a gamble, my dear Louisa, and you don’t always get to choose the cards you are dealt,’ Mantheria said, and then curtsied to Lord Norwich. ‘Ah, you are here to steal our lovely Lady Louisa away for a dance.’
The Earl wore an intricately embroidered silver suit that gleamed in the light like freshly polished silver. He looked cold and perfect enough to be a marble statue. ‘How clever of you, Lady Glastonbury, for I do indeed intend to steal Lady Louisa—and her heart.’
He offered Louisa his hand and she placed hers inside it. How different it felt from Wick’s. Lord Norwich’s fingers were long and slender. They lacked the size and strength of Wick’s. And the warmth.
They spoke very little during the quadrille—the dance most fashionable balls started with. She found Lord Norwich to be an excellent dancer and a thoughtful partner. He was always where he should be, and more than once helped her through a mistake in the figure without bringing attention to it.
The next dance was a country jig. Louisa was a little breathless as she hopped about, but words spilled from her mouth when he took her hands. ‘Are you interested in my heart or my inheritance?’
Lord Norwich’s perpetual sneer turned into a grin. ‘Oh, I do like you, Lady Louisa. Straight to the point.’
The figure caused them to part, but when they came back together, he answered, ‘Both, I am afraid. Like yourself, I am in desperate need of funds. I believe you are currently living on the generosity of Lady Glastonbury and will not see your fortune until you are married?’
‘I do not wish to be courted for my inheritance.’
‘Nor do I for my title. But it is what people first notice.’
She turned away again and followed the line, his words sinking in with each step. She could not blame him for being interested in her money when she wanted a husband with an estate and home. Perhaps pecuniary reasons were not entirely wrong to consider in a marriage partner.