The Marquess and the Midwife (*On Hold*)

9 Norah

There had never been a ball I wanted to avoid more than Kyrie's. And yet, there had never been a ball I felt more certain that my mother would force me to attend. So I allowed her to dress me and fuss over me as usual until I was striding toward the carriage with her and my father, dressed in a beautiful sage gown, my hair piled atop my head. I told myself that Wentworth would not be as beautiful as everyone claimed it was but I was wrong. Kyrie and his sister greeted us at the door as they did all of their guests and then I was stepping into a hall that appeared overgrown with vines and roses. It was a bold choice. While many of the other hosting nobility had gone for gold and jewels, Grace Durling had reminded us all that beauty was to be found in the simpler things. It felt like floating through a fairy garden.

Every type of flower I might have ever seen decorated the hall, the banisters, the closed doors and open rooms. The ballroom itself was like something out of a fairytale. Flickering lights hanging from above, the fragrant aroma of an open, airy room bathed in flora and fauna. It was, perhaps, one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I couldn't stop myself from smiling or stopping to sniff a blossom here and there. The orchids were my favorite, propped up in a corner so that they grew tall and draped delicately toward the center of the room. This was the first ball that I could remember where I told the hostess it was beautiful and truly meant it.

I'd also been wrong to dread this event for who it belonged to. Kyrie was so busy with his duties as host and his adoring fans that he simply did not have the time to torment me. So I enjoyed an evening of relative peace, standing off to the side on my own, watching the others dance and chat and laugh. Even Silvia herself was quite busy entertaining a seemingly interested Lord Temby. I was thrilled for her and raised my glass in her direction whenever he twirled her past. She was smiling, truly smiling, and it made me happy to see it.

Still, a ball was a ball. The societal pressures did not end in the presence of such natural beauty and frivolity. So my mother found me sometime into the evening and began dragging me about on her arm, introducing me to one man or another. I thought Owen Hamblin was going to smirk himself to death when she introduced me to him, unaware that we had ever met or in what capacity. I imagined she would have been mortified to know that I had recently approached his group so callously and with any goal in mind other than securing my own match. But he was as gracious as I had ever seen Owen Hamblin, even bowing slightly at the introduction and graciously kissing my hand like a true gentleman might. My mother beamed as she led me away but I saw the faint gleam of amusement in his eyes all the same.

Eventually, my feet were so sore that I could think of nothing else than sitting down somewhere and peeling off these wretched new shoes. So I informed my mother that I needed the washroom and made haste for the first door I could find. Luckily, it led outside.

The air in the gardens was much cooler, much crisper. And, though I was certain my teeth would be chattering if I stayed out here too long, I marched myself to the stone bench at the edge of a particularly overzealous rose bush and plopped down right on top of it. I felt the cool stone against my behind even through the layers of my gown but ignored the sensation and bent to remove my shoes. It felt so good to be rid of them that I let out an actual moan.

"Careful now," someone spoke suddenly and I sat bolt upright, whirling around to see who was emerging from the shadows, "someone might hear you and think something else is happening in these gardens."

Kyrie stepped into the light. He had come straight from the house, just as I had.

"Are you following me?" I barked, glaring at him so intensely that he halted in his approach, holding up his hands in surrender.

"I wouldn't dare, Miss Collins," he replied gently. "I saw you make a run for the door and thought I'd come and see that you were alright. It's being a good host, that's all."