the Averys’ ball, with Lady Lenora Harcourt and her friends chattering outside, Frances couldn’t help but listen, could she? Certainly not after she’d heard Lady Lenora say Charlie’s name.
Frances pressed a hand down the front of her embroidered sky-blue ball gown, willing her breathing to normal. She’d stepped into the other room to look for a bit of thread with which to fix a small split in her seam. It would only take a moment. But she’d become trapped when Lady Lenora and her friends had entered the retiring room. Now, Frances hovered in the darkness of the antechamber, biting her lip and straining for all she was worth to hear what they were saying.
“Mr. Holloway didn’t do anything ?” one of the other ladies asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” came Lady Lenora’s silky reply. The lady’s voice, like the rest of her, was a bit too brash for Frances’s taste. “I was standing there on my tiptoes kissing him and he didn’t move at all.”
Frances gasped, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, hoping the other women hadn’t heard her.
“What did you do then?” came the second friend’s voice.
“What could I do?” Lady Lenora replied.
Oh, good. Frances breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, they hadn’t heard her. She’d just have to be more careful. But she had to hear more. Lady Lenora was admitting to kissing Charlie? Actually admitting it, sounding proud even? Why that little strumpet was incorrigible.
“I can hardly credit the notion,” friend one said.
“He pushed me away,” Lady Lenora added, disbelief dripping from her tone. “Pushed me.”
“Shocking,” friend two replied.
Frances sucked in her breath. What was shocking was Lady Lenora admitting her outlandish behavior to her friends. Why, the woman was downright fast! How dare she kiss Charlie and— Very well, Frances has kissed him too, but she at least had the decency to ask him to kiss her, hadn’t just jumped up on tiptoes and done it herself. How dare that widow!
“I’m telling you,” Lady Lenora continued, and Frances suspended her judgmental thoughts in order to hear more. “I’m quite convinced the man isn’t interested in ladies at all.”
Friend one and friend two laughed.
Frances scowled. Wasn’t it just like Lady Lenora to assume that a man who didn’t want her, didn’t want any woman? Why, the kiss Charlie had given Frances nearly singed the hair from her brow. She pressed her gloved fingers to her lips to stifle her laugh. Oh, wouldn’t it be delicious to waltz from the antechamber and inform Lady Lenora of just that much? It would wipe the ever-present smug look off the woman’s face if nothing else.
But in the back of her mind, Frances couldn’t shake the memory of what Annie had said the other day. And Lady Harcourt was an undisputed beauty. If Charlie didn’t find her desirable, well, there just might be something different about him. Could it be that he’d only kissed Frances to humor her? She had asked him after all. Kept after him. Perhaps he’d only done it to silence her once and for all.
And hadn’t he simultaneously made it clear that he had no interest in her by informing her that he had no intention of settling down? If that didn’t prove that he didn’t want to repeat the experience, nothing did. Oh, perhaps he’d only kissed her to try to keep the suspicion of not liking women from his door. The thought made her physically ill.
The shrill laughter of the ladies in the retiring room snapped Frances from her thoughts. She held her breath until she heard them leave and then she hurried from the antechamber into the main room. She stared at herself in the looking glass, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her cheeks flushed. Was it possible that Charlie Holloway didn’t prefer women?
CHAPTER 13
Frances raced into the ballroom, frantically searching for Annie. When she spotted her friend alone near the refreshment table, she hastened to her side, dodging poor
Frances pressed a hand down the front of her embroidered sky-blue ball gown, willing her breathing to normal. She’d stepped into the other room to look for a bit of thread with which to fix a small split in her seam. It would only take a moment. But she’d become trapped when Lady Lenora and her friends had entered the retiring room. Now, Frances hovered in the darkness of the antechamber, biting her lip and straining for all she was worth to hear what they were saying.
“Mr. Holloway didn’t do anything ?” one of the other ladies asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” came Lady Lenora’s silky reply. The lady’s voice, like the rest of her, was a bit too brash for Frances’s taste. “I was standing there on my tiptoes kissing him and he didn’t move at all.”
Frances gasped, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, hoping the other women hadn’t heard her.
“What did you do then?” came the second friend’s voice.
“What could I do?” Lady Lenora replied.
Oh, good. Frances breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, they hadn’t heard her. She’d just have to be more careful. But she had to hear more. Lady Lenora was admitting to kissing Charlie? Actually admitting it, sounding proud even? Why that little strumpet was incorrigible.
“I can hardly credit the notion,” friend one said.
“He pushed me away,” Lady Lenora added, disbelief dripping from her tone. “Pushed me.”
“Shocking,” friend two replied.
Frances sucked in her breath. What was shocking was Lady Lenora admitting her outlandish behavior to her friends. Why, the woman was downright fast! How dare she kiss Charlie and— Very well, Frances has kissed him too, but she at least had the decency to ask him to kiss her, hadn’t just jumped up on tiptoes and done it herself. How dare that widow!
“I’m telling you,” Lady Lenora continued, and Frances suspended her judgmental thoughts in order to hear more. “I’m quite convinced the man isn’t interested in ladies at all.”
Friend one and friend two laughed.
Frances scowled. Wasn’t it just like Lady Lenora to assume that a man who didn’t want her, didn’t want any woman? Why, the kiss Charlie had given Frances nearly singed the hair from her brow. She pressed her gloved fingers to her lips to stifle her laugh. Oh, wouldn’t it be delicious to waltz from the antechamber and inform Lady Lenora of just that much? It would wipe the ever-present smug look off the woman’s face if nothing else.
But in the back of her mind, Frances couldn’t shake the memory of what Annie had said the other day. And Lady Harcourt was an undisputed beauty. If Charlie didn’t find her desirable, well, there just might be something different about him. Could it be that he’d only kissed Frances to humor her? She had asked him after all. Kept after him. Perhaps he’d only done it to silence her once and for all.
And hadn’t he simultaneously made it clear that he had no interest in her by informing her that he had no intention of settling down? If that didn’t prove that he didn’t want to repeat the experience, nothing did. Oh, perhaps he’d only kissed her to try to keep the suspicion of not liking women from his door. The thought made her physically ill.
The shrill laughter of the ladies in the retiring room snapped Frances from her thoughts. She held her breath until she heard them leave and then she hurried from the antechamber into the main room. She stared at herself in the looking glass, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her cheeks flushed. Was it possible that Charlie Holloway didn’t prefer women?
CHAPTER 13
Frances raced into the ballroom, frantically searching for Annie. When she spotted her friend alone near the refreshment table, she hastened to her side, dodging poor
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