Althea by Madeleine E. Robins Page A

Tidd, did she? Another of her ploys to keep her
daughter from him. I never saw such a pair of ninnyhammers, and I am sure they
will suit each other to a nicety.” He wagged an eyebrow distastefully. “But I
see your sister searching for you, Miss Ervine. Allow me to return you to her.”
    Over Calendar’s extended hand Althea glimpsed Maria glancing
through the crowd in a preoccupied manner. Sir Tracy offered his arm and began
to steer her expertly across the room. They continued to speak as they went,
and at some point something that she said so amused him that he threw his head
back and laughed — Althea thought — with considerable relish. It did not change
his face in any particular but made it easier, less hard. He felt her eyes upon
him and smiled, disconcertingly, down upon her. Althea, accustomed as she was
to look most men directly in the eye, found that she was blushing at the
straightforward look in Sir Tracy’s eye, his height, and his shameless use of
it.
    “Don’t fear, Miss Ervine, no doubt your sister would
disapprove, but I am said to retain some few of the social graces.” He stopped,
for they had almost reached Maria’s side, took her hand and led her toward
Maria, bowed, smiled, and strolled off.
    “Lord, Ally, you begin well! First Jonathan Tidd, who is one
of the richest young men in the City — but has a grandfather somewhere in
trade, more’s the pity — and then Tracy Calendar, who is all but a gazetted
nonpareil! Oh, and several other young gentlemen have come up and begged
introductions! I swear, I am as excited as if this were my own come-out ball!
Sir Tracy is one of the smartest of the Corinthian set. Francis admires him no
end.” At the mention of her husband, something in her ladyship’s manner became
a trifle subdued, and her chatter ceased momentarily.
    “I have the notion that Sir Tracy is here to look after his
cousin, who is quite taken up with Mr. Tidd.”
    “Matilda Fforyding has been trying for years to get Calendar
to fix his interest upon Miss Sophia, and now she is furious that the foolish
girl has fallen in love with that boy. They shall make a fine match of it, I’m
sure: the two loobies will probably blush each other to death.”
    Althea was surprised by her sister’s suddenly embittered
tone, but there was no time to say anything, for one of the young men Althea
had mentioned returned for his promised introduction and to beg the favor of
the next dance. Althea naturally consented, and from that point onward had no
chance to search out her sister and ask her the matter of it. What appeared to
her an endless procession of honorables, sirs, and my lords seemed intent upon
dancing with Miss Ervine, each begging an introduction from the other, and
Althea found herself unable to remember the names of many — for since most of
the syllables were swallowed up in shyness or in the imprecise drawl of the
Pinks, it was hard to pick out a whole name from the lot. These gentlemen
seemed to understand that Miss Ervine would prefer not to waltz until
she had made a first appearance at Almack’s, and there was always someone — or
two or three — to sit beside her during these dances.
    As Althea had not been promised before the ball for the
supper dance, she found herself in the company of a Mr. Edward Pendarly during
that dance, and afterward for supper. Some time before, Althea had espied Maria,
whirling in the arms of Mr. John Wallingham, to that forbidden waltz with a
determined look on her face. Consequently, knowing her sister and that look,
she despaired of finding her now. It was plain enough that Francis had wandered
off and Maria was bent upon demonstrating that she had no need of his escort.
    This turn of affairs fretted Althea, but Mr. Pendarly, aside
from being almost garishly handsome, contrived to occupy her enough so that she
forgot — or at least put in abeyance — her fears for Maria and Francis. When he
sat her down on the corner of a settee and went