Wishing For Rainbows (Historical Romance) by Rebecca King Page A

emotion, but Ursula suddenly hated Barbarella Somersby with all of her heart. It was such an uncharacteristic feeling for her: to hate someone on sight, that she was a little shaken by it. However, there was something cold and calculating in the blonde woman’s eyes that just didn’t seem right, and brought about a fresh wave of discomfort over her engagement to Trenton. A part of her wanted to tear Trenton away from the woman, but she couldn’t without making herself look like a fool. They were engaged after all, and it really was none of her business.
    Unsure what to do, Ursula looked at Adelaide but to her astonishment, before she could move to her aunt’s side, Trenton blocked her path.
    “I think it is our dance, Ursula,” he murmured in a husky voice that Ursula had never heard before.
    The contrast in his voice between the way he spoke to Barbarella, and the way he had just spoken to her was shocking. Ursula glanced at Trenton and then looked at Barbarella. For an engaged couple they didn’t appear to be very affectionate. Unless her eyes were deceiving her, Trenton almost appeared as though he hated his fiancé.
    “Ready?” He drawled and held his elbow out when she didn’t move. “It’s our dance.”
    A shiver swept down her spine at the blatantly intimate way he was looking at her. It hinted at a much more personal relationship between them than they had.
    “Is it?” she croaked, wishing she hadn’t agreed to come to the ball at all now. She looked up when the blonde stepped in front of them, and went cold at the venomous hatred in the woman’s green eyes.
    “Are you not going to introduce us, Trenton?” Barbarella asked without taking her spiteful gaze off Ursula.
    Trenton frowned at Barbarella. The last thing he wanted was for the two women to become acquainted. Unfortunately, he knew Barbarella well enough to know that if he snubbed her she would make sure she found out as much about Ursula as she could. Not only that, but she would undoubtedly turn her malice on Ursula just to annoy him, and that was something he wasn’t prepared to allow to happen.
    “Miss Proctor, this is Miss Somersby. Miss Somersby, this is Lady Enderby’s niece.” He hoped the mention of Lady Enderby would be more than enough to warn Barbarella that Ursula was connected. To his disgust, Barbarella either wasn’t bothered, or was too ignorant to understand Lady Enderby’s social status.
    “I take it you are new to London?” Barbarella asked, eyeing Ursula’s gown spitefully.
    Ursula’s chin went up, and she lifted a condescending brow.
    Sensing trouble, Trenton held his arm out to Ursula. “Time to dance,” he murmured, grateful that the orchestra had just given the signal they were about to play.
    As soon as Ursula had taken his arm, he turned toward Barbarella. “I suggest you find your father. Tell him that I wish to speak with him,” he declared in a voice that was as cold and hard as the look in his eyes. “There are several things I need to remind him of.”
    They both knew that Barbarella treated her father very differently to the rest of society. He believed his darling daughter to be mild-mannered, well-spoken, with impeccable behaviour acceptable within all social occasions. Everyone else knew she was a spiteful wanton desperate to ensnare herself a husband; someone who could be merciless if thwarted. Her reputation amongst the gossips put her very much in league with Brampton, and it wasn’t undeserved.
    He turned to Ursula. “Allow me.” He led her toward the dance floor without a backward look.
    Ursula followed him but before she could ask him what that had been all about, the cotillion began and prevented any conversation between them.
    “Please be careful this evening, Ursula,” Trenton murmured once he had returned her to her aunt’s side.
    “I have no intention of doing anything rash,” Ursula asked. She wondered if he was going to follow her all evening to make sure she didn’t get