Chapter 28
“Well, when we start here less than a month ago, I never expected for this night to be coming along so soon,” Owen commented with a deep exhale, placing a crystalline glass in Thomas’ hand. The earl nodded in agreement. He never would have guessed it either.
That night when he had sat in Owen’s library and questioned him on his wife’s motives for hosting a week-long party, he had been dead set against the idea of marriage. Now, here he was, sitting and waiting for the party to begin in which he and Alice would announce their engagement after only two weeks of public courtship.
“Are you nervous?” Owen asked. Thomas thought about lying but then nodded. “Only a fool would not be,” he stated and quickly took a deep swig of his drink. The alcohol burned the back of his throat and forced him to wince.
“Just you wait until the big day.” Owen chuckled and raised his glass toward Thomas, “Then you’ll know exactly what nerves are.”
Thomas scowled at his closest friend and then smirked. “I remember you were almost drunk as a skunk by the time I got you into that chapel.”
“Then hopefully you have learned from my mistakes,” Owen responded with a scowl of his own.
It was just then that the sound of knuckles rapped on the door and a moment later Owen’s wife swept in in a whirlwind of blue taffeta. She grimaced at both the men and demanded, “What are you both doing hiding in here? Our guests are arriving.”
“I am quite certain that you and Miss Skeffington have the matter well in hand, but I assure you, we are coming,” Owen promised and with that, he inclined his head to Thomas and both men stood.
They followed Nancy out of the library and down the hall to the main entryway. Thomas had to hand it to the woman, she certainly knew how to host a party. She’d thought of everything from the pale pastel decorations to the pure white flowers that were dotted about every room in finely painted vases. Yet, her true masterpiece was Alice.
She and Nancy had been priming and primping all afternoon and Thomas realised now that he had never seen Alice look quite so beautiful. Her gown of white silk and lace was accented with silver thread and shining beads that matched the ones tangled in her artfully placed hair.
She looked as though she had just fallen from the heavens and although she was stood at the entryway, greeting guests, she took a moment to turn and greet him with a brilliant smile. He would have liked to stand beside her but until their announcement had been made, he was not willing to give anything away.
Instead, he kept his distance, watching his wife-to-be from afar until every guest had arrived including her parents who greeted Thomas discreetly though they were clearly brimming with excitement. Over the last few weeks, Thomas had not only gotten to know Alice better, but he had also gotten to know her parents and he could now see why she had been so terrified of marriage.
Theirs was most definitely setting a very high standard. Even after nearly thirty years, they walked arm in arm and spent every moment they could together. It had been the last thing Thomas had expected after his week at Kendall Hall, but it turned out that the viscount’s business ventures had been unavoidable.
The most surprising guest for Thomas was his aunt, Lady Denby. Though she was still quite spritely, she was getting on in years, and he had not expected her to travel all the way from Cornwall even when he had written the invitation himself.
“Aunt,” Thomas greeted her with a respectful bow and kissed her hand as soon as she approached. “I was not expecting to see you here this evening.”
“I would not have missed it for the world,” Lady Denby responded. She looked older and greyer than when Thomas had last seen her several months earlier, but she sounded quite like herself. And she glanced around the entryway at Miss Skeffington before she leaned close to Thomas and said, “So she is the young lady you have chosen?”
Thomas’ stomach flipped. Though he had not told his aunt of his intentions for the party that evening that Nancy and Owen had so kindly hosted, he knew from his aunt’s attendance and her interest in Miss Skeffington now, that she knew exactly why they were all gathered.
“Yes,” Thomas announced firmly. He half expected his aunt to look Alice up and down and then insist she was not the one for him. It had been her way for many Seasons, always so picky even though she claimed she was as desperate as his mother would have been to see him married with children of his own.
He was most surprised when Lady Denby turned from looking at Alice to offer him a brilliant smile, clicking her ivory tipped walking cane on the hard floor as if in some small exclamation of joy. “I am most pleased with your choice, Lord Warrington. She is quite lovely.”
“Thank you, Aunt.” Thomas returned her smile, accepting her compliment graciously and trying to hide his surprise. “Would you allow me to escort you into the ballroom? The main event shall be beginning shortly.”
“Of course,” Lady Denby responded. Thomas glanced quickly to Owen who had joined Nancy and Alice beside the front door. They all appeared to have the greeting of the guests well in hand and so Thomas offered his elbow to his aunt and began to lead her through to the ballroom where the dancing and celebrations would take place.
That is if society is accepting of our announcement,Thomas thought, knowing all too well how society liked to judge things harshly.
All too soon, it was time to find out. Once everyone had filed into the ballroom, many now standing around the edge with drinks in hand, Nancy approached the centre of the dancefloor. Many looked expectant for her to announce the beginning of the dance but instead, she smiled, “Welcome all of you and thank you for joining us on this very special evening!”
Several of the guests glanced at one and other, clearly wondering what was so special about the night. It was summer and spirits were high, though, to the majority, there was nothing special about it.
“I would like to invite our dear friends, Lord Warrington and Miss Skeffington to join me on the dancefloor,” Nancy called out and the ballroom was filled with the hum of hushed voices. “They have an announcement they would like to make to inform you of the reason for this wonderful evening.”
Thomas’ stomach churned with nerves but when he looked across the room to where Alice was beginning to make her way from the crowd, they began to ease off. Just seeing her smile and her blushing cheeks gave Thomas all the strength he needed to join her out on the dancefloor. Nancy waited until they were both joined beside her before she curtseyed to them both and gave them the space to make their announcement.
The attention of the crowd turned to Thomas and Alice, and he felt her grip hold of his hand so tightly that he thought his fingers might snap. Squeezing her back, he pulled her close and lifted his head high to announce, “As many of you may know, Miss Skeffington and I have been courting for only two weeks…”
Murmurs cut into his announcement, and he had to wait for them to die before he could continue, “But it has seemed like the longest two weeks of our lives, and we have decided it has been long enough.”
He glanced down at Alice who gazed back at him with big hazel eyes filled with excitement and nerves. Then he glanced out at the audience, seeing many familiar faces. There was Mr Tulk standing beside the refreshments table, smiling as though he already knew what was coming and meant to wish them all.