Chapter 17

The sky was velvet dark outside the windows of the ballroom. Sebastian drew in a breath. Around him, the big room was bustling with activity—the servants had brought the food and drinks from the kitchen, and the footmen were putting finishing touches to the tables. The floor gleamed where all the maids of the staff had polished it until the marble tiles seemed to glow in the sparkling light of the four big chandeliers. The candles were four-hour candles, their longer length such that they would burn for four hours. The ball would end at midnight. Sebastian gazed around the splendid room with its soaring ceiling and long columns, his hand moving to his cravat. It felt too tight.

"Where is she?" he murmured aloud.

Beside him, his father—who had been so quiet that Sebastian had almost forgotten he'd come in—murmured a reply.

"She will appear soon, Sebastian." He smiled. His face was tired, new wrinkles carved into his cheeks since his apoplectic attack. He wore a pale brown tailcoat and brown breeches, his high-necked shirt also sporting an elaborate cravat.

"I know," Sebastian replied. He felt his stomach knot uncomfortably. Eleanor had gone to dress more than half an hour before, and she had still not come down to greet the guests. They were going to start arriving at any moment, and she was still not there.

"She's a lady. It's her prerogative to take as much time dressing as she needs," Papa said with a small smile.

"I know, Papa," Sebastian said impatiently. He gazed out over the room. Eleanor should be here enjoying it—it was beautiful. The musicians had set up and were starting to tune up together, the slow slide of their bows over the strings filling the room with a sweet, if discordant, harmony. Sebastian felt his heart thud. He had not felt so excited, or so nervous, about a ball since he attended the first ball he'd ever been to.

"And if the guests arrive, what matters it?" Papa asked kindly. "We can greet them as well as she can."

Sebastian smiled. "I know, but they'll expect that she..."

"We'll tell them she's getting ready," Papa said with a smile. "I think anyone will understand that."

"Papa..." Sebastian breathed out. He wasn't only impatient for the guests' sake. He wanted to see her.

"Here he is," Papa commented, as the butler arrived, and Matthew wandered up to them almost at the same instant.

"Lord Edmore," the butler announced. Matthew grinned.

"Good evening," he said to Sebastian and his father, as though he'd just arrived. Sebastian sighed.

"Good evening, Matthew," he greeted him, an ironic smile on his face. "What a surprise."

"I'll bet," Matthew said with a grin. "I am certain you weren't expecting a thing."

Sebastian inclined his head. "I'll expect you to save some sandwiches for me," he told Matthew as his friend wandered off into the ballroom.

"I'll do my best," Matthew replied.

Sebastian breathed out. At least the first guest to arrive was his friend. He glanced at Papa, who was standing calmly, staring at the door.

"Lord and Lady Anselm, and their son, Lord Hugh," the butler intoned loudly.

Sebastian inclined his head as the earl and his wife wandered up, and shook hands with him and his son, bowing to his wife.

"Sebastian! A fine evening, eh? A pleasure to see you. You look so well," Lord Anselm commented with a smile.

"Thank you," Sebastian replied, feeling tense. Where was she?

Papa and the earl chatted for a moment or two, and then they all wandered into the hall. Sebastian's stomach knotted. The guests were starting to arrive swiftly now, the butler already announcing two more as the first lot went down the small flight of stairs into the room.

"Lord Grantley and Lady Amelia."

"Good evening," Sebastian greeted them, bowing politely and shaking hands.

The guests drifted past after exchanging a few pleasantries, and Sebastian felt nauseous. Where was she? Had she fallen asleep? Should he go and send her maid to wake her?

"Lady Newcliffe and her son, the Honorable Mr. Ellingate, and her daughter, the Honorable Miss Ellingate."

Sebastian bowed and greeted the party of guests, his stomach knotting up with tension.

"Lady Glenfield."

Sebastian blinked and stared.

The hall—which had seemed so full of color and life just a second before—seemed suddenly dull and dreary. There, in the doorway, caught by the light of the candles, stood the most stunning creature he had ever set eyes on.

Clad in a green silk gown, the skirt falling from a high waistband, the sleeves brief puffs of silk, Eleanor seemed to shine in the candlelight. Her skin glowed, and her lovely pale brown hair was ringleted and brushed until it shone, decorated with a brief ribbon. She smiled and turned towards him, and his heart stopped. Her hazel eyes—the green in them brought out by the dress—seemed to glow and her smile was radiant.

He forgot, for a moment, how to breathe.

"Eleanor," he greeted her breathlessly, as she came to stand beside him. "You look...you look..." He swallowed. He didn't know what to say. "You're beautiful," he managed, his cheeks flaring. He looked at the ground for a moment. He had come to see her as beautiful every day, loving the sweet, dirt-speckled creature who held his hand and told enchanting stories in the same way she dug determinedly in the garden and organized the cleaning staff. She was a delight and he admired and respected her. Seeing her like this, a mysterious beauty he barely knew, radiant and smiling in her green gown...this was something entirely new.

"Thank you," she said, her smile dimpling her cheeks sweetly as she looked down at her silk-clad feet for a moment.

He smiled at her, then glanced down at her neck where the low neck of the gown revealed it.

"You're wearing the gift," he murmured.

"Yes," she replied, smiling at him. "It matched perfectly."

"It does," he breathed back.

He had ordered her an emerald pendant in London, on a gold chain, the emerald as big as the nail of his small finger and set between two tiny diamonds. He had chosen the stone without much thought, other than that the rich green color had reminded him of her eyes.

Now, he stared at it. It suited her perfectly.

He glowed with warmth. He felt proud, seeing the necklace around her lovely neck. He had bought her that gift, and it suited her so well. He felt his lips lift with a smile and when the next guests appeared, he shook their hands quite vigorously.

"Lord Avebury and his wife, Lady Avebury."

More guests poured in, and Sebastian bowed and shook hands and greeted and asked after relatives until he thought his back might break. He looked around at the hall, seeing how full it was with people. The noise was becoming louder, too, the chatter and laughter of the guests making it almost impossible to talk, even on the stairs where they stood.

The butler announced more guests, raising his own voice to carry over the noise of so many people chattering.

Sebastian greeted them and then, blessedly, the butler went to the doors.

"That must be all the guests," Papa commented, turning to smile at them.

"Good." Sebastian let out a sigh of relief. His feet hurt and he longed to talk with Eleanor. He turned to face her, and she smiled at him. "Shall we go down to join in the revelry?" he asked her with a smile.

"Yes. I think we should," Eleanor said with a smile.

Sebastian bowed, his heart thumping. He felt oddly shy with her, though she had slept in his bed. This was the first time he had escorted her to a ball, and he glowed as he walked down the stairs with her on his arm.

"Well," he murmured as they reached the floor. "This is pleasant."

"It is," Eleanor said with a grin. "Though I say so myself."

He laughed aloud. "As you should," he said with a smile. "It's a terrific ball."

"I don't know yet. We haven't heard the musicians," Eleanor told him with a chuckle.

"We should be able to," Sebastian reminded her with a smile. "They appear to be playing. There are far too many mirthful expressions and excessive chatter in this room."

"Indeed, there are." Eleanor's eyes roved to the corner where the musicians had set up. They were indeed playing vigorously, but it was almost undetectable in the noise of the hall.

"Mayhap we can go over there," Sebastian suggested. The musicians' corner was slightly more secluded than where they stood near the stairs and having a few private moments with her would be so much better than standing at the front, trying to make themselves heard over the vast noise in the ballroom.

"Mayhap," Eleanor replied.

Sebastian bent his arm at the elbow, and she slipped her hand through it. His heart thudded as she rested her fingers on the arm of his dark navy-blue coat. The touch of each fingertip seemed to burn, so aware was he of the touch of them, despite the velvet that separated his arm from feeling them directly.

They walked to the corner.

"It's a terrific event," Sebastian commented again. The room was full of people, the laughter and chattering still deafening, though standing by the musicians, they could at least hear the sweet violin music alongside it. The scent of perfume mixed with the muskier smell of pomade and the sweet scent of cordial. Women wore white or pale pink gowns, or, in the case of the married women, vibrant scarlet and ocher and golden yellow. Men wore brown or navy or, here and there, maroon-red or green. The colors seemed to swirl about as people moved here and there, the sounds as deafening as the colors were clashing and vibrant.

"Thank you," Eleanor answered with a smile. "I had a great deal of help in organising it."

He grinned. "You'd never done it before, and yet you managed to organise such a grand ball."

"Not without help," Eleanor demurred. "Oh! Is your papa all right there?" she added, gesturing to the easterly side of the hall, where Papa was taking a seat.

"I'm sure he's quite well," Sebastian replied, but Eleanor was already hurrying in that direction.

"I'll just check on him," she told Sebastian, her light steps already carrying her across the tiling towards him.

Sebastian sighed. He watched her walk across to his father, feeling already as though he missed her.

"Such a long face, eh?" Matthew asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere beside him.

"Not a long face," Sebastian contradicted him, feeling a bit annoyed.

"I'm sure not," Matthew agreed. "If I were wed to such a fine creature, I'd be too busy to have a long face."

Sebastian glared at Matthew, whose grin suggested something indecent.

"I was merely bothered by the excessive noise in here," Sebastian countered, feeling irritated by Matthew's indecent implications. As it happened, he had not had a chance to be busy in any of the ways that Matthew seemed to suggest.

"It is noisy," Matthew agreed, evidently sensing Sebastian's irritation.

"It is. And hot," Sebastian answered, glad that they were talking about another topic. He was aware of the high-necked shirt he wore, the sweat already trickling between his shoulder-blades.

"I'll go and open a door," Matthew suggested. "It would be nice to have some cold air."

"Thank you. That would be most pleasant," Sebastian agreed.

"On my way."

Matthew wandered to the doors at the back of the hall, and Sebastian waited where he was, staring out across the ballroom. The candlelight glittered off the champagne glasses and gleaming silverware. The sound of talk was more murmurous now, and less loud. He gazed over to where Eleanor was crossing the hallway again. She caught his eye. She beamed. Her smile seemed brighter than anything else in the hall. He swallowed hard.

It was worth all the nerves and discomfort, and he knew that he would give a thousand such balls just to see her smile so bright.

He grinned back, delighted simply to be in that moment.