Chapter 20

Twenty

"You must be Miss Pierpont," one of the ladies sporting a gown awash in bows exclaimed, stopping directly in front of Camilla and dipping into a curtsy. "I know this is quite untoward since I'm well-aware someone else should perform a formal introduction, but"—she glanced around the room—"since I don't see Luella anywhere, and there's no one else present to introduce us..." She returned her attention to Camilla. "I'm Miss Sally Murchendorfer."

"I sure was right about this being interesting," Lottie muttered before she glided away, leaving Camilla in the company of Ada Mae's daughter, a young lady who apparently still trusted her mother's judgment regarding bows.

Camilla dipped into a curtsy of her own. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Murchendorfer."

"Allow me to present my friend," Sally said, nodding to the lady accompanying her. "Miss Pierpont, this is Miss Curtistine Longerbeam. Curtistine, Miss Camilla Pierpont."

It really wasn't much of a surprise when Curtistine, the lady who'd called Owen a lout over their obvious misunderstanding regarding his intentions toward her, glared at her—until Sally gave her a nudge, which resulted in Curtistine dredging up a rather forced smile.

"Delighted to meet you, Miss Pierpont," Curtistine squeaked out. "I understand that congratulations are in order."

"It's delightful to meet you as well, Miss Longerbeam, although congratulations may be a touch premature considering there's been no official announcement made yet."

"Having seconds thoughts already?"

Camilla's eyes immediately took to narrowing. "Why would you assume that?"

"It's not much of an assumption when Owen holds the reputation of being incapable of capturing a lady's affections for long," Curtistine returned. "Personally, I knew it was only a matter of time until you, an esteemed lady with Knickerbocker status if rumor has it correctly, realized he was a complete and utter bore."

Clearly, the lady's silk gloves were rapidly coming off, which meant she was going to have to shuck off hers as well.

"I fear you're allowing your personal disappointment regarding Owen as a reason to set aside any semblance of good manners, Miss Longerbeam," she began. "He certainly can't be blamed for your erroneous conclusions regarding his intentions toward you."

"Since he's solely responsible for me arriving at those conclusions, I don't know who else I could possibly blame."

"If you understood Owen, you'd realize that he never meant to hurt your feelings. He was simply unaware that you held him in affection, and romantic affection at that."

"I never held Owen in affection, romantic or otherwise."

Camilla's brows drew together. "Then why did you want to marry him?"

"I didn't want to marry him, but I would have because he's considered the most eligible bachelor in the valley, even with him being a snob. Landing Owen Chesterfield would've been a feather in any lady's hat—until you came along, that is."

"I've never gotten the impression Owen's a snob."

"Of course he is because he thinks all the ladies in this area aren't good enough for him. And"—Curtistine held up her hand when Camilla opened her mouth—"case in point. When Ada Mae broached the idea of a marriage between Sally and Owen once Sally reached her majority, Betty Lou, Owen's mother, said that such a marriage would only happen over her dead body. That left Ada Mae with the impression Mrs. Chesterfield thought Sally wasn't good enough for her son. Owen then proved he was of that same thought when he never bothered to mention the subject of marriage to Sally, even though they live right next door to each other."

Everything suddenly made a great deal of sense.

Swallowing a sigh, Camilla turned to Sally. "Was Betty Lou's dismissal of your mother's suggestion regarding a marriage between you and Owen the reason behind Ada Mae neglecting to include Betty Lou in the weekly whist parties?"

"I wouldn't want to speak for my mother, but can you blame her if that's what she did?" Sally returned.

"Not at all."

"Then I'm sure you can also understand why my mother wasn't keen to have Stanley associate with Luella after he returned from his grand tour, or why I haven't lifted a single finger to discourage all the young ladies, who consider me their unspoken leader, from shunning Luella, and not simply because she had the audacity to break my brother's nose."

Camilla frowned. "May I assume the reason behind you not lifting a finger is because you wanted to marry Owen, who, I have to say, was probably unaware of what transpired between your mother and Betty Lou?"

Sally returned the frown. "You don't think he knew?"

"Owen is, at heart, a kind man. He wouldn't have avoided addressing the insult his mother directed your way."

"I'm not sure I agree with you in believing Owen is kind, but none of it matters now since I didn't actually want to marry him, although I would have married him since he's considered so eligible, had he been receptive to the idea. I prefer gentlemen who aren't quite so intimidating."

It was quickly becoming evident that Sally, along with Curtistine, and likely a lot of the young ladies in the valley if she wasn't much mistaken, were victims of their overly ambitious mothers, and could certainly benefit from some sensible advice for a change.

Camilla began absently tapping a finger against her chin as an idea began to form, one that could very well provide a solution to Luella's unfortunate situation.

"Is something amiss, Miss Pierpont?" Sally asked. "You're suddenly looking rather ... odd."

She stopped tapping her chin and caught Sally's eye. "It's not that anything is truly amiss, Miss Murchendorfer, but, you see, the longer we converse, the clearer it becomes that both you and Miss Longerbeam could definitely benefit from some guidance in the area of matrimonial pursuits."

"Matrimonial guidance?" Curtistine asked.

"Indeed, and it just so happens that I'm qualified to lend you that guidance."

"Not to be rude, Miss Pierpont," Sally began, "but you're a lady of rather advanced age who has only recently decided to marry. Why would we believe you have the knowledge, or the experience needed, to lend us any guidance with matrimony in general?"

"A perfectly legitimate question, Miss Murchendorfer, although you might have left out the bit about me being rather advanced in age."

"That's what made it a legitimate question."

"Well, quite. However, to address your question, know this—I've been a successful matchmaker within the New York Four Hundred for years. I understand what makes a good match and what doesn't, and I'm willing to impart that knowledge to you—but it'll come with strings attached."

Sally frowned. "Strings?"

"Nothing of worth ever comes for free, so if you want to benefit from my counsel, I'm going to have to insist that everyone immediately discontinues with ostracizing Luella. She had nothing to do with what is certainly some type of feud between Betty Lou and Ada Mae, and it's hardly fair that she's been made the brunt of your mockery and cruel jests."

"If you're suggesting I suddenly turn into Luella's best friend," Sally began, "know that my mother will not be in accord with that."

"I'm sure Ada Mae won't be, unless..." Camilla began tapping her finger against her chin again, smiling a second later when another thought began taking shape. "I think we need some type of activity that will allow everyone to put aside their differences, and as luck would have it, I've got the perfect one in mind—quadrille lessons."

Curtistine wrinkled her nose. "Quadrille lessons?"

"Indeed, and at Owen's new manor house in the country, which has a spectacular ballroom. I've already promised Luella that I'd teach her some of the quadrilles that are all the rage during any given Season in New York, and I'll be more than happy to include both of you in those lessons on two conditions—you need to make amends with Luella, and you need to tell your mothers about these lessons and get them to agree that Luella is no longer a target for gossip and exclusion."

"I'm not certain quadrille lessons will be enough of an incentive for my mother to put aside her animosity toward the Chesterfields," Sally said.

"You're probably right, but I can guarantee she'll at least consider setting aside her animosity after you tell her that I'm not going to teach you just any quadrille, but the famous Star Quadrille that I performed in during Alva Vanderbilt's famed costume ball a few years back. And to really encourage her to agree to my conditions, you'll then need to tell her that I intend to make arrangements with Mr. Fulton so that this quadrille will be considered the pinnacle of his ball come June."

"We've never had a quadrille performed in Wheeling," breathed Curtistine.

"Then this would be your chance to bring a touch of New York high society to your town, which I can guarantee will be well received." Camilla smiled. "And if that's not enough incentive for the good mothers of Wheeling, know that we'll need to invite, besides the two of you and Luella, five of your lady friends, of whom Luella will need to approve, and seven gentlemen."

"Why only seven gentlemen when, if I'm doing the math correctly, there'll be eight ladies?" Curtistine asked.

It was difficult to resist a smile. "Your math is quite correct, Miss Longerbeam, but I'm sure you'll be pleased to learn that two of my dearest friends, Mr. Charles Wetzel and Mr. Leopold Pendleton, both members of the Four Hundred, have arrived from New York for a visit. Charles will be more than amiable to leading the quadrille, whereas Leopold, given his age, prefers instructing over dancing."

"I thought you'd be teaching us the steps," Sally said.

"And I will, although I'll also need to be the pianist once we get started, leaving Leopold to supervise the floor."

Sally tilted her head. "My mother is accomplished on the piano."

It was an opportunity Camilla couldn't ignore, not when it was now clear that the animosity between the Chesterfields and the Murchendorfers was not one-sided but had been set into motion by two mothers who'd been determined to outdo each other.

"Ada Mae will certainly be welcome to join us, especially if that'll allow me to devote my time to perfecting everyone's dance steps."

Sally exchanged a look with Curtistine before she settled a frown on Camilla. "And while I know my mother would adore becoming acquainted with two esteemed gentlemen from New York high society, I'm now wondering if suggesting she be included was a wise proposition. What's to say that Mrs. Chesterfield, as in Beulah, won't chase after Mother with her rifle or set her pig after her the second she realizes a lady she obviously considers a nemesis has stepped foot on Chesterfield land?"

Unfortunately, that was a legitimate concern because ... Beulah might whip out her rifle if Ada Mae came calling.

Camilla shoved the image of Beulah running Ada Mae off her land aside and lifted her chin. "I'll make certain to speak to Beulah about the matter, but to err on the side of caution, I'll insist that all rifles and pigs be checked at the door, which should minimize the potential for disaster."