Chapter 20

“Oh, I’m so excited about this,” Isabella said as she, Arthur, and Aunt Olivia made their way up the path to Manford Manor. “It’s not my very first ball, but in many ways, it feels like it.”

“I imagine it would,” Aunt Olivia agreed, smiling at her. “Every other ball you’ve been to has been very limited, hasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Isabella agreed. “I’ve always felt as if I was under my father’s control. I’ve always felt beholden to him, unable to do the things I really wanted to do or be the person I really wanted to be. Not that I cared very much about pleasing him, of course, but there are things you simply can’t do without your father’s approval. It would have been too difficult to dance with gentlemen at these things. Most of them never looked my way anyway because they knew too much about my family circumstances. They knew how my father would disapprove if they gave me any attention at all. And those who didn’t know were simply put off by my simple gowns that never flattered me.” She ran her hands over the skirt of the gown she had been given for this occasion. “This is the finest thing I’ve ever worn. I think it’s better than the gown I got married in.”

Arthur laughed. “It’s good to see you enjoying yourself,” he said. “I’m glad we came out tonight, Isabella. I believe we’ll have a good time.”

“I’m just so glad that Felicity is going to be here!” Isabella gushed. “Maybe I’ll get to meet some of the gentlemen who have shown an interest in courtship with her. I’d like that better than almost anything. I have to see for myself whether these people are worthy of my sister’s company or not.”

“Well, you’ll have all night to do just that,” Arthur assured her.

They made their way inside. The foyer was full of party guests greeting one another. At once, Arthur was surrounded.

Of course, Isabella realized—today would be a very big day for him as well since he so rarely attended balls of any sort. Everyone would have questions for him. Everyone would be hoping to satisfy their curiosity. She resolved to stick by his side, thinking that perhaps the evening would be easier for him if he had her close at hand.

But almost at once, her resolve was tested.

“Isabella!” She would have known that voice anywhere. It was Felicity, calling from across the room. Isabella’s hand tightened on Arthur’s arm, and she looked up at him.

He smiled at her. “Go,” he said. “Go and greet your sister. I’ll speak to these people, and then I’ll come and join you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure,” Arthur said. “I know how eager you are to see her. Just don’t wander too far. I’d like to be able to find you.”

“We won’t leave the foyer,” Isabella promised. She gave Arthur’s arm a squeeze then let him go and hurried over to her sister.

Felicity seized her hands excitedly. “I can’t believe how beautiful you look! I’ve never seen you look so lovely! That gown is wonderful. The pink is a lovely color on you.”

“Never mind me—look at you!” Isabella marveled. “That gown looks like it was tailored especially to fit you.”

“That’s because it was!” Felicity giggled.

“You can’t mean that Father finally bought you something fine of your very own?”

“Oh, no. He would never do that. I thought you’d know—it’s all your husband’s doing! He sent a dressmaker with orders that I should have several new things made for me and that he wanted to be charged for everything. I must thank him tonight.”

“I had no idea,” Isabella admitted. “That’s just so thoughtful of him.”

“How are things going between the two of you?”

“I have to admit, they’ve been getting better,” Isabella said. “I didn’t think I’d be happy with conditions between the two of us because we got off to a very rough start. But now that I’ve had a bit of time to settle in, I find that I’m enjoying his company more than I expected to.”

“That’s wonderful,” Felicity said sincerely. “I’m so pleased. I hoped this marriage would be a good thing for you, Isabella. I know you only went into it as a way of trying to pave the way for my future, but I wanted it to be a good thing for you as well, and I’m so glad that’s what seems to be happening.”

“Yes,” Isabella said. “I admit that I had no particular desire to marry the Duke at first—in fact, I would have said that I was inclined against it. But having gotten to know him better, I’m glad to be his wife.”

She was surprised to find that the words were true. She would have said them anyway, out of a desire to make Arthur look good his first time going to a ball after so long and to thank him for his willingness to take her, but lying to her sister would have felt strange. It was good to discover that she didn’t have to lie, that the things she wanted to say were the truth.

“What about Father and Rosalind?” she asked. “Are they here?”

“Oh, they’re here, all right,” Felicity said. “You know Rosalind would never miss a ball. And as for Father…I think he’s finally begun to notice the fact that no gentlemen have been particularly interested in her, and he’s decided to take a heavier hand in her affairs.”

“Poor Rosalind.” Isabella made a sad face. “It would be very sad if she were the only sister left at home with you and me gone. I know she would be so lonely and that she would miss us ever so much.”

Felicity laughed. “Yes,” she agreed, “I don’t know how she would get by without us. You should probably come and say hello to them, otherwise they’ll talk all day about how you thought you were too good to pay them any attention at the ball.”

“I wouldn’t want that,” Isabella agreed. “Lead the way.”

She followed Felicity over to the side of the room and found her father in conversation with a lady of about his own age with dark auburn hair and striking blue eyes. She was tall for a lady—though not as tall as Isabella herself—and she had a dominating presence that seemed to fill up the whole room. Isabella found her positively captivating to watch.

“Ah,” her father said as she approached, “so you are here. I wondered whether we would see you tonight, Isabella.”

“My husband did say that we were coming,” she reminded him.

“Yes, indeed, but we all know how uncommon it is for His Grace to attend functions like this one.” He turned to the lady. “These are my other two daughters, Isabella and Felicity.”

“Her Grace, the Duchess of Windhill,” Felicity corrected. “Isabella is recently married to the Duke.”

“I see.” The lady smiled, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Something about her made Isabella feel uneasy, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “His Grace is a lucky man in that case.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know about all that,” Isabella’s father laughed. “It seems to me that my daughter is the lucky one to have made such a fortunate match. Of course, as I told you, Lady Reeves, I’m still looking for a matche for my other daughter, Miss Rosalind.”

“Yes, you mentioned Miss Rosalind,” Lady Reeves agreed. Her gaze turned to Felicity. “What of this one? Has she any suitors yet?”

“Too many for her own good,” the Viscount said. “I’ve got to find a way to marry her off to the right person before she disgraces me in some way like her elder sister did.”

“Felicity would never disgrace anyone,” Isabella said. She turned to Lady Reeves. “I’m sorry,” she went on, “I don’t think you and I have been properly introduced. I am Duchess Isabella Desmond of Windhill.”

“And I am Countess Miriam Cropper of Reeves,” Lady Reeves said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You’re a friend of my father’s?”

“Yes, that’s right…a friend,” Lady Reeves agreed.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you too,” Isabella said. “I’ve never had the chance to meet many of my father’s friends. This is a rare opportunity for me.”

“And I consider myself very lucky to have the chance to meet the new Duchess of Windhill,” Lady Reeves returned. “Of course, we all know how reclusive the Duke is. You must have made quite an impression on him to compel him to leave his long isolation.”

“Perhaps I did,” Isabella said. “I don’t know. But he did agree to come to the ball with me tonight. I suppose he knew how important it was to me. It’s a very lovely thing to be married to a gentleman who cares about the desires of his wife. I suppose they aren’t all like that.”

Lady Reeves looked directly at Isabella, her eyes narrowed. It was clear that she was thinking about something, but Isabella couldn’t have guessed what it was.

“No,” she agreed, after several moments had passed—enough that the silence was notable. “Not all gentlemen are like that. In fact, I would say that most are not.”

Her glance cut to Isabella’s father, who didn’t appear to notice.

That was interesting. She had looked to Isabella’s father when she had criticized the way gentlemen behaved. And whether the Viscount had noticed or not, to Isabella, that seemed to imply that she was criticizing his behavior.

If she was a friend of the Viscount’s, perhaps she had noticed that he wasn’t always a very agreeable man. Perhaps she understood that he was someone who would put his own selfish interests above the needs of his daughters.

Isabella didn’t particularly need this lady she didn’t know to recognize that truth about her father, but it was very interesting to see that someone might have done so.

She wondered how her father knew Lady Reeves, but of course, she couldn’t ask that question with both of them standing right there because it was the kind of thing the Viscount would never have answered for her. He would tell her to mind her own business, or perhaps he would make up some condescending reason why it was foolish that she should even ask. Isabella had no interest in being spoken to that way in public and certainly not in the company of the admirable lady before her. Though they had hardly been introduced, Isabella found herself wanting to make a good impression. She wanted Lady Reeves to think well of her. Maybe it was just because she could see that her father didn’t want that—but Isabella suspected it was something more.

She took her sister by the arm. “Come and say hello to Arthur,” she told Felicity. “I know how eager he is to see you again.”

She deliberately hadn’t extended the invitation to her father, and it seemed likely that everyone present had noticed that fact. But for the first time, it really didn’t matter to Isabella what her father thought of her or how he reacted to the things she said or did. There was nothing he could do to her. Thanks to her marriage to the Duke, she was free.

Felicity was right. Marrying had been the best thing for her, and even for her own sake and not just her sister’s, she was deeply glad and grateful that she had done it.

She took Felicity by the arm, and together the two sisters walked back to Arthur’s side to enjoy the festivities without their father.