Page 39 of Her Heartless Duke
Fiona, flush from her success at the archery competition at Hyde Park, had easily become the most popular young lady in theton. Bennet House was suddenly besieged with callers, with gentlemen and young ladies all flocking to her side. Their once peaceful home was now filled with flowers from her suitors and Aunt Joana could not have been happier.
“How could you doubt me, Livvy?” she teased her cousin. “You should try flirting with him… not overtly, mind you. Just enough to pique his attention without trying too hard.”
“Piquing his attention can already be considered trying too hard,” Olivia protested. “Besides, won’t he find it odd if I attempt something?”
“Well then, if he becomes suspicious, deny it,” Fiona replied blithely. “Tell him that he probably misunderstood your kindness and exit with dignity.”
She gaped at her cousin in surprise and then narrowed her eyes. “Where is my cousin and what have you done to her?”
“Oh, Livvy!”
Both young ladies shared a look before dissolving into a fit of giggles.
It had been close to a week since the archery competition and the ballroom of Wellington Place was filled with everyone vying to see and be seen. Olivia might say that it was very much like Hyde Park, but with everybody else crammed into a more enclosed space with a different set of rules. However, the objective remained the same.
“Don’t look now, Fi, but I can see Lord Westmore!” Olivia whispered.
Fiona fluttered her fan excitedly and covered the lower half of her face before sneaking a subtle glance across the room to where Miles casually strode in with an affable grin.
The Earl turned at just the right moment and when his gaze landed on Fiona, Olivia could swear she saw his smile soften and suddenly, it seemed like the crush in the ballroom did not seem to matter to either her cousin or the Earl.
“You should walk up to him,” she urged her cousin.
“Not yet,” Fiona replied with a mysterious smile.
“Not yet?” she echoed. “Fi, have you seen the way that man is looking at you? He probably cannot see anything else in this entire ballroom!”
Fiona laughed softly and gently fluttered her fan. “Not yet, Livvy,” she insisted softly. “He will walk to me instead.”
Olivia looked at her cousin doubtfully. She had seen the parade of suitors descending upon Bennet House the past few days and none of them were probably as quietly persistent as the Earl of Westmore.
While the others strutted about, loudly declaring poems and stuffing their entire residence with flowers, he could be found quietly staying close by to Fiona, occasionally whispering something to her that would make her smile or laugh.
However, she wondered if that truly was enough to call him to her side from right across the room without saying anything.
“Fiona, I do not think—”
But her cousin simply smiled and said, “Just wait, Livvy. Patience is a virtue.”
When Fiona turned around with a gentle swish of her skirts, Olivia watched in amazement as Miles appeared to excuse himself from his conversation with Lord Englebert and began to walk in their direction.
“Fiona!” she said in an awed whisper. “He is coming over to us!”
“I know,” Fiona giggled from behind her fan. “Now, be quiet or he will know we have been talking about him and we cannot have him knowing that much.”
Olivia nodded stiffly and followed suit, turning away from Miles, who was doggedly making his way to them through a whole crowd of people. She could see him coming closer and closer out of the corner of her eye, but Fiona looked supremely unbothered at all. When he finally reached them, Olivia found herself releasing the breath she did not realize that she had been holding in all along.
“Good evening, ladies,” he greeted them with a dazzling grin.
“Good evening, Lord Westmore,” Fiona returned the greeting with a soft smile, her gaze briefly meeting his before she cast it downward.
“Miss Bennet, I believe you have promised me your first dance tonight,” he reminded her.
“Did I?” Fiona made a great show of perusing her dance card before nodding. “Why, I believe I did, my Lord.”
Olivia watched as she slipped her hand into his arm, and they walked off to the dance floor. A short distance away, she turned her head back to Olivia and winked.
Olivia could only shake her head in amazement. It would seem that with her success at the competition, Fiona had managed to gain something else—sheer confidence.