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"Not," Caroline had said, "that I disapprove of your moniker. It is simply that my husband's name is also Henry, and it's rather disconcerting for me to use it on a girl of your tender years."
Henry had only smiled and told her that that was just fine. It had been so long since she had had a maternal figure that she would have been inclined to let Caroline call her Esmerelda if she so desired.
Henry hadn't wanted to enjoy her time in London, but Belle and her mother were making it exceedingly difficult for her to keep her spirits low. They conquered her fears with kindness, slayed her uncertainties with jokes and good humor. Henry missed her life at Stannage Park, but she had to allow that Dunford's friends had brought a certain measure of happiness into her life that she hadn't even realized was missing.
She had forgotten what it meant to have a family.
Caroline had grand plans for her new charge, and within the first week Henry had visited the modiste, the milliner, the modiste, the bookshop, the modiste, the glove shop, and, of course, the modiste. More than once, Caroline had shaken her head and declared that she had never seen a young lady who needed quite so many articles of clothing at one time.
Which was why, Henry thought in agony, they were at the dressmaker's shop for the seventh time in one week. The first couple of visits had been exciting, but now it was exhausting.
"Most of us," Caroline said with a pat on the hand, "try to do this a bit at a time. With you, however, that wasn't an option."
Henry smiled tightly in response as Madame Lambert jabbed another pin in her side.
"Oh, Henry," Belle laughed. "Do try not to look quite so pained."
Henry shook her head. "I think she drew blood that time."
The dressmaker choked back her indignation, but Caroline, the much-esteemed Countess of Worth, hid her smile behind her hand. When Henry went into the back room to change, she turned to her daughter and whispered, "I think I like this girl."
"I know I do," Belle replied firmly. "And I think Dunford does too."
"You don't mean to say he is interested in her?"
Belle nodded. "I don't know if he knows it yet. If he does, he certainly does not want to admit it."
Caroline pursed her lips. "It's high time that young man settled down."
"I have a thousand pounds riding on it."
"You don't!"
"I do. I wagered him several months ago that he would be married within a year."
"Well, we'll certainly have to make sure that our dear Henrietta blossoms into a veritable goddess." Caroline's blue eyes sparkled with matchmaking mischief. "I shouldn't want my only daughter to lose such a large sum of money."
The next day Henry was eating breakfast with the earl and countess when Belle stopped by with her husband, Lord Blackwood. John was a handsome man with warm brown eyes and thick, dark hair. He also, Henry noticed with surprise, limped.
"So this is the lady who has had my wife so busy for the past week," he said graciously, leaning over and kissing her hand.
Henry blushed, unused to the courtly gesture. "I promise you may have her back soon. I'm almost done with my pre-society studies."
John stifled a laugh. "Oh, and what have you learned?"
"Very important things, my lord. For example, if I am going up a flight of stairs, I must follow a gentleman, but if I am going down, he must follow me."
"I assure you," he said with an amazingly straight face, "that that is a useful thing to know."
"Of course. And the horror of it is, I have been doing it wrong all these years and did not even know it."
John managed to hold on to his deadpan expression for one more exchange. "And were you incorrect going up or going down?"
"Oh, going up, to be sure. You see," she said, leaning forward conspiratorially, "I am vastly impatient, and I cannot imagine having to wait for a gentleman if I want to go upstairs."
John burst out laughing. "Belle, Caroline, I think you have a success on your hands."
Henry turned and nudged Belle with her elbow. "Did you notice I managed to use 'vastly'? It wasn't easy, you know. And how was that for flirting? So sorry I had to use your husband, but he was the only gentleman about."
There was a loud "ahem" from the head of the table.
Henry smiled innocently as her eyes flew to the face of Belle's father. "Oh, I beg your pardon, Lord Worth, but I cannot flirt with you. Lady Worth would kill me."
"And I wouldn't?" Belle asked, laughter dancing in her bright blue eyes.
"Oh, no, you're much too kind."
"And I'm not?" Caroline teased.
Henry opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again to say, "I believe I have gotten myself into a bit of a bind."
"And what bind is that?"
Henry's heart lurched at the achingly familiar voice. Dunford was standing in the doorway, looking breathtakingly handsome in buff-colored breeches and a bottle-green coat. "I thought I'd drop in and check on Henry's progress," he said.
"She's doing superbly," Caroline replied. "And we are delighted to have her. I haven't laughed so much in years."
Henry smiled cheekily. "I'm very entertaining."
John and the earl both coughed, presumably to cover their smiles.
Dunford, however, didn't bother to hide his. "I was also wondering if you'd like to go for a walk this afternoon."
Henry's eyes lit up. "Oh, I would like that above all else." Then she spoiled the effect by nudging Belle again and saying, "Did you hear that? I managed to use 'above all else.' It's a silly phrase, to be sure, but I think I am finally beginning to sound like a debutante."