Page 7 of Miss Kimble Bites Back (Revenge of the Wallflowers #28)

CHAPTER SEVEN

As Gabby stood on the sidelines of yet another ball, her heart continued to sink through the floor. The room was a sea of brightly colored gowns, elegant hairstyles, and sparkling jewelry but she felt apart from the merriment. The other debutants seemed to have all found their feet. They belong here, but Gabby was no longer certain she could ever feel the same.

She experienced a pang of envy as she watched the other ladies twirl and glide by on the arms of their handsome partners, wishing she might be dancing with her suitor…if she had one. However, many of those women had greater dowries than hers, so it was to be expected that they might be pursued by men in need of funds.

But were all of society s gentlemen so dim? Did they not value a woman with intelligence too?

Gabby didn t let her disappointment show, nor dare run to find her cousin or Lady Windermere, to bolster her declining spirits. No, she put on a polite smile and circled the dance floor with Daisy and observed the proceedings just as she had for weeks.

Couples moved around them, laughing, and chatting, and she wondered what it would be like to be the center of someone s attention like that. For a while, she d believed she d had a man s attention that way, but then he had gone away.

Her eyes were drawn as they often were to Lord Brookes, but now when she looked at his ever-present smile, she distrusted the emotion behind it. He had singled out Justine for attention this week, dancing with her and promenading the room with her.

Yet last week it had been another debutant entirely who had captivated his attention.

Her eyes were drawn to Justine s smiling face and sighed. She appeared to be having a marvelous time despite claiming she had no interest in Lord Brookes from the start.

Gabby had never managed to dance even once with Brookes and had given up hope a few nights ago. What was there about him that had drawn her notice in the first place? Was it only that he was handsome, and always smiling? Was there anything of substance underneath that smile to attach her feelings to?

And Justine, dancing with Lord Brookes, seemed to bask in his company. When the set ended, Justine and Brookes returned to her sister s side. They chatted for a few moments and then Brookes went away. Justine fanned her face, while her sister whispered in her ear.

Although Gabby tried to catch her eye several times, Justine never once looked their way or moved to join them. She hadn t since the first night Brookes had singled her out, too.

Daisy suddenly dug her elbow into Gabby s side. Did you hear that?

What?

He s here, Daisy whispered excitedly. The Duke of Mamble is here.

Gabby s stomach lurched and she looked around, but she did not see him in the ballroom.

A duke had almost kissed her.

A man she had wronged from the start. She had apologized and believed herself forgiven, but she had not seen him again since that day. She might have imagined he d gone back to the country, but Lady Windermere and her husband spoke of his activities in London often.

And Gabby had foolishly looked for him the past weeks and wondered how he fared, and how his sister was getting on, too.

Yet wasn t it foolish to long to see the duke again? Just as ridiculous as her preoccupation with Lord Brookes had been. Neither man would consider her for their wife.

But it had been as clear as the tip of her nose that the Duke of Mamble found her attractive, which was more than she could say of Brookes fleeting interest. An almost-kiss was a significant step up from mouthing empty pleasantries, and that kiss might have happened if she wasn t so young and inexperienced of men.

Perhaps, too, it was her lack of dowry that discouraged a pursuit. Gabby didn t put much stock in Lady Windermere s claim that their distant relationship gave her a significant advantage over other debutants and increased her chances of making a great match this season.

Yet after all these weeks in society, Gabby still clung to hope that some man would choose her for herself. However, when Mamble had vanished from society, no one had asked her to dance with them again. She was beginning to feel like a pariah, or a plain and dull wallflower. She knew that her cousin was hoping for a good match and espoused patience. But the last thing Gabby wanted was to burden Bennett with the expense of a second season.

But what more could she do to stand out from the crowd than she d done already? She had no great talent for music; she was pretty but not stunning like Lady Cordelia was.

As she stood there, lost in her thoughts, a voice interrupted her reverie. Excuse me, Miss Kimble. May I have this dance?

Gabby looked up to see Mamble, tall and devastatingly handsome, standing before her again, a charming smile on his lips. She blinked in surprise that he would even bother to approach her.

Yet without a second thought, Gabby placed her hand in his, and they moved onto the dance floor together. As they began to dance the waltz in silence, Gabby felt a glimmer of foolish hope lighten her heart. Maybe, just maybe, tonight would be different, and the night her fortunes changed again for the better, thanks solely to the duke.

She glanced beyond his shoulder and suddenly felt self-conscious in his arms that so many people stared at them already. They were probably wondering why he d chosen to dance with her out of all others. She d like to know that, as well.

Ignore them, he whispered.

She would if she didn t feel picked apart by every eye. Where have you been?

Home, he whispered, and her stomach lurched in dread.

She wet her lips to whisper back, I trust your sister remains in good health.

Cordelia could actually be improving, he whispered back. He squeezed her hand a little more firmly, and then softened his grip again.

That is good news. Gabby squeezed his hand back to express her relief. I was afraid for a moment she might be worse because of me.

She wants to see you. Tomorrow morning, Mamble confessed.

I should love to see her, too, Gabby said, dropping her eyes to his broad expanse of chest because her cheeks were growing warm, thanks to his cologne filling her lungs again. I feared our presence might have frightened her the last time.

Mamble tightened his grip on her fingers. Will you come?

For breakfast?

No, a little later. Cordelia wishes you to join her for tea midmorning. You can bring your guardian.

Gabby immediately realized the timing was problematic. The morning after a ball was a crucial time for a debutant. She might have gentlemen call on her at home—except none but the duke had asked her to dance so far tonight.

In recent weeks, too, the number of morning callers had dwindled from the crush the duke s attention had first instigated to none, though. Even moving to stay with Lady Windermere had not improved the situation.

Tomorrow could be more of the same. Gabby waiting for hours, and she didn t want to do that again. Besides, it might only be the duke calling on her tomorrow, anyway. She did want to see him, and talk to his sister, too. Cordelia would not come to her.

I will be pleased to call on your sister, she promised. I would like that very much.

Good, he said firmly, and she was pulled in a little closer to his chest. There will be a formal invitation waiting by the time you return home.

We are staying with Lady Windermere, she said quickly, in case he hadn t heard the news.

I already knew that, he said with a wink.

Gabby tried to return a smile that she hoped did not reveal how pleased she was that he knew where to find her. Being in the duke s arms made her feel better. She was deeply interested in nurturing a friendship with his shy sister, even if the duke did not want her for anything else.

Their dance was ending, and her time with Mamble was almost over. He spun her quickly for the final turns, let her go, and then stepped back to bow deeply to her.

Gabby curtsied, and then straightened to clap along with everyone else. But her dance with the duke had gone so quickly that she was disappointed it was already over. Might he linger at her side tonight, or would he flee like he had the last time they danced together?

Mamble moved closer, and his fingers settled briefly at the small of her back. To Miss Ellis or to your cousin? he enquired.

To Miss Ellis, if you please, she whispered back, pleased that he remembered the name of her friend and fighting a shiver.

He accompanied her all the way to Daisy s side and even spoke with her for a few minutes. But as she d feared, he took his leave of her too soon, and then of the ballroom entirely.

My word, Daisy said, fanning herself. How are you still standing?

I beg your pardon? Gabby asked, dragging her eyes away from the distant doorway.

The way Mamble looked at you tonight was almost indecent, Daisy whispered. You will be the talk of the ton tomorrow.

He just looks at me like he does anyone else, Gabby said, shrugging away her accusation.

No, my dear, Daisy chided. That is how a man who wants should look at a woman dancing in his arms.

There is nothing like that between us, she whispered, embarrassed by Daisy s suspicions.

Well, that is sad, because it s clear he is as interested in you as you are in him.

In his sister, she said quickly. I have been invited to take tea with Lady Cordelia tomorrow morning.

If I were you, I would find a way to take anything the duke might put in front of you tomorrow, too, Daisy whispered, and then chuckled. Oh, that was wicked of me, wasn t it? I should add make sure he ll marry you first , of course, before too much excitement happens between you.

Gabby gaped. When Justine was not around, Daisy became more outspoken and blunt and had revealed the startling fact that she was no sheltered young miss, either. She knew a lot more about the behavior of amorous men and women than Gabby had ever suspected could exist.

Despite Daisy s blunt honesty, Gabby still had not admitted that she d almost been kissed by the Duke of Mamble. Gabby leaned close to whisper in Daisy s ear, What would be considered too much?

A kiss, a close embrace, a little panting, Daisy said with a laugh. But if it feels right…

Feels right?

Every moment with Mamble had felt wonderful. She recalled with perfect clarity how he d almost kissed her. She d wanted his lips on hers. She might have let him get all the way to a little panting, too. But that had been long after her foolish declaration to him about admiring Lord Brookes.

She had not understood at the time how she could have felt that way about the duke if she was intent on catching Lord Brookes eye. Why she d not been more concerned about her virtue around the duke? Now she was no longer torn over her initial attraction to the two men though. However, she d no idea if it could be more.

Mamble, a man who made her decidedly unsettled, was a duke and so far above her she didn t truly imagine he could have any serious interest. He d even told her so.

Brookes was a well-to-do viscount, but not as rich as the duke must surely be. He might have always intended to marry a woman who brought riches to his pocket. Justine s dowry was greater than Gabby s.

Gabby turned to find her friend in the crowd. Justine had claimed disinterest in Brookes, but there she was, standing right beside him again and smiling up at him.

Daisy, are we sure Justine is not in love with anyone? Gabby asked, finally willing to consider the possibility Justine had not been truthful about ambitions for matrimony.

She never said so to me, Daisy whispered back. But then she was always more your friend than mine. Why do you ask?

It s probably nothing. Just my imagination getting the worst of me, Gabby promised.

Best to turn your mind to being whatever the Duke of Mamble might desire instead, Daisy suggested before being pulled away to dance with a friend of her glowering guardian s.

Gabby still had no dance partners and moved back to her cousin Bennett s side, but she kept an eye on Justine. The woman still ignored her. Had Gabby been entirely wrong about their friendship surviving the rigors of the season? Would they even get to the end of it and still be speaking?

She dropped her eyes to her fingers, wishing the duke had stayed a little longer to distract her. Not because he was rich and powerful, but because he was the only man she d met who she felt spoke to her as if her opinion mattered.

A duke could do largely as he pleased, and that could also extend to making a marriage to someone without a vast dowry other men might insist upon. Perhaps Daisy had the right of it. Perhaps she ought to have aimed a little higher in her expectations.

Of all the balls she d known Mamble to have attended in recent weeks, he d only danced with a few ladies. Herself, and older married friends of his. Gabby had danced with Mamble twice but had not taken the time to appreciate the experiences. Would it be weeks before they might dance together again?

Brookes had done nothing to earn or keep her admiration. It had been Gabby pursuing the idea of him as a husband all along, and as she saw Justine laugh and attach herself to the viscount s arm, she acknowledged she might have made a miscalculation.

Bennett nudged her. Why so great a sigh?

She looked up at her cousin. Bennett believed she would make a good match. But there was no one beside the duke that appealed to her. I think I should like to go home early.

Oh? Why?

I just…I think I have a headache coming on, she fibbed, hoping that was explanation enough to obtain his agreement. Bennett had quite enjoyed the balls they d been attending lately. He d earned his own string of feminine admirers too. He liked to dance and flirt and do all the things bachelors could to win over feminine hearts. Though he had not shown particular interest in any one woman so far.

Bennett slowly nodded. Very well, we can leave after you ve said good night to Daisy and told Lady Windermere. You ve thrown yourself into the season with vigor, but perhaps you ought to be more selective of the invitations you accept.

Yes, perhaps I should, she promised. She did not tell Bennett yet that she was expecting to find an invitation to join the duke s sister for tea tomorrow, or that she was eager to accept it. He would find out for himself soon enough and would most likely agree that such an invitation could not possibly be declined.

She wanted to see Cordelia and the Duke of Mamble again very much.