Page 120 of The Duke's Indecent Match

“Oh my,” she said, putting one hand up to her cheek and then bobbing into a curtsy that was just short of the exact degree due to a marquess.“My apologies, my lord.I tripped.”

The Marquess glared at her, trying to reach behind himself to feel the wet spot on his back.It was not very visible due to the black of his coat, but it must have been very uncomfortable because he was squirming in place.

Before he could turn his ire on her, the Earl of Spencer, a darkly handsome man with an extremely impressive glower, stepped up to his wife’s side.Though their rank was lower than a marquess’, their reputation for wild and unpredictable behavior, as well as their connections, made them a force within theton.The fact that the countess was willing to spill her drink on a marquess was proof of that.

And they had their own large circle of influence as well.

The Duke and Duchess of Manchester moved to their side, and Lydia caught Kalina’s eye across the way, giving her a supportive smile.The duke’s sister and her husband, the heir to Viscount Hood, moved out of the crowd as well.Lady Arabella, whose outrageous antics within Society rivaled the Countess of Spencer’s, immediately stepped to her side.The Marquess of Dunbury and his wife, Lord Hyde and his wife, the tall and tawny Marquess of Hartford and his wife…

Kalina’s grandfather and uncle were caught between the two groups, the rest of the ton looking on with bated breath.

“What an unfortunate accident.You are going to want to have that tended to immediately,” Lady Arabella said to the marquess, smiling in a way that was more like baring her teeth.“It is too bad you will have to miss the rest of the ball.”

“Yes, well.”The marquess’ gaze darted back and forth, but no one stepped forward to help him.

No one stepped forward to support him.

He lifted his chin and gestured to his son, who was still holding his nose, though he was no longer glaring at anyone.He seemed to have shrunk in on himself.

“Come, George, I need to go home.”He said it as if it was his idea, but everyone in the ballroom knew that he had been routed.

It was dead silent as he and his son began their long march up the stairs with everyone watching.Lord and Lady Tremaine met them to exchange a farewell as good hosts.Lady Tremaine looked caught between horror and delight—such public contretemps was not her style, but her ball was going to be the talk of the Season after this.

A consummate hostess, the moment the marquess and his son disappeared from her ball, she had the musicians start again.And Kalina finally felt like she could fully breathe again.

She thanked her friends for their support and hugged her mother.Nathanial was doing the same.He and her father exchanged gruff nods.

When her father embraced her, Kalina felt her chest pang.

“I am sorry,” she whispered, knowing that was not the outcome he’d hoped for.

“I am not,” he whispered back, surprising her.“You are far more important to me than either of them.”

Very nearly brought to tears, Kalina pulled back and pushed a smile onto her lips.It would not do for Society to see her crying, not after such a resounding social triumph.

The Countess of Spencer came by to offer her very insincere apologies for interrupting their ‘conversation.’Kalina rather liked the unusual woman, and it was clear that she and Lady Astrid were quite friendly with each other.

Then her husband returned to her side and offered his arm once again.

“My dear.May I have this dance?”

She looked up at him, wonderingly.She wanted to ask him if what he’d said about being a love match was true, but this was not the time nor the place.It would have to wait.

Putting her hand in his, she smiled up at him and let him lead her to the dance floor.

She whirled round the ballroom in his arms, happier than she’d ever been in her life, knowing that her friends and family were watching, some of them joining her and Nathanial on the dance floor.The people who truly mattered.

Herpeople.

Though she knew any chance for reconciliation with her father’s family was gone, somehow it did not matter.She felt free.

Happy.

Fate had ignored what she’d thought she’d wanted and given her what she needed instead.

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Nathanial