Chapter 22
Louisa was nervous about tonight’s ball. It had been over a month since her last ball, and that gathering had drawn the attention of the ton.
Now she wouldn’t have Percy with her to help her through it. Nothing could have prepared her for when Percy came to tea. The shock of it had not worn off, and Louisa thought it might not for a long time to come.
Emma had agreed to be at their usual spot and stay close to Louisa for the evening so she wouldn’t be alone. Cecil and Kent could be counted on to dance with her.
Louisa spotted Emma, Inez, and Gertie, and sighed in relief. They all gathered in a circle and began laughing and talking about gentlemen. Louisa was pleased her entry back from exile had started so smoothly.
It became apparent early on that Emma wasn’t exaggerating. Kent and Gertie looked like a serious couple. Cecil and Emma did too except Cecil projected a more laissez-faire attitude that Louisa didn’t believe for a minute.
Cecil approached Louisa, “May I have this dance?”
Louisa put up her hand for Cecil to take and said, “I would love to dance.”
On the dance floor, Cecil said, “You know, Louisa, you need to be very patient. Percy needs time to get his head on straight. He’s not there yet.”
Louisa’s face fell into a serious expression. “I wish that wasn’t so. I miss him.”
He smiled down at her, “Be patient.”
Louisa nodded.
When the dance was over, and they were on the sidelines again, Harold walked up.
“Cecil, could you introduce me to your lovely friend?”
“Certainly,” he said. “Lord Harold Newton, Earl of Pembroke, I would like you to meet Lady Louisa Haddington.”
Harold bowed, and Louisa curtsied.
“May I have this dance, Lady Haddington?”
“Yes,” she said as she lifted her hand to his.
Louisa had to crane her neck to look at Harold, but otherwise, she found him appealing. He was interesting, handsome, and had beautiful straight white teeth that she couldn’t keep her eyes off. His smile was mesmerizing.
Harold told Louisa about meeting Cecil and Kent at Tattersall’s and about joining them at White’s occasionally.
Harold and Louisa seemed to hit it off from the start. When the dance was over, Harold walked Louisa back to the sidelines and stayed next to her to prolong their conversation.
Louisa was laughing at something Harold said when she saw Emma stiffen out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head toward Emma. Emma was looking across the floor. Louisa followed her gaze. Percy and Nora. My, they looked cosy.
To keep Percy from distracting her, Louisa adjusted her stance so that Percy was at her back. Harold didn’t seem to notice because his demeanour didn’t change. Did Percy even know Harold?
Harold asked her to dine with him. She was thrilled. Kent approached her, “Let’s go; my turn.”
She turned to Harold and said, “I’ll be right back.”
“Kent, do you know Lord Newton well?”
“I think so. Cecil and I met him at Tattersall’s, and we’ve met at White’s for drinks or dinner a few times. Percy has yet to meet him, but Cecil and I like him.”
“So you approve of him?”
“Yes, I do. Cecil would say the same thing.”
“Thank you, Kent,” Louisa said when the dance was over. “I’ll let you get back to Gertie.”
Louisa went over to Harold, Cecil and Emma talking on the side of the ballroom. Harold was telling a funny story about his new, very young stable boy when Louisa looked up to see Percy and Nora dancing. A pang of jealousy ran through her as she watched.
Percy wore a detached expression, but Louisa thought it was a studied look. He seemed to be attempting to remove any emotion from his face. It was a shame. Percy had such an expressive face. He was not as handsome without it.
Louisa decided to stop searching for Percy in the crowd. She found it distressing, and except for Percy, she was having more fun than she expected.
The last dance before dinner was a waltz. Harold stretched his arm out for her, and she took it. She needn’t have worried about Harold’s height making their dance challenging; he was an excellent dancer, and she hardly noticed the height.
Percy was watching Louisa dance with the same man twice. He didn’t like it. Who was that man? He’d have to ask Cecil later. He couldn’t torture himself by watching her with another man. He excused himself to Nora, who was chatting with a friend and went to the card room.
Harold felt a tap on his shoulder and turned. Barton was asking if he could cut in. Louisa looked around in panic trying to find Cecil or Kent or even Percy. Surely Percy would rescue her if need be?
Harold walked to the sidelines empty-handed.
“I thought you were dancing?” Kent said.
Harold shrugged. “Someone cut in.”
Kent snapped his head to the dance floor already walking quickly. He looked through the dancers trying to remember the colour Louisa was wearing.
Cecil followed. “I’ll look to the right,” he said to Kent.
Kent heard her first. “Help me, help,” Louisa was yelling against the music.
He ran to her, and Barton let her go. He walked quickly away from the dance floor. Kent put his arm around her forearm and walked her off the dance floor.
“Breathe deep, Louisa. We are almost there. Breathe deep,” Kent whispered. Louisa sat down and closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding. She couldn’t make it slow down.
Cecil was kneeling in front of her. “Louisa, did he hurt you,” he asked gently.
“My hands. He held them too tight, so I couldn’t get away. He was crushing them,” she whispered.
Cecil nodded. “I caught up with him leaving the dance floor. He said he had no idea why you were yelling for help.”
“I told him he was hurting my hands. I told him to stop. He knew.”
Kent had been speaking with Harold while Cecil was questioning Louisa. They came over to Louisa.
“Louisa, I’m so sorry I let him cut in. I didn’t know. Cecil just told me. Please forgive me.”
Louisa looked up at him. His eyes showed his sincerity. How could he have known?
“Don’t blame yourself. I could have avoided all of this if I told you not to let anyone cut in.”
Amelia was behind Cecil and Kent, listening to them. “Louisa,” she said, prompting the men to move aside, “I think it’s time to go home. Please say your goodbyes and meet me at the front door.”
Louisa nodded.
Amelia called for her carriage and took her wrap from the butler. Her nerves were frayed. No one, including herself had been watching Louisa. Where was Percy? Surely, he hadn’t turned his back on her when she needed him.
Louisa’s friends brought her to the front and stayed.
Harold stepped forward and introduced himself to Amelia. She smiled. He seemed like a nice young man.
Harold turned to Louisa, “May I call on you tomorrow?”
Louisa gave him a small smile. “Yes, you may.”
Her friends took her mind off Barton by telling her little things they heard around the ballroom. They had her laughing before the carriage came and took her away.
*****
“Did you want to see me, Father?” Louisa asked, standing in front of his desk in his office.
“Yes, Louisa. Sit down. Your mother told me there was an incident on the dance floor. I’d like to hear the whole story from you.”
Louisa told him what happened making sure not to leave anything out. He nodded in upsetting parts of the story, encouraging her to go on.
When the story was done, Frederick sat back and didn’t say anything. He looked at the ceiling. Louisa waited. He brought his head down and looked at her.
“Where was Percy? Why wasn’t he watching you? Why didn’t he help you?”
Louisa looked at Frederick in surprise. “Father, Percy and I don’t spend any time with one another any longer. We didn’t even say ‘hello’ to one another last night. He was on one side of the room, and I was on the other.”
“Do you mean to tell me he watched Barton crush your hands while you yelled for help, and he did nothing?”
“I suppose. I don’t know. It was clear Kent and Cecil were coming to help me.”
“There’s a ball tonight. Are you going?”
“Yes. I met a man I’d like to see again. He may come during calling hours. His name is Harold Newton. He’s the Earl of Pembroke,” Louisa said.
“Well then, I’ll meet him this evening. I will join you and your mother at this evening’s ball.”
Louisa’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Father. Will you dance with me?”
Frederick laughed. “Of course I will. And don’t even think of letting this Harold person come before me.”
*****
Percy met Cecil and Kent for dinner at White’s. They were in a private room. He knew by looking into the others’ faces that something was wrong.
Cecil started, his voice oozing disgust. “What’s going on? You stayed on the sidelines last night when Louisa needed you? You have now officially taken this ‘feeling sorry for yourself’ too far.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I’m not feeling sorry for myself.”
Kent picked up the conversation, “We’ve been putting up with you and your mood swings for weeks. I’m done. When you don’t lift a finger to help Louisa when she’s in trouble, I know you’ve taken your poisonous thoughts about her too far. I don’t care how broken your heart is, that was a cold thing to do.”
Percy shook his head. “What are you talking about? What happened to Louisa? Is she all right? What?”
Cecil looked at Percy hard. “You don’t know?”
“No, I don’t. But you are scaring me. Is she all right? Should I go over there now?”
Percy stood.
“Sit down, Percy,” Kent said. “How did you miss it? Did you go home early?”
“No, I was busy in the card room losing money. When I thought I had lost enough, I went home. But it was late. Very late.”
Cecil sighed. “Barton cut in on Harold. Since Harold didn’t know about how we safeguard Louisa, he let him in.”
“Who’s Harold?”
“Lord Harold Newton, Earl of Pembroke. We told you. We met him at Tattersall’s. We get together occasionally. You haven’t been all that social lately, so you haven’t met him.”
“And he was dancing with Louisa because . . .”
Kent said, “Because he likes her. He’s constantly asking us questions about her. Where did she grow up? What are her favourite foods? Does she ride? What are her hobbies? He’s got it bad.”
Percy stood and started pacing. “Go on, go on.”
Kent continued, “When Harold walked back to the edge of the dance floor, I asked him where Louisa was. That’s when he told me someone cut in.
“I ran onto the dance floor looking for her. At first, I couldn’t find her. By then, Cecil was looking on one side, me on the other.
“I heard her yelling ‘help’ and followed the sound of her voice. She was frightened. Barton dropped her hands and casually walked off the dance floor so the crowd on the sidelines didn’t suspect anything. He didn’t run away.
“Louisa said he grasped her hands so tight she couldn’t feel them. He knew she couldn’t run from him if he grasped her hands hard enough.”
Percy looked at Kent. Then he looked over at Cecil. Then he continued to pace.
Cecil said, “I went after Barton. I wanted an explanation. He didn’t give one. I asked him why he didn’t let her go when she yelled, and he said she didn’t yell. I got nowhere with him.”
“Then what happened?”
“Amelia told her she was going home. We stayed with her by the front door until the coach came. They left. Kent and I searched for Barton, but he must’ve left.
“Why didn’t you find me? I would have gone to Louisa’s.”
Cecil shrugged. “You haven’t wanted to have anything to do with her since before she went away, and we thought you watched the whole incident and didn’t lift a finger. We thought you didn’t want to help her.”
“Have I been that bad?” he said, having stopped pacing, standing up facing Cecil and Kent.
“Yes, Percy you have.”
Percy turned to Cecil, “You think so too?”
“Yeah, I do. You’ve been cold. We’ve talked about stopping our dinners if you didn’t snap out of it. Our sympathy for you is gone, Percy.”
Percy sat across from them. “You’ve been thinking of stopping our dinners? Why didn’t you tell me? You’re my best friends; you should have been honest with me.”
Cecil snorted. “Louisa is your best friend. Don’t you remember? And we tried to tell you, and you wouldn’t listen. There’s only so much we can take.”
“Humph. I keep making a bad situation worse, don’t I?”
“Yes,” Cecil said.
“But how is Louisa? Is she all right? Are any of her fingers broken?”
Cecil shrugged. “She left so fast it’s hard to tell. She was still in shock when she left the ball.”
Percy sat. He put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. “I’m a heel, aren’t I?”
Cecil laughed. “Yes, you are. But you can change back to the other Percy that we like.”
Percy nodded. “I’ll try.”