Chapter Two
“Miss Baynes is next on your dance card,” Mr. Washington told Brad later that evening.
Under ordinary circumstances, Brad wouldn’t have hired Mr. Washington to find ladies to fill up his dance card, but he was having a difficult time finding out which ladies were available and which weren’t. So Mr. Washington had gone around the room to make inquiries, and then he secured a slot for Brad to dance with as many of them as possible. It was a much more efficient method than what he’d used in the previous Seasons.
Back then, he’d worked his way through the room and engaged in many conversations. Half the time, he found out the ladies were already spoken for, and this was after he’d wasted a good five minutes in dialogue with them. This Season, he was going to be smarter about things. He was only going to dance and talk with available ladies. Then, at least, he knew there was a chance for marriage.
Brad tried to think of who Miss Baynes was, but his mind drew a blank. “Which one is she?” he asked Mr. Washington.
“She’s the one of Spanish descent. She’s wearing a green gown.”
Brad turned his attention to the group of four ladies Mr. Washington pointed to. At once, Brad’s gaze went to Miss Baynes. He didn’t often come across ladies with such beautiful dark hair, and in addition to being beautiful, her hair was long and wavy. Her skin had a healthy glow to it that complemented her hair nicely. From where he was standing, he couldn’t tell her eye color, but he did note her small nose, high cheekbones, and rosy lips. She had a cute look about her. She wasn’t the kind of lady who made a room full of gentlemen stop everything they were doing to look at her, but she did have a pleasant face.
She had a nice figure, too. Plump round breasts that pressed together in her gown to show off a hint of cleavage. A narrow waist that gave way to hips suited for childbirth. She was probably shorter than him by a foot, but things like height didn’t bother him. He was taller than most gentlemen, so he figured he would end up with a lady who was significantly shorter than him anyway.
Besides, there was much more to a lady than how she appeared. The important thing was how she conducted herself. What kind of person was she? Was she gentle, kind, and graceful? Would she make a good wife?
In Miss Baynes’ case, there was only one way he was going to find out. “All right,” he told Mr. Washington, “I’m ready to dance with her.”
With a nod, Mr. Washington led him over to the group of ladies who were laughing. The ladies, upon noticing him and Mr. Washington, turned to greet them.
“Good evening,” Mr. Washington said. “May I introduce Lord Youngtown?” He gestured to Brad.
Brad gave a slight bow, and the ladies gave a slight curtsy.
“If it’s not an inconvenient time,” Mr. Washington began, “Lord Youngtown would like to share a dance with Miss Baynes.”
“Oh, that’s right,” a middle-aged lady replied, glancing at the card in her hand. “I believe he is next on her card.” Her gaze went to Brad. “I am the Duchess of Harding, and Miss Baynes is my niece.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Brad said. This was promising. The aunt had both good manners and grace. He liked that. Perhaps the niece would be the same way. He directed his attention to Miss Baynes and extended his hand toward her since the music was about to start. “May I have this next dance?”
Miss Baynes offered him a smile and accepted his hand. Her grip was firm but gentle. Another good sign. He didn’t like it when a lady’s hands were limp or too tight.
He led her to the center of the room, and as soon as the music started, he guided her into the dance.
“You have a lovely ballroom,” she told him. “Your choice of colors is very well done. I think it’s the most attractive ballroom I’ve seen all Season.”
Pleased by her compliment, he smiled. “Thank you.”
She returned his smile, and it made her even prettier. “You’re welcome. I noticed the room is symmetrical, too. You’ve chosen the same design on all of the walls.”
“Would you believe you’re the first person who’s noticed that?”
She chuckled. “Surely, you jest. This room is magnificent. You must receive compliments about it all the time.”
“What I told you is the truth. No one else seems to appreciate this room even though I took great care in choosing its design.”
And it had taken him a good three months to finally settle on it. At the time, his sister, Loretta, and his brother, Stephen, thought he was being obsessive about it.
“All the time and care you took into designing this room paid off,” Miss Baynes assured him. “It really is a splendid sight.”
“The other rooms in this place are similar to this one,” he said.
“You used the same colors and designs that you did here?” By the twinkle in her eye, he could tell she was teasing him.
He grinned. “No, I didn’t use the same design or colors, but I did take great care and consideration into how the other rooms in this place were decorated. I love symmetry. When I look at architecture and paintings, I am especially drawn to things that have a balance to them. Symmetry represents order. I like order. It’s predictable. Predictability brings a sense of peace. I don’t think we can ever have too much peace.”
Especially when a gentleman had a younger brother who was constantly running about London creating mischief wherever he went.
“Tell me,” he began, “do you find comfort in orderly things?”
“To be honest, I haven’t thought about it,” she said. “Each day seems to have its own routine. I just go from one thing to the next.”
“Routine is an order in itself. Every day after the sun rises, people get up, put on clothes, eat, and then either engage in work or a leisurely activity. In the evening, they go to sleep. Then they wake up the next morning to do it all over again.”
“When you put it that way,” Miss Baynes began, “it actually makes life seem a bit boring.”
“I wouldn’t call it boring. I’d say it’s comforting. I find contentment in it.” Realizing that he’d spent all of this time talking about himself, he asked her, “What about you? What activities do you enjoy doing?”
“Well, I love taking a stroll through the park. I have a younger brother and sister, and I spend a lot of time with them. We try to make it to the circus at least once a year.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh! One time we actually went for a hot air balloon ride. That was a lot of fun.”
“Fun? You didn’t find it scary?”
“I was scared at first, but once I was in the air, I was too busy enjoying the view of the land around me to be nervous.”
“You’re braver than I am. I could never go on a hot air balloon ride.”
“I’m sure you could. It’s really not that scary once you’re up in the air.”
“No, I don’t think so. I like my feet firmly planted on the ground.”
“What about horse rides? Your feet aren’t on the ground for that.”
“I’ve ridden horses, but I prefer carriages. Horses have a way of being sweaty and dirty. I like to be clean.”
“Yes, but you can always change clothes when you’re done.”
“That’s true.”
The music came to an end, and he was sorry for it. He had been enjoying his conversation with Miss Baynes immensely, and he had wished to continue talking to her. Perhaps he might get a second dance with her. Then they could continue where they left off.
“I better get you back to your aunt and friends, but I want you to know I enjoyed our dance,” he told her.
Her smile widening, she said, “I enjoyed it, too.”
Good. That was a very promising sign. Maybe his luck with ladies was finally changing.
He offered his arm and she took it. As he began to escort her off the dance floor, they got too close to another couple and she bumped into the lady. The lady shrieked. Miss Baynes jerked back in surprise and bumped into Brad. Brad’s foot caught onto the hem of her gown, and they went tumbling to the floor together.
Before he even had time to register what had happened, the laughter from the onlookers made his face grow hot from embarrassment. In all the balls he’d been to over the past four years, nothing like this had happened to him. All it took was just one dance with Miss Baynes and he had become the laughingstock of the room.
Who knew if this would end up in the Tittletattle tomorrow? Who knew if the Ton would be laughing at him for days, weeks, months…maybe even years from now? What if he went down in history as the “Earl Who Fell Flat on His Behind”? And right at his own ball of all places!
He hurried to his feet and quickly helped Miss Baynes up. He rushed her over to her aunt and friends, mumbled a quick goodbye, and then he hightailed it out of the room.
He could not bring himself to go back in there. Not tonight. Maybe, he could continue his search for the perfect lady. But he could not continue the search tonight.
It was unfortunate. Up to the debacle, he and Miss Baynes had seemed well matched for each other. But people would forever remember them as the couple who fell in the middle of everyone at the ball, and he couldn’t be strapped with that stigma for the rest of his life. He was just going to have to find someone else.
***
The next afternoon, Ava was in her bedchamber when a knock came at the door. She looked up from the game of chess she was playing with Dinah. “I should get that.” As she stood up, she playfully admonished, “You better not move that piece until I’m back.”
Her sister gasped in innocence.
Hands on her hips, Ava added, “I know full well you have a tendency to be mischievous.”
Her sister grinned. “I promise I won’t cheat this time. All the pieces will be where they are now.” She gestured to the board.
“I hope so. One has to keep a careful eye on you.” Chuckling, Ava went to the door.
The butler handed her an envelope. “This just came for you.”
Thinking it was from Opal, Ava thanked him then returned to the chessboard.
“Who is it from?” her sister asked.
Ava looked at the handwriting on the envelope and frowned. It wasn’t Opal’s handwriting. In fact, she didn’t recognize the handwriting at all.
“I don’t know.” Ava pulled the parchment out of the envelope. “I’ve never gotten something from this person before.”
She quickly read through the missive, her eyes growing wide.
“Who is it from?” her sister asked, leaning forward in interest.
“It’s from Lord Youngtown,” Ava said.
“Who’s he?”
“He was a gentleman I danced with last night at the ball. I didn’t think he cared for me all that much after I bumped into him so that we both fell to the floor.”
Her sister giggled. “You fell to the floor right in the middle of a dance?”
“We didn’t fall during the dance. We fell after the dance was over, but we were in the middle of the dance floor. I thought for sure he was never going to talk to me after that. He looked so horrified. He ran right out of the room, and he didn’t come down for the rest of the evening, even though the ball was at his townhouse.”
Dinah laughed. “Only you would fall and take someone else down with you.”
“It wasn’t funny.” She paused. “Well, looking back on it, I can see the humor in it, but it wasn’t funny at the time. I felt greatly embarrassed by it. I called out an apology to him, but I don’t think he heard me.”
“I wish I’d been there to see it.”
“It’s better that you weren’t.”
“So is Lord Youngtown demanding an apology?”
Ava read through the missive one more time, just to make sure she understood it correctly. “No. Actually, he wishes to see me again. He asked me if I would pay him a visit tomorrow afternoon around two o’clock.”
“Maybe he got over his embarrassment like you did,” Dinah said. “You can see the humor in it now that it’s over. Maybe he can, too.”
Ava considered her sister’s words. She bet Dinah was right. Sure, the whole mishap at the ball had seemed awful at the time. Even she had needed to retreat to the corner of the room for a good half hour before she was ready to dance with the next gentleman her aunt had put on her card.
There were a couple of people who didn’t want to make eye contact with her, but most of them had seemed to understand that it had been an accident and had given her considerable grace, to which she was grateful. Perhaps Lord Youngtown realized most people had been forgiving of the incident, too.
Ava looked up from the parchment in her hand. “Lord Youngtown and I did have a good conversation.”
“Do you like him?”
Ava nodded. “Yes. He’s very friendly and charming. He’s handsome, too.”
“Do you think he wants to propose to you?”
“He’d have to be my suitor first.”
“Maybe that’s what he wants to do! Maybe he wants to be your suitor.”
Ava bit her lower lip. Could he be planning such a thing? She hadn’t received a missive from any other gentleman before, and she’d had plenty of dances and pleasant conversations with them.
Ava set the missive down and urged her sister to join her at the armoire. “Help me pick out something to wear for tomorrow.”
With an excited squeal, her sister hurried with her to the armoire. “I wish I was old enough to be your chaperone. Then I could be with you tomorrow when you see him.”
“I’ll tell you everything that happens as soon as I get home.”
“You promise?”
Ava nodded as she opened the armoire. “I promise.”
The two sisters turned their attention to the gowns and spent the next hour picking out the one that would be perfect for her upcoming visit with Lord Youngtown.