But now he was wondering if he had been blinded by his desire to advance his family’s position in society. And what of Lady Cecily? Was this marriage really what she wanted, or was she merely doing what her father told her to, against her own wishes?
He had thought that she was equally in agreement—after all, she had claimed she couldn’t be happier when he had asked for her hand. But nothing in her actions since that day suggested she was genuinely happy. Had he been blinded to what she really wanted because their marriage suited him perfectly? Was he now seeing signs of reluctance on her part because that, too, suited him? Dominic was never confused about what he wanted. Usually he knew exactly what he wanted, made a decision and stuck to it. But suddenly his engagement to Cecily Hardgrave was becoming increasingly confusing and causing him to question the wisdom of his decisions.
‘You should do what makes you happy, Cecily,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry about what anyone else wants, your father, or me. Do what makes you happy.’ He was starting to sound like his parents, or, worse than that, Nellie Regan, with all this talk of happiness, but he could not see this young woman suffer if marriage to him was not what she wanted.
She looked up at him, her eyebrows drawn together, her false smile wavering. The band finished playing and they stopped dancing.
‘Thank you, Dominic.’ He was unsure whether she was thanking him for the dance or for what he had just said, or merely making polite, meaningless conversation.
He offered her his arm. She placed her gloved hand lightly on his forearm and he led her off the dance floor. Cecily immediately excused herself, muttering something about a problem with the servants she needed to sort out. Dominic watched her leave the ballroom. He’d never met anyone who had more problems with their servants. It seemed every time they were together, she had to rush off to sort out some problem or other.
Cecily and her parents were staying at Lockhart Estate overnight, so had brought Cecily’s lady’s maid, along with the family’s coachman, a footman and her parents’ personal servants. With so few servants in attendance Dominic could hardly see what problems would demand her immediate attention. But it would seem he was wrong.
He looked around and saw Amanda was dancing with the Duke of Castlemere’s son. This was even more than he had hoped for when he had decided to host a ball. He smiled with satisfaction. When the other guests saw she had drawn the attentions of someone so high up in the social hierarchy it would certainly spark interest among the unmarried men. Dominic was sure he would soon be getting visits from one or more of the young men, with requests to keep company with his sister.
With the main reason for this ball taken care of, he could attend to the other reason for hosting this occasion. It provided him with the opportunity to mix with influential people who would further advance the family’s position in society. He crossed the ballroom floor and joined a group of eminent men, which included a member of the House of Commons and two members of the House of Lords, just the sort of men with whom he should be associating.
He shook their hands and listened as they discussed the new horseless carriages and a recent motor-racing competition that had taken place in France where automobiles had reached a staggering twenty miles per hour. The men were all excited about the prospect of being able to drive their own vehicles at such speeds and several had already put in orders to have a horseless carriage built.
Dominic was also interested in the possibilities of this new technology and the changes it would make to society, but he couldn’t stop his gaze from straying again as he searched the room to see if Nellie Regan was watching.
He couldn’t see her anywhere and knew he should not be looking. He forced his attention back to the group of men and tried to pay attention as they moved on to discussing the latest bills before the House.
Would she be condemning him for talking to this group of older men when he should be dancing with his fiancée and enjoying himself? Once again, he reminded himself that he did not care one iota what this former lady’s maid thought of him. She might be enterprising, with energy that most businessmen would envy, and she might be so attractive and graceful that she could easily pass as a member of the aristocracy, but she was still little more than a servant. A person in trade at best. And he was wasting his time even thinking about her.
And he wouldn’t think about her. He cast one more glance around the room. He wouldn’t imagine what she would say about him attending a ball and spending his time talking politics rather than dancing.
After all, he could hardly dance and have fun if his fiancée was absent, so of course he would spend the evening talking to a group of men. It had nothing to do with being boring or lacking passion.
He looked around the room again. Cecily had not come back either. She had been absent for a considerable amount of time. Surely any problem with the servants would be settled by now.
He excused himself from the circle of men. He had been remiss and should have thought to check earlier, or even offered to help her with whatever problem she was encountering.
He skirted round the dance floor and asked a footman if he knew where Lady Cecily had gone. The footman informed him that she was last seen heading towards the servants’ hall. Dominic rarely went
