“Fun?” Teddy quirked a brow upward. “You and I have very different ideas of what constitutes fun. Being snubbed and enduring and empty dance card is not anything remotely entertaining. Why must I do this again?”
“Zachary thinks…”
“Your husband has no idea what it is like for a woman on the marriage mart. He would’ve successfully avoided matrimony altogether if he had not been confined to a country estate with you.” She glanced at Billie and said wryly, “He fell in love despite his best efforts at avoiding it.”
“It helps that I’m irresistible,” Billie replied cheekily.
Teddy’s lips twitched. “I suppose there is that.”
“My lady, let me help you into your gown,” Madame Auclair said. She held Teddy’s blue and white muslin day dress before her. She slipped into it, and Madame Auclair started fastening her buttons. Soon she’d be able to leave this overheated dress shop. “There,” she said as the last button was slipped into its corresponding hole. “You’re all done.”
“Wonderful,” Teddy said. “Now we can go home.”
“The ball gown is ready for you to take with you now,” Madame Auclair told her. “The rest of the dresses will be delivered after we’re finished with the last of the alterations.”
“Thank you,” Billie said, then turned her attention to Teddy. “See, it wasn’t nearly as terrible as you thought it would be.” She grinned. “Now to go home and start preparations for the ball tonight.”
Teddy rolled her eyes and held her thoughts inside. Billie would only fuss even more if she explained how much, again, she hated balls, soirees, or society functions in general. “I understand why you’re excited,” Teddy began. “You never had a proper season. Father gambled away all of the family fortune. We had no dowries or funds to support a season. This is your launch as much as it is mine.”
“In some ways, I suppose that is true,” Billie conceded. “I’m an old matron now though. It won’t be the same.” She grew silent as they exited the modiste shop. “Zachary really does believe this will help. I do listen to you, and I understand it’ll be uncomfortable. If it truly becomes unbearable, you can end your season early. All I ask is that you at least try before you give in.”
Teddy frowned. Had she been that terrible? “I am acting like a brat.”
“Only a little bit,” Billie said. She held her hand up with her thumb and forefinger almost touching. “Zach will give you your dowry to do with as you please if you don’t want to use it to find a husband. Neither one of us wants to see you unhappy. We want you to explore all your options before you settle on one path.”
“All right,” Teddy said reluctantly. “I’ll stop complaining.” She wasn’t promising to try though. She had no desire to find a husband. Teddy was a wallflower, and a wallflower she’d remain.
Ezra Halsey, Viscount Carrolton, stared at the crush of people in the ballroom. Why had he agreed to attend this ball again? Oh, right, his sister, Amelia… It was her first season, and as the head of the family, he had to attend the bloody season with her. It wouldn’t look good if he didn’t at least make an appearance at some of the society functions.
He needed a drink, and none of the warm punch Lady Windley found acceptable to serve her guests. No that would not quench his thirst. It would only make him want something else. He needed something stronger, that would burn as it traveled down his throat. It would help him suffer through this evening’s entertainment. The mothers with marriageable daughters would expect him to dance with their insipid offspring. Perhaps he was being harsh with that description, but he couldn’t find any that deserved a better depiction.
“You look as if you’re itching to bolt at any moment,” a man said.
Ezra turned and grinned. His friend, the Duke of Graystone, stood beside him. His reddish gold hair was brushed back, and his green eyes nearly sparkled with mischief. He was dressed in almost all black. His shirt and starched cravat were a bright white. “Why the blazes are you here?” A ball was the last place he expected the duke to be. He avoided marriage more than any of them did. “The mamas will pounce at the sight of a newly minted duke.”
He grinned. “They’ll be too late. As I already have a wife and cannot have more than one. It would be frowned upon.”
Graystone had married. The world was really about to end. “Surely, you jest.”
“Marriage is not something I would ever speak lightly about. I married a fortnight ago by special license. I am officially not in the market for a wife.”
Ezra lifted a brow. “I didn’t realize you were ever in the market for a wife.”
Graystone chuckled. “Because I wasn’t. It’s amazing how love will change your perspective.”
“Who did you marry?” The last Ezra was aware, Graystone had gone to his new country seat and… “Please tell me you didn’t marry your uncle’s widow.”
“All right I won’t,” he grinned.
Ezra stared at him baffled. Surely… No. He had to have misunderstood somehow. Graystone had been completely against marriage. What could have changed?
“Good lord, you did. Have you lost your mind?”
“Perhaps,” Graystone admitted. “But I have no regrets. Billie is the love of my life, and she is going to be the mother of my children. I’m happy. Be happy for me.”
Ezra shook his head. He hoped that Graystone wouldn’t come to regret his decision. In Ezra’s experience nothing good came out of marriage. Sometimes he wished his sister wasn’t so set on finding a match. He’d always take care of her, so she didn’t need a husband. “I wish you nothing but the best.
