“Brava, cousin,” Tony praised with a nod, walking with both women around the edges of the room.
Georgie hummed once very softly. “I suspect that the cause of this sudden change in your voice’s volume, which has never been as sweet as anybody thought, is due to a certain friend of yours.”
“Georgie…” Izzy warned, her cheeks coloring.
“What’s this?” Tony teased, missing nothing in his quick glance. “Does Izzy have a secret suitor?”
Izzy bit her lip and looked away, her face positively flaming now.
Men.
“Tony, if you cannot behave yourself, I will not tell you my suspicions,” Georgie scolded sternly.
Appropriately apologetic, Tony stepped in front of Izzy, plucked up her hand, and kissed her glove quickly. “Izzy, I apologize. I only meant in fun. I would never embarrass you for my own amusement.”
Izzy nodded, managing to smile as her cheeks began to settle. “I know, Tony. It’s just… Well, I cannot say there isn’t a secret suitor, but I cannot say how certain his suit is…”
Tony laughed at that, then gave her a serious look. “My dearest Izzy, if he hasn’t made that perfectly plain, you need to find yourself a more decisive suitor, secret or not.”
His words stopped Izzy short, and she had no response for the moment.
Perfectly plain, he said?
I’m falling in love with you…
Izzy swallowed once, her skin suddenly growing cold and tingling with an odd sensation. That seemed perfectly plain, did it not?
And yet…
“Tony,” Georgie murmured, her eyes trained on Izzy, “be a dear and go find your friends. My cousin and I need a moment alone.”
Ever the obedient husband, Tony nodded, kissed his wife’s cheek, then left them.
Izzy met Georgie’s gaze, fighting a smile, despite an overwhelming embarrassment filling her. “Well?” she asked when her cousin said nothing.
Georgie’s lips quirked and she tugged Izzy along to walk further still. “Don’t rush me. I want to relish the feeling of uncertainty, knowing you have formed an attachment that I know nothing about and cannot confirm.”
“Georgie!” Izzy laughed.
“Does anybody know?” Georgie pressed, her voice eager. “Anyone at all?”
Izzy bit her lip on a laugh. “Not a soul. Only me and only him.”
“That is most certainly as it should be.” Georgie eyed her, a mischievous curve to her lips. “You never blushed before, Izzy. That’s what gave you away. Oh, you’ve surely been embarrassed, and ashamed, and every other such emotion, but never love. Never that.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“Oh, I think you do,” Georgie interrupted firmly, though her tone was still gentle. “And I think you know it. Or shortly will.”
Izzy looked away, her mind and heart seeming to whirl at an impossible speed. She was suddenly lightheaded, though her feet were perfectly sound where they stood. The ends of her hair seemed to burn with a pleasant fire upon her head, and her chest seemed to expand its capacity to breathe by threefold.
Love?
He had said he was falling in love with her, but she hadn’t… She’d never…
The memory of the two of them sitting by the fire at her home suddenly sprang back to life in her mind’s eye, and her heart swelled at the sight. It was a comfortable yet intimate scene, him sketching while she told him a story, and she felt a sudden yearning for more of the same. An eternity of such things, if she could bear it.
She gasped with the newfound pangs, fit to bursting with joy and exhilaration and wonder.
Love…
She loved him.
Izzy slowly turned back to look at Georgie, whose eyes were suddenly misty even as she smiled.
“There it is,” Georgie whispered.
Izzy giggled again, covering her mouth “I didn’t… I’d never…”
“You know what?” Georgie overrode with a laugh. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know who it is yet, I am enjoying this far too much.”
“You promise you won’t tease me?” Izzy asked, giving her cousin a look.
Georgie snorted once. “You want me to promise not to tease you? When you’re clearly all tangled up inside and giddier than Amelia Perry at any given moment? Not a chance.”
Kitty was trembling beside him. Sebastian could feel the tremors in her hand as he held it, leading her into the hallowed halls of Almack’s.
He smiled at the sensation.
She was so improved in that regard and in all other ways, and had begun to truly blossom, but tonight she was utterly terrified.
“What are you thinking?” he murmured to her as they entered.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, looking around with wide eyes.
He glanced around, taking in the lavish mirrors, gilded pilasters and columns, and pristine medallions gracing the ceiling, the ornate lighting… He supposed it did have a stately beauty, though had never particularly appreciated it. He eyed the dais at the upper end and indicated it with his head.
Kitty followed his gaze, her eyes widening further still. “Who are they?”
He managed to avoid laughing and leaned closer. “Those, sister dear, are the Lady Patronesses. They decide who enters and who does not, and they rule all.”
“I’ve never met a single one of them,” Kitty said weakly, barely blinking as she took in all five women in their finery. “How did I manage to make the list?”
“I put you on it, darling,” Miranda assured her as she came up on Kitty’s other side. “Believe me, I am well enough acquainted to have influence here. Don’t mind them, they enjoy looking down their noses in these hallowed halls. As you can see.”
Kitty bit her lip on a giggle, looking up at Miranda with a sort of adoration that Sebastian would have to carefully mind. “Thank you for using your influence on my behalf, Miranda.”
Miranda beamed down at her and patted her hand with fondness. “Not at all, Kitty. Now, find Miss Perry and Izzy, and let the gentlemen here see how lovely you look in lace and pearls!”
With such marching orders, Kitty nodded once, exhaled, and released Sebastian’s hand as she strode forward, head held high.
He watched her go, pride and worry warring within him. She was pretending at confidence, and he would let her, but the overprotective nature of his relationship with her was currently nagging at him to follow her and keep her safe.
She was a woman now, not a little girl, and this was what he wanted for her.
Supposedly.
“She’ll do marvelously, Morton,” Miranda told him in a low voice as she came to his side. “She’s a wonderful girl, and a credit to you. And you know, her timidity is not nearly so off-putting as you feared.”
“That’s because Izzy has helped her,” he replied, letting his eyes slide to the woman in question, now watching Kitty move about with as much pride as he felt. “She has given her comfort and confidence and friends to rely on. I did nothing. She’s a credit to Izzy.”
Miranda hummed in approval. “Far be it from me to prevent Izzy from receiving her due praise, but someone raised that girl into the woman she is, and there’s only one person who can claim that. And his name is certainly not Izzy.”
She squeezed his hand briefly, then moved on, leaving him to stare without shame where he pleased.
Kitty said something that made Izzy laugh, and his heart seized within his chest as she tossed her head back, the glorious copper curls glinting in the light of the room. It made no difference that her brilliant eyes were squeezed shut, the color of her cheeks was enough. The simple gold chain at her throat drew his attention there, and a rosy color spread along the slender column. She was not as fashionably dressed as many other women that he had seen already, but none of them drew his eye as she did.
Only Izzy.
He was falling in love with her, he’d said. He had questioned the wisdom of such an admission more times than he could count in so
short a time, given his inclination on propriety and reserve, but it always came back to the truth of the thing.
He was falling in love. Dangerously, precariously, but undeniably.
Every moment he saw her, it was as though he had forgotten what she looked like. What she sounded like. How she affected him. For heaven’s sake, they had been working together the last two days on more of their stories, and he had just seen her yesterday.
It could have been a lifetime based on how he felt at this moment.
Would it always be like this? Would he always be distracted and breathless when she was around? Would anxieties and insecurities plague him more than in the rest of his life if she were involved?
Would he ever feel at ease again?
He’d barely noticed her before all of this, other than politeness and good manners dictated. He might never have known… never have seen…
As all the rest of the world seemed to.
He would be eternally indebted to her for the help she had been to Kitty, but for him…
Eternity wouldn’t be enough.
“Terrified of the gorgons, are we?”
He barely felt the thump of a hand on his shoulder as Henshaw came to his side.
“Don’t worry, sir,” Henshaw went on, oblivious to Sebastian’s current state of distress and delight. “I’m an Army man. No gorgons are beyond my abilities.”
Sebastian eyed his friend sardonically. “You sure? Five of the most powerful women in London Society?”
Henshaw looked over at them again, then shuddered for effect. “Perhaps not. You’re on your own.”
“Lovely.” He scoffed softly as Henshaw steered him towards Tony and his cousin, Lord Sterling, both of whom were idly watching the dancing that had struck up.
Tony shook his hand while Lord Sterling merely nodded. “Either of you have ideas about the identity of the Spinsters’ guest writer?”
Sebastian nearly groaned. “Not that again.”
Lord Sterling chuckled and gave Sebastian a look. “Tired of it, Morton? You’re the only one in all of London not agog over the speculation.”
“Morton has always tried to rise above such a tiresome thing as gossip,” Henshaw assured him, throwing a teasing look at Sebastian, who ignored it.
“It was one article,” Sebastian protested. He gave a light shrug. “I see no need to get excitable over it.”
“But where there is one, the door is open for more,” Lord Sterling pointed out. He heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Or so my wife informs me.”
Tony laughed and nudged his cousin. “Plaguing you about it, is she?”
Lord Sterling nodded. “I’ve told her to ask Georgie, but she says it would be impolite to infringe upon her privacy. And Janet has received so many inquiries as to whether she is the one who wrote it, which just delights her to no end.”
Sebastian managed a laugh, even as his gaze moved back over to Izzy.
She wasn’t sitting, which was a refreshing change, but with Lady Hetty not attending this evening, there was no one for her to keep company with. Why she always attempted to attend on the older woman, he didn’t know, but she seemed to truly take pleasure in it. So long as it wasn’t taking advantage of her good nature, he wasn’t going to say anything about it.
And despite Izzy’s sudden streak of defensiveness, he suspected she would always be a little too kind and a little too giving.
He wasn’t sure he minded that. Particularly if she were too kind and too giving with regards to him. He could use such leniency in his life with his flaws.
Amelia Perry joined his sister and Izzy now, and he had to smile at her restrained eagerness with Kitty. He recalled how much of a help Miss Perry had been with Prue last year, how gentle and understanding a friend, despite her own vibrant nature, and it seemed she was employing those qualities again with his sister. Kitty actually seemed to enliven further with Amelia there, and the pair of them chatted together while Izzy listened, smiling all the while.
It was astonishing how a woman of her quality and nature should be available for courtship and marriage at her age. That she should even be a spinster at all, let alone one with a capital S. But he could also see how the virtues she possessed should be undervalued and underappreciated, given how exploited they were by nearly everyone she knew. Hers was exactly the sort of nature that could have been ignored in a romantic sense when it should always have been vaunted.
He’d heard it said of her that she was a spinster because she was nice. She should have been snapped up because she was nice.
Because she was good.
Because she was warm.
Because she could tease a reserved man into an affable serenity, and coax smiles from him that only a handful of souls had ever done.
He’d never understand why he could fall in love with her, but he would be forever grateful that he could.
“There’s a fine pairing,” Tony commented, breaking into Sebastian’s rosy reflections.
“What, Miss Morton and Miss Perry?” Lord Sterling asked of no one in particular. He made a soft sound of agreement. “I should say so! Miss Perry will help draw Miss Morton out, and Miss Morton can give Miss Perry a steadying influence. What do you think, Henshaw?”
Henshaw took a moment to respond. “Far be it from me to find the need for improvement in either lady. I think very highly of both, and their mutual association could only benefit each other.”
Sebastian glanced at Henshaw, surprised by the respectful nature of his acknowledgement. He was never disparaging of people, and certainly never of ladies, but to avoid any hint of teasing was certainly unlike him.
“That’s it?” he asked his friend.
Henshaw gave him a doleful look. “Are you asking me to find fault in your sister, Morton? With you standing within earshot? I think not.”
That was all too true, he supposed, but he hadn’t exactly considered the other two as disparaging Kitty in any way.
“Lady Edith could be considered a timid creature,” Tony mused aloud, eyeing Henshaw with a mischievous glint.
“Not when you really know her,” came a new voice. “She’s got a sharp tongue underneath that Scottish charm.”
They turned to see Camden and Prue approaching them, Prue barely resembling the woman they had known in the past, as she had so altered with her marriage. She met each of their eyes squarely, her hand tucked in her husband’s arm, and her smile was as warm as any Izzy had ever given.
“Cam,” Prue scolded, looking up at him, but smiling. “Edith is v-very kind.”
“I didn’t say she wasn’t,” he informed his wife, returning her look. “I adore her. All I said was that she is not nearly as timid as we think.”
Prue rolled her eyes, smiling in exasperation. “He s-says that as though it’s a c-compliment.”
Henshaw grinned at Prue even as his eyes flicked back to Amelia, Kitty, and Izzy, then bowed. “I shall take it as a very great compliment, Mrs. Vale, if you will dance the next with me.”
Now it was Camden who rolled his eyes. “For pity’s sake, Henshaw, don’t flatter my wife better than I can. She’ll never be satisfied with me again.”
“Which would be all the better for you, I say,” Henshaw shot back, looking like the reckless soldier he’d always been.
Prue put her hand in Henshaw’s and blushed a little. “I would l-love to, Lieutenant Henshaw.”
Camden let his wife go, watching her with a tenderness that did not suit his nature, then turned to the rest.
Tony was shaking his head. “How in the world did they let you into Almack’s, Cam?”
Camden shrugged, grinning irreverently. “Haven’t the foggiest. Must be my very proper wife. A reforming influence, you know.”
“Right,” Lord Sterling said with a snort. “Reforming.” He turned to his cousin expectantly. “Should we do a wife exchange this dance? Then I can question Georgie without shame.”
“Fine,” Tony laughed, pushing him away.
“Janet would rather dance with me, anyway.”
They continued to bicker as they moved away, and Sebastian returned his attention to Izzy.
He watched as a man approached the group, bowed to them, chatted a moment, then escorted Miss Perry out to the dance.
“Hmm. Nicely done, Andrews,” Camden offered with a satisfied sound. “Amelia will be delighted for days.”
Sebastian nodded without thinking, watching how delighted Kitty and Izzy were by what had happened.
“Should I ask your sister for a dance, Morton?” Camden asked, nudging Sebastian a little. “I’m a respectable married man now, so the prospects…”
“I see no danger there,” Sebastian interrupted, chuckling to himself.
“Yes, but would she care for it?” Camden pressed.
Sebastian turned to look at the man, questioning without words.
Camden shrugged one shoulder. “I know something of timid women, Morton. I don’t want to upset her.”
Well, well, it seemed Prue was a reforming influence on him after all. But then, he’d long known that Camden Vale wasn’t nearly the villain he was painted to be.
“She might surprise you,” Sebastian murmured with a smile. “But I think you would be more comfortable than a potential suitor.”
Camden chuckled and clapped him on the back. “Safer for you, at any rate.” He strode forward and bowed to Kitty and Izzy, then took a moment to speak with Kitty.
Sebastian watched as his sister smiled her usual shy smile as she looked to Izzy quickly. She answered Camden and made him smile in return. And then, as he expected, Kitty allowed Camden to lead her to the dance. It was amazing that he had actually expected his sister to do so when only weeks ago he would have found it miraculous.
He let his eyes linger on Izzy, taking pleasure in doing so, breathing in the experience. Then he was moving, striding towards her with a certainty he hadn’t quite felt before.
She saw him coming and smiled the sort of smile that made him desperate to kiss her. “Mr. Morton,” she greeted with a curtsey as he reached her. “You look quite splendid, sir, if I may say so.”
He found himself unable to grin as freely as he liked, emotion too great for such levity. “Then I have no words to describe how you look, Miss Lambert, as you far surpass anyone I see here.”
Spinster and Spice (The Spinster Chronicles, Book 3) Page 23