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The two young gentlemen, Lord Edwin Wimbley and Mr. Burke Lawson, took care of Tricia well, though they weren’t quite as attentive as Lord Polk and Mr. Jameson had been the previous evening.
Lord Wimbley was tall and lanky, nice-looking enough, but his hair was pale as wheatgrass, and Tricia preferred dark hair. Mr. Lawson, Tricia found out, was a guest of the Duke and Duchess of Lybrook. A jeweler by trade, he was very handsome as well, and he wore spectacles with wire rims.
Neither of them was as handsome as Lord Polk or Mr. Jameson, but truth be told, Tricia was happy that her seating partners had been manipulated. Her mother was not a fan of either Lord Polk or Mr. Jameson because of their request to both escort her on a stroll.
Despite her enjoyment of Lady Portia’s adventures in The Ruby, Tricia found herself agreeing with her mother.
She wished only that Thomas would pay her some attention. She had hardly seen him at all this day.
He seemed very preoccupied when she did catch his eye. He hardly looked over to her at all during the evening meal.
After promising both Lord Wimbley and Mr. Lawson that she would save dances for them, Tricia turned to her dessert, which this evening was a lovely strawberry tart.
Mr. Lawson rose and excused himself, and Tricia was left only with Lord Wimbley, who was the less talkative of the two.
Tricia didn’t feel like talking anyway. She looked down the table at her mother, and she found it odd that she and Kat were seated in the same places they were the previous evening.
In fact…
She hadn’t thought to look before now, but nearly everyone was seated in the same place they were the previous evening except for Lord Polk and Mr. Jameson.
How very odd.
She turned to Lord Wimbley. “My lord, have you noticed that you seem to be one of the only guests here who is not in the exact same place as they were last evening?”
He cleared his throat. “I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought, my lady.” He looked around. “But I do believe you’re correct.”
“Very strange,” Tricia said.
“I can’t say that I’m overly upset about it,” Lord Wimbley said. “You’ve been delightful company.”
“Was your company last evening not adequate?”
“Well, on one side, I was seated next to my mother.” He laughed. “And although she’s always adequate company, she’s not exactly what I was looking for. On my other side was Lady Sarah Keating.”
“Yes, Sarah’s a friend of mine.”
“She’s a lovely person,” he said. “I’m not fond of her hair color.”
“Oh.” Tricia wasn’t sure what to say about that. She found Sarah’s hair color very attractive. “Tell me,” she continued, “why do you think you and Mr. Lawson were changed? No one else seems to have been. Did you make it known to the earl that you were unhappy with your seating arrangement?”
“Of course not,” Lord Wimbley said. “That would hardly be my place.”
“I see. Perhaps Mr. Lawson did.”
“I would highly doubt that. A man of his station would not dare.”
Tricia resisted rolling her eyes. Mr. Lawson was a well-respected businessman and a guest of the Duke and Duchess, who outranked everyone at this house party. Did Wimbley have any idea that mere years ago, Tricia was beneath Mr. Lawson’s station? Nearly beneath the stations of the servants?
Sometimes the whole of the peerage in itself simply irked her. There was no other way to say it.
Tricia looked down the table and saw her mother leaving, which gave her an excuse to part ways. “You’ve been lovely company, Lord Wimbley, but I see my mother is taking leave with my younger sister. I should join them.”
He smiled. “Ready to get beautiful for the ball, I suppose?”
“Of course.”
He was more correct that he knew. Women had to change their entire outfit and redo their hair for an evening ball. Tricia’s dress for tonight’s ball was a deep violet, as opposed to the sapphire blue she wore during the first ball.
