Page 27 of Miss Kimble Bites Back

CHAPTER SEVEN

As Gabby stood on the sidelines of yet another ball, her heart continued to sink through the floor. The room was a sea of brightly colored gowns, elegant hairstyles, and sparkling jewelry but she felt apart from the merriment. The other debutants seemed to have all found their feet. They belong here, but Gabby was no longer certain she could ever feel the same.

She experienced a pang of envy as she watched the other ladies twirl and glide by on the arms of their handsome partners, wishing she might be dancing with her suitor…if she had one. However, many of those women had greater dowries than hers, so it was to be expected that they might be pursued by men in need of funds.

But were all of society’s gentlemen so dim? Did they not value a woman with intelligence too?

Gabby didn’t let her disappointment show, nor dare run to find her cousin or Lady Windermere, to bolster her declining spirits. No, she put on a polite smile and circled the dance floor with Daisy and observed the proceedings just as she had for weeks.

Couples moved around them, laughing, and chatting, and she wondered what it would be like to be the center of someone’s attention like that. For a while, she’d believed she’d had a man’s attention that way, but then he had gone away.

Her eyes were drawn as they often were to Lord Brookes, but now when she looked at his ever-present smile, she distrusted the emotion behind it. He had singled out Justine for attention this week, dancing with her and promenading the room with her.

Yet last week it had been another debutant entirely who had captivated his attention.

Her eyes were drawn to Justine’s smiling face and sighed. She appeared to be having a marvelous time despite claiming she had no interest in Lord Brookes from the start.

Gabby had never managed to dance even once with Brookes and had given up hope a few nights ago. What was there about him that had drawn her notice in the first place? Was it only that he was handsome, and always smiling? Was there anything of substance underneath that smile to attach her feelings to?

And Justine, dancing with Lord Brookes, seemed to bask in his company. When the set ended, Justine and Brookes returned to her sister’s side. They chatted for a few moments and then Brookes went away. Justine fanned her face, while her sister whispered in her ear.

Although Gabby tried to catch her eye several times, Justine never once looked their way or moved to join them. She hadn’t since the first night Brookes had singled her out, too.

Daisy suddenly dug her elbow into Gabby’s side. “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“He’s here,” Daisy whispered excitedly. “The Duke of Mamble is here.”

Gabby’s stomach lurched and she looked around, but she did not see him in the ballroom.

A duke had almost kissed her.

A man she had wronged from the start. She had apologized and believed herself forgiven, but she had not seen him again since that day. She might have imagined he’d gone back to the country, but Lady Windermere and her husband spoke of his activities in London often.

And Gabby had foolishly looked for him the past weeks and wondered how he fared, and how his sister was getting on, too.

Yet wasn’t it foolish to long to see the duke again? Just as ridiculous as her preoccupation with Lord Brookes had been. Neither man would consider her for their wife.

But it had been as clear as the tip of her nose that the Duke of Mamble found her attractive, which was more than she could say of Brookes’ fleeting interest. An almost-kiss was a significant step up from mouthing empty pleasantries, and that kiss might have happened if she wasn’t so young and inexperienced of men.

Perhaps, too, it was her lack of dowry that discouraged a pursuit. Gabby didn’t put much stock in Lady Windermere’s claim that their distant relationship gave her a significant advantage over other debutants and increased her chances of making a great match this season.

Yet after all these weeks in society, Gabby still clung to hope that some man would choose her for herself. However, when Mamble had vanished from society, no one had asked her to dance with them again. She was beginning to feel like a pariah, or a plain and dull wallflower. She knew that her cousin was hoping for a good match and espoused patience. But the last thing Gabby wanted was to burden Bennett with the expense of a second season.

But what more could she do to stand out from the crowd than she’d done already? She had no great talent for music; she was pretty but not stunning like Lady Cordelia was.

As she stood there, lost in her thoughts, a voice interrupted her reverie. “Excuse me, Miss Kimble. May I have this dance?”

Gabby looked up to see Mamble, tall and devastatingly handsome, standing before her again, a charming smile on his lips. She blinked in surprise that he would even bother to approach her.

Yet without a second thought, Gabby placed her hand in his, and they moved onto the dance floor together. As they began to dance the waltz in silence, Gabby felt a glimmer of foolish hope lighten her heart. Maybe, just maybe, tonight would be different, and the night her fortunes changed again for the better, thanks solely to the duke.

She glanced beyond his shoulder and suddenly felt self-conscious in his arms that so many people stared at them already. They were probably wondering why he’d chosen to dance with her out of all others. She’d like to know that, as well.

“Ignore them,” he whispered.

She would if she didn’t feel picked apart by every eye. “Where have you been?”