She smiled. “That will certainly cause a stir.”
“Indeed, but I believe our reputations can handle it.” He winked. “I shall have special license in hand by then. How would you feel about marrying tonight at Chilton House and being done with the whole thing?”
Warmth burst in her chest. “I think it shall give any number of members of the ton the vapors.”
“An added bonus, then,” he said, before giving her a long, lingering kiss. And then he was gone, leaving her dazed and exhausted and happy.
She was almost instantly asleep. And when she dreamed, she dreamed of him, and of their future together.
“Oh, Callie! A marquess!”
Callie rolled her eyes at her mother’s exclamation and looked across the carriage to her siblings for support. It didn’t take long to realize that they would be no help at all. Mariana was smirking, obviously thrilled that hers had been relegated to second-most-exciting upcoming marriage for the duration of the evening, and Benedick looked as though he was seriously considering leaping from the moving vehicle to avoid their mother’s chirping excitement.
“I cannot believe you caught a marquess, Callie! And Ralston at that! And you, Benedick,” the dowager countess turned her attention to her eldest child, “I cannot believe that you kept Ralston’s plans from me for so long!”
“Yes, well, Callie and Ralston were eager to keep their courtship a secret, Mother.” The countess burst into a flurry of chatter as Benedick raised an eyebrow and mouthed, From all of us.
Callie couldn’t keep her slippered foot from flying. “Oy!” Benedick exclaimed, reaching down to rub his wounded shin.
“Oh, I am sorry, Benny,” Callie said sweetly. “It must be the nerves making me jumpy.”
Benedick’s eyes narrowed as their mother spoke, “Of course it is your nerves! Oh! To think! Our Callie! Betrothed! To Ralston!”
“Mother, please do attempt not to make a production of the news this evening, will you?” Callie pleaded. “I shouldn’t like to embarrass Ralston.”
Benedick and Mariana let out twin bursts of laughter at the idea that the dowager countess was at all capable of such decorum. “A bit late for that, don’t you think, Callie?” Benedick teased, as the carriage rolled to a stop and he leapt out to hand down his mother and sisters.
Before she exited the carriage, the countess placed a comforting hand on Callie’s leg. “Nonsense, Callie. Ralston’s been around long enough to know how these things are. He’ll forgive an elated mother.”
Callie groaned as her mother exited the carriage. “I should have asked Ralston to elope.”
Mariana grinned broadly. “Now you know how I feel.” With a wink, she was gone, after the dowager countess.
By the time Callie was out of the carriage, her mother had already started up the steps to Chilton House to eagerly share her news with anyone who would listen, and Callie had a sinking feeling that this was going to be the most awful night of her life. She looked into her siblings’ laughing eyes, and said, “You two are no help.”
The eldest and youngest Hartwell children smiled, unable to contain their amusement. “Shouldn’t you try to find Ralston, Callie? Before Mother has worked her magic, that is,” Mariana said helpfully.
“Is that what it is? Magic?” Callie turned to watch as their mother, a beacon in lime green—complete with enormous lace-and-ostrich-feather headdress—spoke excitedly to Lady Lovewell, tapping her fan excitedly against the arm of the most-renowned gossip of the ton. “Dear Lord,” Callie breathed.
“I’ve tried prayer myself,” Benedick said genially. “It doesn’t seem to work with her. I believe she’s made a deal with the Maker.”
“Or with someone else,” Callie posited, adjusting her shawl and following in her mother’s wake, the sound of her siblings’ laughter trailing behind her.
Once inside, Callie tried desperately to find Ralston in the crush of people that filled the ballroom to bursting. She stood just inside the room attempting to appear casual as she turned in a slow crescent, searching for him. Her height, or lack thereof, made the task particularly difficult, however, and eventually, with a sigh, she instinctively made for Spinster Seating.
She had just rounded the corner of the ballroom and had Miss Heloise and Aunt Beatrice in her sights when at her shoulder, a deep, familiar voice spoke quietly. “Where are you off to, Empress?”
A thrill coursed up her spine and she turned toward Ralston, unable to keep her pleasure at his finding her hidden. Of course, once she was facing him—all tall, broad, handsome, impeccably dressed, and starched-cravatted him—she was instantly shy.
What did one say, after all, to one’s fiancé, whom one had last seen in one’s bedroom, as he sneaked out just before daybreak?
He lifted one arrogant brow, as though he were reading her thoughts. She heard the beginning strains of a waltz as he took one of her gloved hands in his. “I should like very much to dance the first waltz with my betrothed,” he said casually.
“Oh,” she said, quietly. She let him guide her to the dance floor and sweep her into his arms.
After several moments of silence, he spoke again. “So. Where were you heading?”
She shook her head, unable to lift her gaze from his cravat. “Nowhere.”
He pulled away slightly, tilting his head to look at her. “Callie,” he said, in a tone that she was certain no female had ever been able to resist. “Where were you going?”
“Spinster Seating,” she blurted, immediately regretting the words. It wasn’t as if people actually called it that.
He blinked once, his eyes moving to the elderly ladies several feet away, then back to her. One side of his mouth kicked up. “Why?”
Her cheeks flamed. “I…I don’t know.”
“You’re not a spinster anymore, beautiful,” he said, close to her ear.
“Don’t call me that.” Callie darted her gaze around to see if anyone was looking at them and might have heard. It appeared that everyone was looking at them. Her mother had worked quickly.
He turned her quickly, regaining her attention. “But it’s true,” he said, feigning innocence. “You are very soon to be the Marchioness of Ralston. I’m not saying that you cannot still socialize with Misses Heloise and Beatrice,” he teased. “I’m simply saying you’ll have to rename the area in which you do it.”
She couldn’t help her smile. “I would much prefer to waltz with you than sit with them, my lord.” The words came quickly, and she wondered immediately if she had been too forward…if she were pushing him too far. After all, Ralston never seemed to like society before, there was certainly no reason why he should begin to attend social events now. She risked a glance up into his knowing, amused eyes.
“I would prefer that, myself, my lady.”
She played the lovely words over and over in her head as he whirled her across the room, and she basked in the knowledge that she would dance again, and often, with him once they were married. Callie looked past him to see Juliana watching them, a bright smile on her face. She turned to Ralston, and said, “You told your brother and sister about us.”