Read Online The spinster and the wastrel by Louise Bergin - Free Book Online
Authors: Louise Bergin
Tags: Nov. Rom
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patterns, Annette offered an occasional opinion. It was usually disregarded. Lucille's wishes determined the designs for their clothes.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the large order they left with the dressmaker, Mrs. Hutchens was able to finish both the elegant blue and silver gown for Annette and the deep gold one Lucille had set her heart on for herself in a record time of three weeks.
Annette had spent the time overseeing the repairs to the warehouse, while Lucille supervised the sewing of their evening dresses. Acting with the same speed of the dressmaker, the carpenter Tubbs was able to renovate the building without delay. He employed a large crew of men eager for work. Sooner than she expected, her school was ready to open.
No thoughts of her dream intruded on her mind when Annette stood outside the Assembly room ready to make her entrance; rather a fluttering of nervousness capered within her. This was the first time she was appearing at a social gathering since her inheritance, and she felt like a young girl just beginning her debut. These people were her lifelong neighbors, but would they regard her differently now? She had already seen ample signs of how the money was changing her life. The very gown she wore offered proof.
Then her name and Lucille's were announced. Annette did not imagine the brief pause in the conversation as she
felt every eye turn towards her. She lifted her chin and tried to pretend she did not notice. The music continued to play. After that short hesitation, the guests returned to their flirtations and gossip. Annette unfurled her fan with seeming unconcern, but her hand trembled. She had done nothing wrong. Yet, for a moment, she had felt pilloried beneath the assessing gazes of her neighbors.
The feeling did not last. It did not take long for the various men in the gathering to appear beside her, requesting a dance. Some of the bolder ones asked for two. With a lightness foreign to her, Annette laughed off those beseeching for more than one. She knew why she had suddenly become the belle of the ball.
From young Daniel Talbot, who had barely escaped from school, to widower Mr. Deschamps with four children, the motives of the single men were no puzzle at all. However, it shocked her when several of the married men also requested dances. After a moment she realized her money attracted them, too. Not for marriage, but for the investments she could fund.
Annette laughed and enjoyed her popularity to the fullest, with her eyes wide open. The only thing to mar her enjoyment was that her popularity did not extend to Lucille.
Her companion sat off to the side, a bewildered look on her face. With her congenial nature, Lucille was not often ignored at social gatherings. She had even been more excited about her new dress than Annette had been. Now Annette ached for her friend's hurt. She tried to have some attention turned to Lucille. All her hints about how the other woman enjoyed dancing, too, met with studied ignorance by her partners.
Then Sir Gerard Montfort joined the court clustered
around her. He dressed in a formal black coat sewn with the elegance only a London tailor could master, yet an air of ease emanated from him. The gold of his watch chain gleamed in the candlelight, emphasizing the black ebony of his coat. A smile lit his face.
Her heart seemed to pause before beating again at a much faster pace. Suddenly Annette knew her fears at the beginning of the Assembly had nothing to do with her reception by her neighbors and had everything to do with how this man would regard her in her new dress.
She managed a tolerably cool greeting. "Good evening, sir."
He bowed. "Good evening, Miss Courtney. I hope you saved a dance for me."
"I have promised so many," she replied with honest regret.
"All?"
When she looked up into his brown eyes, she knew more than anything, she wanted to dance one set with this London society man. "There is still the supper dance."
"Excellent! I not
Despite, or perhaps because of, the large order they left with the dressmaker, Mrs. Hutchens was able to finish both the elegant blue and silver gown for Annette and the deep gold one Lucille had set her heart on for herself in a record time of three weeks.
Annette had spent the time overseeing the repairs to the warehouse, while Lucille supervised the sewing of their evening dresses. Acting with the same speed of the dressmaker, the carpenter Tubbs was able to renovate the building without delay. He employed a large crew of men eager for work. Sooner than she expected, her school was ready to open.
No thoughts of her dream intruded on her mind when Annette stood outside the Assembly room ready to make her entrance; rather a fluttering of nervousness capered within her. This was the first time she was appearing at a social gathering since her inheritance, and she felt like a young girl just beginning her debut. These people were her lifelong neighbors, but would they regard her differently now? She had already seen ample signs of how the money was changing her life. The very gown she wore offered proof.
Then her name and Lucille's were announced. Annette did not imagine the brief pause in the conversation as she
felt every eye turn towards her. She lifted her chin and tried to pretend she did not notice. The music continued to play. After that short hesitation, the guests returned to their flirtations and gossip. Annette unfurled her fan with seeming unconcern, but her hand trembled. She had done nothing wrong. Yet, for a moment, she had felt pilloried beneath the assessing gazes of her neighbors.
The feeling did not last. It did not take long for the various men in the gathering to appear beside her, requesting a dance. Some of the bolder ones asked for two. With a lightness foreign to her, Annette laughed off those beseeching for more than one. She knew why she had suddenly become the belle of the ball.
From young Daniel Talbot, who had barely escaped from school, to widower Mr. Deschamps with four children, the motives of the single men were no puzzle at all. However, it shocked her when several of the married men also requested dances. After a moment she realized her money attracted them, too. Not for marriage, but for the investments she could fund.
Annette laughed and enjoyed her popularity to the fullest, with her eyes wide open. The only thing to mar her enjoyment was that her popularity did not extend to Lucille.
Her companion sat off to the side, a bewildered look on her face. With her congenial nature, Lucille was not often ignored at social gatherings. She had even been more excited about her new dress than Annette had been. Now Annette ached for her friend's hurt. She tried to have some attention turned to Lucille. All her hints about how the other woman enjoyed dancing, too, met with studied ignorance by her partners.
Then Sir Gerard Montfort joined the court clustered
around her. He dressed in a formal black coat sewn with the elegance only a London tailor could master, yet an air of ease emanated from him. The gold of his watch chain gleamed in the candlelight, emphasizing the black ebony of his coat. A smile lit his face.
Her heart seemed to pause before beating again at a much faster pace. Suddenly Annette knew her fears at the beginning of the Assembly had nothing to do with her reception by her neighbors and had everything to do with how this man would regard her in her new dress.
She managed a tolerably cool greeting. "Good evening, sir."
He bowed. "Good evening, Miss Courtney. I hope you saved a dance for me."
"I have promised so many," she replied with honest regret.
"All?"
When she looked up into his brown eyes, she knew more than anything, she wanted to dance one set with this London society man. "There is still the supper dance."
"Excellent! I not
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