Chapter 24

"Dorset!" Richard's familiar voice calls out as we enter the house following the crowd towards the ballroom. He must have been waiting for our arrival to have spotted us so quickly and he wastes no time making his way through the crowd to us.

"Hartington thank you for the invitation," William greets clasping Richard's arm in greeting, "We both appreciate it."

"Yes thank you," I say in agreement all too aware though of the attention that Richard's loud greeting has called onto us. I can feel the eyes of many people from the crowd around us watching, settling on me in particular. Then the whispers start as I see out of the corner of my eye people glancing at us then whispering to their friends.

"Well you did provide me with a very nice dinner before I left Bath. It was the least I could do." Richard waves off our thanks, "Now my asked, nay demanded, that you see her before anything else. So follow me."

Not giving us a chance to reply he turns to make his way back the way he came. It leaves us with no choice but to follow after him as we can't refuse the request of out hostess to meet with her. And certainly not when she's a well-loved Duchess with significant social power.

"Mother I have retrieved William and his delightful wife," Richard announces proudly as he comes to a stop before an elegantly dressed middle-aged woman with an equally well-dressed young woman standing next to her.

"Thank you Richard. You can go and dance with your sister now," The Duchess states sending him away with the young woman now identified as his sister, "William how good to see you again. Have you been well?"

"Duchess," William greets placing a kiss to the back of her hand, "A pleasure to see you as well. I have been very well thank you. This is my wife Eleanor."

"Yes I'd heard you married," She replies looking me over with a critical eye as I try not to flinch under her gaze, "As well as the circumstances that it occurred under." That statement has me looking down in shame at the blunt reminder of my actions.

"Nevertheless our marriage is a happy one Duchess," William states firmly bringing her attention back onto him, "We have come to terms with our past as I'm sure Richard told you."

"Very well done," She smiles suddenly and I'm caught off guard by the sudden change, "Welcome Duchess I hope you'll enjoy the ball."

"I'm sure that I will have a splendid time," I say managing a small smile despite the uncertainty that I feel around her.

"Excellent. Now I have other guards to greet but you shall have to come and have tea one day before you return to Knole," She offers although her tone leaves no room for doubt that it is an order. I stare in shock trying to understand what had just happened as she walks away to greet another guest.

"William, what just happened?" I ask hoping that he has an explantion.

"The Duchess is a mystery. Now would you care to dance?" He says trying to cover up that he doesn't know either and offering something to distract me before I ask again. Nonetheless I nod in acceptance allowing him to lead me onto the dance floor as the musicians begin a new set.

Being on the dance floor leaves me more visible to those who would judge me but I focus on William and it all fades away.  It's the first time that we've danced together but it feels as easy as breathing. A bright smile covers my face as I follow William's lead in the dance, feeling far away from everyone else.

As the music comes to an end I curtsy to William, slightly out of breath. It's been so long since I'd last danced that I'm out of practise with the exercise so it's not surprising to end the dance with flushed cheeks and deep breaths. Despite all of it though I can't wait for my next opportunity to dance with my husband.

"I believe we need something to drink," William comments placing my hand on his arm to escort me to where the refreshments have been laid out. It isn't long before a glass is being pressed into my hand and I sip at it gratefully.

"Thank you William," I say softly not just meaning for the drink. His well-timed invitation to dance was the perfect distraction from the staring and now that neither Richard nor the Duchess are calling more attention to us the talk has died down enough for me to be able to block it out. For now at least, we'll be here for at least a few more hours. Plenty of time for more gossip to circulate the room.

"Any time my love," He replies turning away from the table and back towards the dance floor so that we can watch as others dance. It's entertaining enough to pass the time as it seems no one wants to be caught speaking to us, well I'm sure that they'd happily converse with William but I'm a different matter.

Our empty glasses are handed off to a passing footman once we've finished with them. We linger for a while longer at the edge of the dance floor before quietly coming to the decision to take a turn about the room. Surely some more of William's friends, or even acquaintances, will be in attendance who we should at least try to find and greet.

We'd managed to get to almost the other side of the dance floor from where we started when an all too familiar voice greets us. One that I should have expected to be here but had hoped not run into ever again. Lady Anne.

"Your Graces, how wonderful to see you again. I hadn't realised that you were back in London," She greets with a pleasant tone although as her gaze lands on me her eyes are colder than winter. The look only lasts a moment before all her attention returns to William; she completely ignores my existence after all my actions have harmed her reputation as well. It won't be something she soon forgets.

"Well the Duchess invited both me and my wife to attend so how could we refuse," William replies lightly although his emphasis on my status as his wife doesn't go unnoticed. It's a subtle enough rebuke over her dismissal of me making it clear he won't stand for it, yet not loudly calling her disrespect out in public.

"Forgive me I've just spotted a friend I simply must see," She says hurriedly and with a quick curtsy she leaves us again. I don't understand why she'd come to speak with us in the first place but I'm glad that she's left just as suddenly. Perhaps she had approached in the hopes of seeing an unhappy union, a fitting punishment she'd deem it for my actions.

"That was unexpected," I breath out a sigh of relief once she's finally out of earshot. Tilting my head up towards William I find him glaring off in the direction that she'd left in, "William don't mind her. Lady Anne made it no secret that she hated me even before that night of the ball. She simply now has a reason to justify her hatred which won't have her judged harshly by the ton."

"Still you're a Duchess while she is simply a Lady. She should give you the respect that title deserves even if she hates you, I won't stand for less," He replies finally looking away. Losing his glare he meets my eyes with a soft expression, "From her or anyone else."

"All I need is your respect," I whisper back not wanting to be overheard by anyone else, "And your love. Then I shall be the happiest woman in the world."

"And you shall have both, my love. Til the end of my days," There's nothing but love and sincerity in his voice as he whispers back to me. Raising my gloved hand he presses a kiss to the back of it and the simple action affects me more than it should as I blush.

We wander the room for a while longer with William making brief greeting to his acquaintances but we don't stop to talk with them more as they seem reluctant to speak with us. And based on their expression as we leave they're relieved that we don't force the issue. Still the slight tensing of William's arm under my own reveals how this distant reception is affecting him. Being from an old family and with a title such as his he's likely been welcomed wherever he went, with people desperate to form a connection with him.

As part of the scandal of the season though no one wants to be seen too close.

"There he is," I hear as we draw nearer to a small group of people, "Dorset come my friend." Taking a closer look at the man waving us over to the group I realise that it's the Earl of Bedford. The man I would have married if my plan had worked as intended.

"Dorset good to see you," William greets, clearly pleased to be among friends again, as he nods his head towards the Earl, "May I introduce my wife Eleanor."

"A pleasure Duchess," The Earl says pleasantly without any hint of reservation due to the compromise, "We've all been looking forward to meeting you."

A flurry of introductions follow and I try to keep up with the sudden influx of information. With the Earl is his cousin Lord Henry Drydan, a Lady York, Viscount Murray, Lord and Lady Wyle and her sister Miss Creighton. They all seem to know each other well and their reception of me is far warmer than the rest of the room.

Not wanting to cause trouble for William with his friends I keep quiet as they catch up. It allows me to learn more about each of them which in turn helps me tell them apart. Lord and Lady Wyle had married last year and to my surprise Lady Wyle and her sister are from America, the daughters of a wealthy business man. Miss Creighton had come to London for the season to try and find a titled husband like her sister had, with her no doubt large dowry I'm shocked that she is still unmarried.

Viscount Murray much like many other young lords is only in London due to his mother's insistence as is Lord Drydan. Neither one have taken an interest in any of the single ladies this season nor has the Earl who also finished the season without an engagement. Lady Yorke is revealed to be married but her husband had taken ill before the ball. She's a distant cousin of both William and the Earl's so she'd come to the ball with the Earl, with their relation plus his friendship with her husband there won't be any talk about it.

"And how have you been settling into Knole Duchess?" Lady Yorke asks me suddenly drawing me into their conversation for the first time.

"Very well thank you. It's a beautiful place," I reply trying not to sound nervous with all of their eyes on me as they wait for an answer.

"And so conveniently close to London, She continues pleasantly, "I do hope that means we'll see more of you, as you can see Lady Wyle and I are quite outnumbered." The two share a rather put upon look at the reminder of how they are surrounded by men, Miss Creighton has mentioned that she'll be returning to America soon and won't return until next season. And only is she hasn't married before then.

"I would like that," I reply happily at the thought of finally having friends.

"Then we should all have tea together soon," Lady Wyle comments her American accent making her stand out among the rest of us. I can't imagine how lonely she must have been moving to a new country after getting married. She and Lord Wyle had met while he was in New York for business and they married soon after before they had to return to England.

"We should never marry," Lord Drydan whispers to Viscount Murray although he's purposefully loud enough to be heard, "Who knows what the ladies would do if the numbers evened out."

"I think you might be right Drydan. After all they can be quite terrifying," Murray mutters in reply watching the three of us married ladies carefully. The rather exaggerated look draws a laugh from me and Lady Wyle while Lady Yorke smiles smugly.

"Come now my Lords, you know that you can't avoid marriage forever. One day your mothers shall have their way," Lady Yorke replies and bursts out laughing at the faces they pull in response to that reminder.

"And on that day we shall be there," William joins in with teasing them, "To ensure that you don't leave the poor girl at the altar of course."

"As if their mothers would allow that," Lord Yorke adds, "With their struggle to get them to the altar do you think they'd be allowed to back out." His comment draws a laugh from the rest of us even me despite not knowing their mothers as the others do.

"Alright. Alright, enough teasing them. Or they shall remain bachelors forever just to spite us," The Earl speaks up quietening down our laughter and steering the conversation in another direction.

We spend the remainder of the night speaking with them although at times some of us would venture away for a dance. I dance a few more times with William including a waltz, which was my favourite dance of the night, and I was even asked to dance by the other gentlemen of the group as well as Richard. Once each, nothing scandalous, it was nice of them to ask though. While I danced with them William also made sure to dance with Miss Creighton, Lady Yorke and Lady Wyle to keep things fair.

Eventually the ball came to an end and we bid our farewells to the others. Lady Yorke invites me, Miss Creighton and Lady Wyle to tea in three days time so that we can get to know each other better. Both of the ladies are older than me and even Miss Creighton is two years older than me, it'll be nice to have friends though who are far more experienced than me.