Chapter Four
"Mr Blair is meeting us here," Bertram explained as they alighted from their carriage at the entrance of the assembly rooms. Kitty took her husband's arm. "He should be inside now."
"How did you manage to persuade Mr Blair?" Georgiana asked Bertram. She was expecting to be told that George had declined on the grounds that he was otherwise engaged. Or at least some sort of excuse that prevented him from coming.
"I did not need to," Bertram replied. "He sent word to say he was joining us almost immediately."
Georgiana smiled, "That is eager for George."
"I suppose he is not going to dance with me," Lucy said. She saw little prospect in their party as the only gentlemen it contained were either married, her brother, her cousin or someone who was almost a stranger. It was even worse when she considered that the 'stranger' had no inclination to dance, or at least did not the last time she had briefly met him
"Lucy," her brother complained. "Please have some decorum."
"What do you mean? I was only pointing something out, Peregrine, it is not like I asked Mr Blair directly," she told him. "Then I would have been indecorous. Frank?" she turned to her cousin as the only remaining unattached man.
"I suppose," he replied with a shrug. "But I am not spending the whole night dancing with you. Not when I will have other possibilities. Will you require a partner, Camilla?"
"I may honour you with my presence for a dance," she replied. "But dancing is not my only intention."
Lucy bit her lip. She was dying to make a comment about Mr Blair to her sister. They had had found that they had much in common the last time they met and she was sure Camilla possessed a little secret pertaining Mr Blair. However, she was sure that it would be cruel of her to tease her sister about it. Even if she was almost certain Camilla believed him to be rather interesting indeed.
"Well, if you are going to stand around not dancing then at least Mr Blair will have company," Kitty said. Lucy glanced in her direction; she was fairly sure she had never told her about the suspicions she had about Camilla and Mr Blair. She remembered telling Georgiana absolutely ages ago but never Kitty. Getting no meaningful looks from Kitty she concluded that it was just an innocent remark.
"Can we go in? I do not think hanging around outside is part of an assembly," Lucy complained.
Instead of wasting energy trying to censure his sister, Peregrine just nodded and in they went.
It was obvious that George had been waiting eagerly for their arrival. As soon as they were in the main room he had sought them out with a look of relief on his face.
"B-Bertram," he bowed. "Mrs C-Calder, Lord Cresthope, Lady Cresthope." He greeted those he knew. Upon seeing the rest of the party he remained silence. There were a few familiar faces but he did not feel comfortable enough to greet them as well.
"Mr Blair, allow me to reintroduce my cousin, Mr Frank Morris, and my sisters Lady Camilla and Lady Lucia," Peregrine said, sensing the shyness of the other man. "I believe you met briefly last year." George nodded and bowed. Lucy was pleased to see that he had lingered at little longer on Camilla then on the rest. The feeling was quite possibly mutual. She must monitor this very carefully in future.
"It seems busy tonight, Mr Blair," Frank commented.
"Y-Yes," George replied, not wanted to attempt any more words. He was sure it would only lead to embarrassment.
"I hope you are well," Georgiana said. "It is nice to see you again."
"L-Likewise," George managed.
"Dance with me, Frank," Lucy said. There and then she decided to try and engineer instances when Camilla and Mr Blair would be left alone together. "And introduce me to people." He sighed and as soon as they had politely taken their leave she dragged him away.
"Mr Calder?" Kitty asked "Shall we? There are not as many couples on the floor at present." Bertram nodded then bowed at the others. Kitty curtsied then took her husband's arm. He led her to the dancing.
"George. You look petrified," Georgiana told him. "We are here now. You can relax."
"T-too b-busy," he admitted.
"Then we will go somewhere quieter," Georgiana said. "Peregrine?"
"Of course," he replied. "Anything to be away from this noise." He smiled at George. Despite once being a brief suitor of his wife he was disposed to like the man. He was a welcome relief to the energetic Mr Calder. "You must visit us more, Mr Blair."
Camilla, who had been furtively watching George, almost nodded in agreement. However, she stopped herself and simply smiled instead. She would have no objection to Mr Blair visiting them often. She was eager to become further acquainted with him.
"Y-You are barely in t-town," George pointed out. "C-Cresthope is a little f-far for an afternoon visit." Now they were somewhere less stressful for him, he was beginning to open up.
"That would be a problem," Peregrine agreed. "At least visit more now we are actually in town." George nodded.
"Do you visit the Calders often?" Camilla asked. "I have never seen you there."
"U-Usually it is just M-Mr Calder I see," George replied after a slight pause. He gave her a shy smile.
"That will explain it then," Camilla said. "He is frequently occupied with his business so I rarely see him. Naturally, it is Mrs Calder that I call upon primarily."
"It is a pity Sir Felix Calder is not in town more often," Georgiana said. "We have been trying to persuade them to visit us at Cresthope Abbey."
"I-It is impossible to p-persuade them to leave Gr-Grantholme," George agreed.
Georgiana smiled. She noticed a little bit of progress from what George was like when they first met. It was pleasant to see him conversing with three people at once with only slight hesitations.
"Lord Cresthope, I thought it was you!"
They were interrupted by a fair woman around Camilla and Georgiana's age. She was smiling broadly.
"And dear Camilla!" She then frowned as they looked confused. "Surely you remember me."
Peregrine also frowned. "Lord Treswick's sister. Lady Augusta Farleigh," he suddenly remembered, much to his relief.
"Yes! It is so long since I saw you last," she exclaimed.
"Yes," Peregrine said. He certainly remembered her, and her brother. They were childhood friends but it had never been a natural friendship. They just happened to be similarly aged children of noble families and so found themselves thrown together on certain occasions.
"I heard you were now married," she said, looking at Georgiana and then Mr Blair with curiosity.
"This is my wife, Georgiana, Lady Cresthope," he introduced them. "And this is our friend Mr George Blair." Lady Augusta curtsied as did Georgiana. Mr Blair managed a bow but looked as if he would make a bolt for freedom any second.
"Nicholas is here as well," Lady Augusta told them. "My brother, Lord Treswick," she said as way of explanation to those newly acquainted.
"Are you in London for long?" Camilla asked. She privately hoped not. If she was to be completely honest she had no desire to renew their friendship. Time spent together as children had been tiresome and it appeared that Augusta had not changed. She overwhelmed even Lucy and that was quite a feat.
"Yes, we are living here now," Lady Augusta replied. "Nicholas grew bored of Ireland and I was not going to be left there alone whilst he was having fun in London. Are Ernest and Lucy here? Is Quentin old enough to attend?" Ernest and Quentin were the remaining Morris siblings.
"Lucy is here somewhere," Peregrine replied. "Ernest is in the navy now and Quentin is still in school."
"Oh, we have so much reacquainting to do!" she exclaimed.
"Yes," Camilla said. "We do." She did feel a little guilty that she was unable to muster any eagerness at the prospect.
"That will be fun!" Augusta said. She was completely oblivious to the lack of enthusiasm from both Peregrine and Camilla. "I wish I could find Nicholas but he is nowhere to be found. He is probably dancing away!"
"He may meet Lucy then," Camilla said. "She is currently dancing."
"I wonder if she will recognise him. She was quite young the last time we saw you," Lady Augusta remembered. "Oh, I am glad we decided to come to the assembly tonight." She smiled at Camilla. As far as she knew Camilla was not yet attached and one of the reasons Nicholas had been so eager for a return to London was because he could not find a suitable bride in Ireland. It was almost fate that she happened upon Camilla at the assembly. It would be rather wonderful she could do a little matchmaking for her brother. "I must reintroduce you to Nicholas at some point. I think you will find he has grown rather handsome and that is not because I am biased as his sister. It will be such fun to all meet up again. We must make arrangements at some point. We are still sorting out a townhouse but I will inform you of our address as soon as I know. Oh! This is exciting. I must leave you because I have others with which to reacquaint but I promise I will send you a sweet, little note soon. See you later." She curtsied and left with a smile.
"Oh dear," Camilla said as soon as Lady Augusta had disappeared from view.
"No need to worry, Camilla," Peregrine told her. "She is probably making that exact same speech to another old friend at this very moment."
"Can you remember what Lord Treswick was like?" Camilla asked him.
"Rather too charming, I think," Peregrine replied. "He likes being in society."
"I see," Camilla said. "I will ask Lucy. It is highly likely she will have danced with him at some point this evening. How…wonderful."
George remained silent. This was partly due to being overwhelmed by Lady Augusta and partly down to a feeling of dread. The majority of the evening had been spent with his attention focused on Camilla. She was as he remembered – utterly beautiful. Not only that she also had been particularly attentive to him, or at least he had been on the receiving end of many smiles from her. He wanted to see much more of her but that looked to be in jeopardy now. He was certain that he would never be able to compete with a Lord Treswick. He sounded to be an ideal match for the sister of an earl.
"George?" His musings was interrupted by Georgiana.
"You were miles away," Camilla added.
"J-Just thinking," he replied.
"Daydreaming?" Camilla asked.
"S-Something like that," he said. "I-It is a habit of m-mine."
"Do you think we ought to find the others?" Georgiana asked. "They will be wondering where we are."
"I w-will go home," George told them. "It is t-too overwhelming now."
"Goodbye then," Camilla said. "Next time we should meet somewhere quiet. You can barely have a conversation here." She smiled as he bowed and left. "He is a very pleasant man," she declared once he had gone. "I am glad he came tonight. I much prefer his company to that of Lady Augusta." Peregrine and Georgiana smiled as they went to find the others. They also shared her opinion.
