Lady Hathaway's House Party by Joan Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

to confront this little corner of the world, they all went in together, a lady on either of Avondale’s arms.
     

Chapter Five
     
    You could have heard a feather drop when the trio entered the green saloon. The buzz of conversation came to a haltering stop as the three were seen and recognized and the significance of the two of them being together was hastily considered. Glasses stopped tinkling, gowns stopped rustling, chairs ceased scraping, and the only sound in the large room was the steady ticking of the long-case clock in the corner. Tick-tock, tick-tock.
    Without realizing she did it, Belle gripped Oliver’s arm a little more tightly and slowed her pace. He turned to her. “Buck up, old girl,” he said in a low but kindly voice. “The quizzes are all alert to see if you bolt.”
    She took a deep breath and smiled up at him, a determined, steely smile he had not seen before. “I said I’d stay, and I’ll stay.”
    Talk was resumed, on every subject under the sun except the item of interest approaching through the doorway, who continued walking as though there were nothing unusual in the duchess hanging on her husband’s arm and smiling at him. The first group reached was composed of youngish married couples,  friends of Belle’s from London who had been invited with her pleasure in mind. They were of course known to Oliver as well, and welcomed both the Avondales warmly. Too warmly, they both realized at once, due to the mistaken assumption that this joint appearance was in the nature of a reconciliation.
    “Belle, and Oliver —how nice to see you!” Mrs. Delford said, and might as well have added “together,” for it was implied very clearly in her voice and smile.
    Kay, the compleat hostess, rushed in to correct this misapprehension and to get it started circulating about the room that the meeting was accidental, to save her guests embarrassment. Guests ought not to be humiliated under one’s roof. “Yes, such a coincidence,” she said. “Belle was invited, and Oliver just came barging in unannounced. He is on his way to London. Oliver is my cousin, you must know, and makes himself free of my house in the most brazen-faced way imaginable. I never know when he will pop in, but I am always happy to see him."
    “Oh, then you’re not . . .” Mrs. Delford stopped, as her husband lightly nudged her elbow to silence her.
    “No, Marnie, we’re not,” Belle told her, and smiled mischievously, to show no offense was taken. She was glad this was the first group to be confronted. She had always liked the Delfords, Marnie and Ed, but especially Marnie. She was the closest thing to a real friend she had made in the city.
    Mrs. Delford was a country-bred girl like herself, and like herself had married a town buck ten years her senior. Ed was not a nobleman, but a wealthy gentleman of fashion, and she thought Marnie Delford’s problems must have been similar to her own, with the difference that these two got on famously. It was pleasant to be in company with a young couple who didn’t consider marriage either a joke or a bore.
    Unfortunately, they had not been part of Oliver’s set. She met them only infrequently, and when she wished to secure their company it was necessary for her to go without Oliver. She had felt out of place, hard as they tried to make her not feel that way. But in the Delfords’ circle, five or six young couples like themselves, the husband and wife did things together, went for drives and rides, and on such outings as balloon ascents and picnics, as well as to concerts and balls. A spare wife could not but be a nuisance.
    Still, she was glad to see them here, the Delfords and Sloanes. They would be her allies for the ordeal ahead. Kay had them asked because of herself—how thoughtful of her. After a little chatter the Avondales were moved along to say hello to other more elderly friends of Kay’s, a member of Parliament and a cabinet minister, the Traywards, cousins of Kay and