Nicola Cornick: Miss Verey’s Proposal

Jane caught sight of Lady Eleanor looking absolutely stunned, her eyebrows almost disappearing into her hairline. Evidently the Duke of Delahaye paid a compliment as rarely as he attended Almack’s, but Jane did not flatter herself that he meant it. She had a deep conviction that he was making the opening moves in a game he was intent on playing with her.

‘Yes, I thank you, your grace. I am much better and I must thank you for your help.’ Jane was glad that she still sounded so composed when her heart was racing.

The Duke shrugged negligently. ‘I am glad that I was able to be of service, Miss Verey. Now, I see Lady Sefton approaching. May I ask her to grant you permission to waltz with me?’

Even Lady Eleanor, for all her town bronze, gasped at that one. Jane met the Duke’s dark gaze and saw the laughter lurking there. So she had been correct in thinking that he was making a game of her! The temptation to respond was very strong, to show him that she was no milk-and-water miss. However, that was too dangerous. She would not play.

‘I thank you, your Grace, but I do not waltz,’ she said steadily.

She had the satisfaction of seeing the lazy amusement fade from his eyes, to be replaced by shrewd calculation. Lady Verey, unaware of the by-play, stepped in hastily to smooth over any awkwardness.

‘Oh, Jane, you need have no concern as to that! It is perfectly proper for you to waltz if one of the patronesses of Almack’s gives her permission-’

‘Thank you, Mama.’

Jane, exasperated by her mother’s well-meaning intervention, looked up to see the Duke’s eyes still on her and, worse, that he had read her thoughts. The amusement was back. She knew that she had been checkmated.

‘Lady Sefton,’ Alex said clearly, turning to the approaching patroness, ‘will you present me to Miss Jane Verey as a suitable partner for the waltz?’

Lady Sefton’s good-natured agreement and Jane’s acquiescence followed. It had to-she knew that he would brook no refusal. Meanwhile, across the ballroom another intriguing tableau was developing as Lady Jersey, not to be outdone, could be seen giving an eager Lord Philip her permission to waltz with Sophia.

Lady Verey, suddenly becoming aware that she had been neglecting Sophia in her concern for Jane, gave a little gasp. ‘Oh, Eleanor, he has asked her for a second dance and immediately after the first! I am sure that Sophia knows how to go on, but I feel she should have a little more care! Besides…’ her gaze swung back to Jane ‘…Lord Philip should surely be dancing with Jane!’

Jane dropped a neat curtsy. ‘Oh no, Mama!’ she said sweetly. ‘If I am favoured with the Duke’s attention I can have no complaint!’

‘Then come along, Miss Verey,’ Alex said gently, in a tone that suggested he would have liked to call her a minx, ‘for the music is starting!’

Jane took his hand, with a feeling that she was about to step right out of her depth. The gossip was deafening. Part of her was aware of the hum of discussion all around, but most of her senses were concentrating on the experience of being in Alex Delahaye’s arms.

The sensation of closeness was intimate but in no way unpleasant, more intense than it had been that afternoon. One of Jane’s hands rested lightly on his broad shoulder whilst the other was clasped in his. The touch of his fingers threatened to disturb her, for she found that she was very aware of him, and she tried to shut her mind to it. It would never do to make a fool of herself at Almack’s!

Jane tried to concentrate on the steps of the waltz. She was a good dancer and it was easy to waltz with Alex because he, too, was so good at it. Besides, it gave her the excuse to stay silent and avoid looking up at him, which she was sure would unsettle her completely. Instead, she looked around at their fellow dancers, noticing that Sophia was whirling around and chattering nineteen to the dozen to Lord Philip. He was smiling and looked boyish and happy. It was an extraordinary transformation.

‘It is not really so bad, is it?’ the Duke said ironically, after they had circled the room twice in silence. ‘I realise that, given a choice, you would not have danced with me, Miss Verey, despite your pretty little remark just now! You have a neat way of administering a set-down! It was a salutary experience for me!’

Jane raised her eyebrows, biting back a smile. The twinkle in his eyes was infectious. ‘You surprise me, your grace! I would imagine your self-esteem to be much more resilient than that!’

Alex Delahaye smiled, looking suddenly as boyish as his younger brother. ‘But appearances can be so deceptive, Miss Verey! Do you not find that?’

Jane was suddenly on her guard. There was no reason to read anything into his words and yet she was wary. He was too perceptive and she could not afford to trust him.

‘I must allow that to be true sometimes, I suppose,’ she said carefully. ‘This is not a society where one sees much below the surface.’

She saw his smile broaden with real amusement. ‘Indeed, Miss Verey! Yet sometimes it is the surface itself that is misleading! Take my brother’s visit to Ambergate, for example!’

Jane felt herself jump in his arms and was sure that he had felt it too. She cast one swift glance up into his face and saw that the smile held a hint of challenge now.

‘I have no notion as to your meaning, your Grace,’ she said, with more composure than she was feeling, ‘but I cannot regret the outcome of Lord Philip’s visit. I am persuaded that he and I should not have suited at all!’

‘Or was it that you took steps to ensure that you should not suit?’ the Duke asked, his lazy gaze still watchful. ‘As I say, I have the oddest suspicion, Miss Verey, that you have made a fool of my brother!’

‘Oh, no, your Grace!’ Jane avoided his gaze, her eyes fixed on the swirling dancers. ‘Whatever your brother has achieved has been on his own account!’

The Duke’s arm tightened momentarily around her waist. He gave her a look of brilliant amusement. ‘ Touché , Miss Verey! You are quite right that Philip’s indiscreet descriptions of his visit have been most ill bred. But perhaps he was provoked? Perhaps you gave him a very different impression of Miss Jane Verey from the one that is on show tonight?’

Jane hesitated. She had no way of knowing how much he knew and what was mere guesswork. How she wished that she had never started this! In deception one could give oneself away so easily…

Whilst she hesitated, the Duke said blandly, ‘Philip has already described your meeting, of course. Perhaps you would care to give me your version of events?’

Jane made up her mind. ‘I think not, sir. That would be…embarrassing and unnecessary. You have seen that all has been forgiven and forgotten tonight!’

The Duke nodded. ‘Of course,’ he murmured, ‘it may be better to let sleeping dogs lie. But indulge my curiosity, Miss Verey! How did you disguise yourself? You must be an accomplished amateur actress…’

The colour flooded Jane’s cheeks as her guilty conscience, fully awake now, gave her a prod. He might as well have called her an accomplished liar!

‘Please, your Grace, may we not change the subject?’

‘I can see that it might not reflect well on you!’ the Duke agreed. ‘The disguise, the deceit…’

‘Sir-’

‘No, no,’ the Duke murmured, ‘say no more, Miss Verey! I would not wish to cause you mortification!’

Jane’s eyes flashed with annoyance. ‘But surely it was your intention to do precisely that, sir! And you have succeeded!’

‘No, indeed!’ Alex’s expression of virtuous indignation was as good as anything Jane could have achieved. ‘Surely you mistake, Miss Verey! It is never the lady who is at fault in these situations!’