Sir Marcus, however, saw their removal as instrumental in assisting him in carrying out his plan, and was determined to rid himself of his friend’s unwelcome presence. Pointing something out to Emily in the distance, so that she walked a little away from him and Alexander, he lowered his voice and told Alexander to make himself scarce.
“I beg your pardon?” Alexander asked.
“I am going to put my luck to the touch. I don’t want you around spoiling the moment.”
“Of course,” Alexander said. “Forgive me for being so obtuse.” Emily had begun walking back toward the gentlemen, having looked in vain for the black swan Sir Marcus had thought he had seen in the moat. Alexander bowed to her, telling her he must see to his father, and left her and Sir Marcus alone.
Emily was quite disappointed, but did not want to spoil Sir Marcus’s pleasure. So she asked him would he like to turn back like the rest, or continue their walk. She was quite shocked when he led her over to a patch of grass and laid down a handkerchief, where he carefully placed one knee.
“Miss Smithfield, Emily, I feel that my admiration for you cannot have gone unobserved, you must realize how ardently I admire you.”
When Emily shook her head no, and would have stopped him from speaking further, he interrupted her. “Your modesty does you credit. You could not but be aware that I have loved you from the first moment I laid eyes upon you. Well, perhaps not the first moment, because, as I recall, you were laughing at me for observing you through my quizzing glass while wearing green glasses, but shortly after that,” he asserted, before realizing that he had not actually loved her until very recently. He then became tangled up in an explanation of how, even though her gall in stealing his quizzing glass had offended him, he was willing to overlook her natural high spirits, and that he was sure she would appear much more fashionable once she had a London modiste. Just as he realized that he had not yet asked her the all-important question, he was interrupted by a stifled giggle.
He stopped in mid-sentence, looking at Emily in disbelief. Surely she had not giggled in the middle of his marriage proposal? But when he reached for his quizzing glass to observe Emily’s expression more closely, she could no longer restrain herself and was soon laughing uncontrollably.
“Well!” he said, highly offended, and stood up, picking up the handkerchief he had been kneeling on, and waving it in the air to remove any dirt or straw, before folding it and returning it to his pocket. “I am glad you stopped me before I actually offered for you! I could never be married to someone who is so lacking in delicacy that she actually giggled in the middle of a marriage proposal! Every feeling must be offended.”
Emily attempted to apologize, but when Sir Marcus began to mutter how he should have known better than to ever think they would have suited, and she hadn’t even let him win at chess, she gave up the attempt as useless. However, she did do her best to maintain her composure, with only a slight shaking of her shoulders to betray her, until they returned to the rest of the party.
Alexander was not with the others, as he could not bear to be present when Sir Marcus and Emily returned, and their engagement was announced. He hoped Emily would refuse Marcus, but when he remembered how she had stated quite firmly were she to have a choice between him and Sir Marcus, she would choose Sir Marcus, he did not think there was much chance of that.
So he wandered aimlessly around the grounds of the castle, and was quite surprised to run into Emily, on a similar solitary ramble. He asked if he might join her, and she acquiesced, but any harmony between them was quickly squashed when he asked bitterly if he should wish her happy.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You must have realized Sir Marcus would have taken me into his confidence. He told me he was going to propose to you.”
“I see,” Emily replied, but made no other comment.
“Is it to be a secret engagement then?” Alexander asked, wondering why she persisted in torturing him.
“You are mistaken. Sir Marcus did not propose to me.”
“He did not propose? But I was quite sure that was his intention.”
“Oh, I am sure it was, also, but that was before he discovered me to be lacking in delicacy.” Emily looked up at Alexander, the picture of disappointment, but Alexander saw the laughter lurking in her eyes, and he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of him, allowing him to breathe freely.
“I am certain he is right, but may I ask how he made such a discovery?”
Emily looked at him in mock reproach. “You gentlemen are quite ungallant, accusing me of such a thing. If you must know, it is because I laughed in the middle of his marriage proposal. No one had ever informed me of the vulgarity of such behavior. I am sure it was not even discussed at the Bellingham Ladies Academy. Now that I am aware of it, however, I will be sure to attend to my next proposal with the gravity of a pallbearer.”
“You may not be the recipient of many more proposals if word gets out of your flighty manner of receiving them.” Alexander said, smiling.
“That is true. However, I am not interested in receiving many more proposals.”
Before Alexander could reply to this auspicious remark, they were met by Lydia and Sedgewick, who wished they had jumped into the moat before interrupting such a promising tête-à-tête. However, as Lady Smithfield was ready to return home, they had little choice but to encourage Emily and Alexander to rejoin the rest of the party.
Emily waited in vain for her mother to remark on her rash behavior of the other night. She was quite surprised when, on Wednesday, her mother had still not said anything on the subject. Emily was further surprised to discover that, rather than Lady Smithfield’s being angry with her, she had never been so high in her mother’s esteem. She could not understand why her mother was in such a pleasant mood, particularly as her hopes for Lydia had not been realized.
On Wednesday morning, the day of Lady Abernathy’s ball, Emily was the astonished recipient of a new ball gown. A pretty, pale jonquil silk, with shoes to match. The dress had short, puffed sleeves, and a low, wide neckline, with a darker yellow slip to be worn underneath. Lydia also received a new gown, and both girls accepted the gifts with such exclamations of delight that Lady Smithfield was quite pleased with the success of her surprise.
When the girls came down the stairs that evening, and Lady Smithfield saw them, she felt like she could cry, and it was only the thought of how crying always ruined her complexion that kept any actual tears from falling. Lydia was always beautiful, of course, but tonight she glowed with happiness, and the blue dress her mother had chosen for her perfectly matched her eyes. Emily, too, now that she had attracted the notice of Lord Wesleigh, was seen by her mother in an entirely different light. The looks that had before seemed somewhat common were now quite the opposite, as a gentleman who had withstood all the conventional beauties had been captured by Emily’s unique beauty.
The duke, who had been waiting with their mother at the foot of the stairs, also thought both girls in exceptional looks. “I will be the envy of every gentleman in the room when I enter the ball with such lovely ladies,” he told them. Lady Smithfield felt all the glory of having a ducal escort to the ball, and only wished Sir Marcus could have fit in their carriage as well. However, Sir Marcus, who was avoiding Emily as much as possible since the previous day’s debacle, had already left for the ball.
They were received very graciously at Rothergate, which Lady Smithfield correctly attributed to the presence of the duke in their party. Lord Abernathy, to his wife’s extreme displeasure, complimented Emily and Lydia on their appearance and warned Lady Cynthia, who was also in the receiving line, that she had some fierce competition. Lady Cynthia did not comment, but only looked Emily and Lydia up and down with an expression of disdain, as if to say she was not too worried.