Stepping inside the grand ballroom for their first Fancy Ball since their arrival, Ellie could not help thinking they ought to have chosen the purportedly less stately weekly gathering. Lillian’s remade gowns were not in the first stare of fashion. And the gowns Mother had reluctantly agreed to have made for Ellie were rather countrified, no matter that they’d been sewn by a Bath seamstress. Their simplicity spoke not of elegance but frugality, and the indifferent workmanship rendered Ellie’s appearance almost dowdy. Her appearance was hardly her only concern.
All day, all evening, all the way from their rented house to the Assembly Rooms, Ellie had been regaled with warnings and dire pronouncements regarding her expected misbehavior and embarrassments.
Do not make any of your usual impertinent remarks.
Do not be as disgracefully forward as you too often are.
Mr. Jonquil is the only prospect you have. Do not turn him away with your forwardness.
For heaven’s sake, keep your peace while we are in company. Young ladies with too much to say will never be considered good company.
The list went on and on. She was fully expected to be a failure, a disgrace, an embarrassment. Her family demanded silent obedience, and she had found it best over the years to simply comply.
Her parents had enough acquaintances in Bath to be kept occupied with greetings and words of reunion for quite some time after their arrival at the ball. As this was Ellie’s first time joining them, she was introduced to more people than she could possibly remember.
Their path soon crossed with the Lancasters’. The greetings were effusive on the part of Ellie’s family, subdued but cordial on the part of the Lancasters. Miss Lancaster, dressed elegantly without being gaudy, offered a small smile to both Lillian and Ellie. Their acquaintance was not truly a deep one; Miss Lancaster had not lived near them for more than a decade. She traveled in much more exalted circles now.
“We were so delighted to have called yesterday and found Mr. Hughes and Mr. Jonquil there as well,” Lillian said to Miss Lancaster. “They seem quite exceptional gentlemen.”
“You knew Mr. Jonquil already, from his visit to Shropshire last year,” Miss Lancaster said.
Lillian stumbled only a tiny bit over having been caught out pushing the topic of conversation by means of a slight misrepresentation. “Well, yes, but as he spent a vast portion of that visit convalescing, we did not spend as much time in his company as we had anticipated.”
“How fortunate for you.”
Only by sheer force of will did Ellie keep her amusement hidden—her family wouldn’t approve of the show of levity. Miss Lancaster was clearly under no expectation of keeping quiet and outwardly reserved.
Lillian smiled conspiratorially, as if she and Miss Lancaster were the very best of friends. “You always have been so droll.”
“Have I?” Miss Lancaster looked to Ellie. “Do you concur with your sister’s evaluation?”
“At the moment, I find you more candid than comical.”
That earned her a light laugh of what she felt certain was approval. Not everyone found a bit of wordplay off-putting.
Lillian watched them both with an expression of confusion. As she did more often than not, she turned the topic once more to the one she preferred: her interests. “I should very much like to make Mr. Hughes’s better acquaintance. His manners yesterday were beyond reproach. His family, I understand, are the very cream of Society. One could not do better than to claim him as an acquaintance or friend.”
Or more. Ellie was not unaware of her sister’s ambitions.
“The Hugheses hold subscriptions to both balls,” Miss Lancaster said. “I suspect he and Mr. Jonquil will both be in attendance tonight.”
“Excellent.” Lillian turned to Mother, the two of them conversing in low whispers.
“Has her focus shifted, then?” Miss Lancaster asked Ellie. “Mr. Jonquil seemed to be the one she had her eye on before. The one both of you were focused on, truth be told.”
With her family’s attention momentarily diverted, Ellie threw caution entirely to the wind and answered with as much candor as Miss Lancaster had earlier. “That was my parents’ focus. Lillian shared the ambition. I had no choice but to act as though I did as well.”
“Ah.” The empathy in Miss Lancaster’s expression made her less intimidating. “I did wonder why you hardly ever spoke. And if I am remembering correctly, when you did, it was mostly to echo something your sister said.”
“It seemed the safest approach.”
Miss Lancaster nodded. “Is that to be your approach in Bath as well?”
“In Shropshire, I had my sister’s more ambitious efforts to hide behind. Here, I alone am meant to make a good showing where Mr. Jonquil is concerned.” Her mother and sister were finishing their conversation, her father having stepped away, and they turned back in her direction once more. Ellie pressed her lips together and resumed her silence.
“We have just seen Mr. Hughes and Mr. Jonquil step inside,” Mother said. “Come, Ellie. We must go offer our greetings.”
Objections would be futile. She simply dipped her head in resignation.
To her surprise, Miss Lancaster hooked her arm through Ellie’s. “Do allow me to go with you.”
Lillian looked surprised. Mother could not have appeared more ecstatic.
“If I am not mistaken,” Ellie said, “you do not overly care for Mr. Jonquil.”
“No, but I am terribly fond of the theatre, and we are about to be treated to quite a performance.”
Again, Ellie barely managed to hold back her amusement. If Mother’s gaze had not been unwaveringly focused on the gentlemen ahead of them, she would have scolded Ellie to no end.
“I only wish I didn’t have to be one of the performers,” Ellie said.
“Stick close to me. I’ll do what I can to extricate you.”
It was, quite possibly, the most generous and welcome offer she had received in years. “Thank you, Miss Lancaster.”
“Call me Artemis,” she said. “We cannot be allies if we aren’t friends.”
“I would be honored to be either one.”
“Why not both?” So many of the fashionable and sought-after young ladies in Society were rumored to be quite above their company, looking down their noses at those who did not claim the standing and wealth they did. Artemis was proving quite the opposite.
They were soon standing before Mr. Hughes and Mr. Jonquil. Bows and curtsies and words of delighted welcome were exchanged, the more effusive of it coming from Mother and Lillian.
“A delight to see you again, Miss Lancaster.” Mr. Jonquil’s greeting was not impolite, but neither did it seem entirely sincere. They neither of them seemed overly fond of the other, yet there was no real animosity apparent.