Chapter 6

THE CAMDEN BALL– PART 1

"This looks extremely silly, Daniel," Theo said to his valet, not at all satisfied with his cravat.

"This cravat is a piece of art, my lord!" Daniel said, offended.

"But it's too fussy, not my style," he said, tugging at his cravat.

Daniel gasped at the sight of his masterpiece being destroyed so callously.

Theo almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But he couldn't very well attend the ball looking like that. His ruffles and laces along with that cravat made him look like a wild chicken.

"I think I can tie my cravat on my own," Theo said, trying to dismiss him.

"My lord, you never attend the social functions and never give me the chance to display my talents. If I may be so bold, I request you to give me another chance. I'll use a simpler style this time."

"Fine," Theo sighed.

After three more attempts, Theo was somewhat satisfied, his valet was not.

"This is not my best, but it's not so bad," Daniel sighed.

Theo just nodded, eager to be done with this. He had probably taken longer than his mother to get ready today.

He rushed down, only to find the foyer empty.

"Where is the countess?" Theo asked Buttons.

"She should be down in but a few minutes, my lord," he replied.

Lady Fortescue came down after half an hour. Her son seemed irritable, she wondered why.

"Don't you look handsome," she smiled at him.

"You look lovely as ever too," he said as he practically dragged her out of the house.

"You seem nervous," his mother commented once they were in the carriage.

"I'm attending a ball after I don't know how long. And this time, I have a goal to achieve. I must find myself a wife," he sighed, pretending to be into this.

His mother smiled happily. "You'll find her, just you wait."

He almost felt guilty for deceiving her into believing that he was thinking about marrying. But what choice had she left him with? He'd have act like he was dancing attendance on young debutants.

Meanwhile..

"What are you doing?" Sarah shouted at Rosalyn who was still roaming about in her chemise and corset.

"Relax, we don't have to be there for another hour," Vanessa said, fixing her hair for the hundredth time.

"I'm ready," Alice said victoriously.

Rosalyn rolled her eyes. Alice had begun to get ready two hours ago.

After a few minutes, Vanessa and Rosalyn were ready as well.

All of them looked splendid, in Rosalyn's opinion.

"You all look lovely, ladies," Ralph said to them as they descended down the stairs.

But his eyes were only on Alice.

How did she not notice, Rosalyn thought annoyed.

The Camden ball

London

The ladies made a grand entrance at the ball, all necks turned to catch a glimpse of them.

Although the girls looked very different from each other, they were all spectacular in their own right.

Within a few minutes, they were surrounded by gentlemen, much to Ralph's annoyance.

"Your skin is as fair as the porcelain of my mother's China," young Denbigh was saying to Sarah.

Rosalyn held back laugh at Sarah's attempt to mask her tortured expression. But her amusement was short lived, for a viscount whose name she didn't recall was reciting a particularly bad piece of poetry to her.

She saw Ralph then, deep in conversation with a man. She couldn't recognise who he was because his back was turned to her.

Rosa went to them.

"I can't believe you abandoned me," she said to Ralph and turned to smile at the gentleman he was talking to.

Her face fell the moment she set eyes on him.

It was him.

"I couldn't bear to hear your beau's terrible poetry," Ralph replied. And then noticed his friend and his sister staring at each other.

"Theo, meet Lady Rosalyn Orford, my sister. And Rosa, this is Earl Fortescue, he attended Eton with me," Ralph said.

Earl Fortescue seemed to have come to senses for his bow was perfection itself while Rosalyn curtseyed with all the grace of a frog.

Theo couldn't believe it.

It was her.

And he finally knew her name.

Rosalyn.

Beautiful, just like her.

He thought he should say something appropriate, but they were interrupted by three giggly ladies.

Even they seemed surprised to see him. Maybe Lady Rosalyn had said something about him to them?

Once the introductions were made, Lady Vanessa Martin addressed him.

"You look very familiar, My Lord."

"Yes, I believe you saw me at the Clarence the other day," he replied smoothly.

"I'm terribly parched, if you'll excuse me, I'll go fetch some lemonade for myself," Lady Alice said before Lady Vanessa could reply, flashing a fake smile at them.

"Allow me," Ralph said and made to leave but Alice stopped him, pulling him by his elbow.

"I'm not a little girl, Lord Orford. If you wish, I'll take Sarah and Vanessa with me," Lady Alice grinned.

"Very well," Ralph murmured.

"Alice," Lady Rosalyn said in a warning tone.

Her friends were gone by then. But not before Theo caught the mischief in Lady Alice's eyes.

She was clearly up to something.

And judging from Ralph's expression, he thought that too. While Theo was amused, Ralph seemed alarmed.

On the other side of the ballroom.

"Are you sure about this, Alice?" Vanessa whispered furiously.

"I think this is the most foolish thing you've ever considered doing," Sarah scolded.

"Relax, will you? I have everything in hand," she said opening her hand to reveal the tiny bottle in her hand and giggled, proud of her joke.

Sarah sighed. There was nothing she could do to stop Alice. Besides, she was tired of being responsible. She was a little excited about this too.

So after making sure no one was watching, Alice poured the contents of the bottle into the bowl containing the lemonade.

"That bottle of Irish Moonshine cost me half my monthly allowance," Alice smirked.

"I bet it's going to be worth every penny," Vanessa grinned conspiratorially.