Flirtation & Folly by Elizabeth Rasche

Author:Elizabeth Rasche [Rasche, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781951033576
Publisher: Quills & Quartos Publishing
Published: 2020-11-04T18:00:00+00:00

Heat. Noise. Emotion. The crush of bodies in the ballroom of Sir William’s fashionable Grosvenor Square home transformed a cool spring evening into a maddened, near-tropical atmosphere of humidity. Chandeliers glimmered with their tiny bright flames and winking glass, as detached from the tumult below as the stars in the heavens must be from the riotous games of the earth. Heat radiated from body to body. Sweaty, gloved hands grasped one another in mindless displays of friendship or else beat at the thick air with spread fans. Thin strains of violin threaded through the cacophony.

There were too many guests for conversation to prick a person into paying attention—instead, the garble of voices melded together in one loud, meaningless hum, like a thousand tiny splashes aggregating into the crash of waves. For Marianne, the ball was suffused with novelty and strangeness—the press of elegantly-dressed bodies, the feathers perched in aigrettes atop ladies’ heads straining upwards, the odours of overheated bodies and perfume pricking the nose, while the tartness of the lemonade prickled the tongue. The strange conjunction of scents and tastes, leisure and activity, brightness and night, suffused the ball with novelty for Marianne. She loved it.

There was no doubt that her ball gown fit in beautifully with the others. It was an ordinary white muslin, coupled with a intricate embroidery to mark the occasion, and adorned with a half-inch of suitably delicate lace at the hem. Miss Emily’s taste was impeccable, and in attire Marianne resembled most of the other young ladies stepping lightly in the allemande or hanging back at the edges of the ballroom. Marianne had considered adding a cluster of unusual hothouse flowers or perhaps having her hair arranged in a new way, but Miss Emily had not answered her note appealing for help, and Marianne did not trust her own taste enough to do it without her. However disappointed Marianne might be that her appearance did not arrest the envious notice of the other guests, she could at least be thankful that no one was chuckling at her expense.

Some of the guests looked pleased to see her, Sir William even seeking her out for a spirited conversation on the latest exploits of his nephews, and Marianne attended to them all. It was only when Aunt Harriet insisted on introducing a weasel-faced Mr Cox to Marianne, that Sir William remembered his duty to mingle with his guests and disappeared.

Marianne’s dances with Mr Cox went much the same as her dances with Mr Hearn earlier that evening: politely and awkwardly. While the awkwardness of dancing with Mr Hearn came from their mutual regret and forgiveness for quarrelling a few days before, the awkwardness of dancing with Mr Cox came from (Marianne supposed) his insistent, clamouring pride. Despite his tall, thin body, Mr Cox reminded her of a little boy puffed up with a momentary success at school and eager to impose a fee of applause upon all who greeted him. His dark hair was slicked back with something scented, but she still expected to see an irrepressible boyish cowlick every time she looked at him.

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