Regency Sting by Elizabeth Mansfield

Author:Elizabeth Mansfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497697775
Publisher: Open Road Media

Twelve

The surprises in store for Anne were not all to be as pleasant as the first sight of Jason in his evening clothes had been. But at least the early part of the evening turned out beautifully. Jason, athough he ignored or forgot many of her instructions, seemed to do very well indeed. In fact, before the early dinner party had ended, it was clear to Anne that Lord Mainwaring was on his way to making a spectacular success.

Ostensibly, the guest of honor at the dinner party Lord and Lady Dabney held before the start of the ball (an intimate gathering of twenty-four diners, consisting of several members of the Dabney family and a few special guests) was the dowager Duchess of Richmond, but the guest who received most of the attention was the new Viscount from America. Lord Mainwaring drew all eyes the moment he entered, and the eyes rarely left him. When he was brought by his host to meet the guest of honor, the Duchess remarked in her piercing voice that the fellow certainly was “a big ’un.” She promptly asked the Viscount the question which everyone was wont to ask and which he was fast learning to dread: “Heavens, my lord, are all American men so tall?”

“Shucks, your grace,” he replied promptly, “this ain’t tall. I’m nothin’ but a runt back home.”

Anne froze, expecting a shocked silence, but Jason’s quip was greeted by loud guffaws from the gentlemen, giggles from the ladies and an appreciative snort from the Duchess herself. The Duchess demanded his arm for the march to the dinner table (an honor which should have been given to her host, Lord Dabney, but which that neglected gentleman took in good part) and addressed most of her remarks to Jason all through dinner. The other guests vied with each other for his attention, asking him questions about America and hanging on his answers with flattering concentration. Lady Dabney’s daughter, Amanda, clearly smitten, asked him coyly what he thought of English ladies as compared to American. “I find all ladies appealin’, ma’am,” he said, as the others fell silent, listening in fascination to his response. “Of course, American girls don’t look quite so slim as you English ladies.”

“Do you mean,” the girl persisted, “that American girls are … er … rounder?”

“Well, they appear so, I think. Their dresses don’t seem to cling so closely to their forms. You English girls dress to look slim and make the men look ’round.”

Over the roar of laughter that greeted this sally, Anne distinctly heard the Duchess remark to Lady Dabney that the new Mainwaring was a wit.

By the time the dinner guests rose to go upstairs (for the ballroom, on the upper floor, was beginning to fill with newly arriving guests), Anne and Lady Harriet were light-headed with relief and gratification. Jason’s success at dinner had been greater than either one of them had hoped. “Wasn’t he marvelous?” Harriet whispered to Anne as they left the dining room. “He’s bound to be the hit of the evening.

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