The Joy of Christmas Present: Sweet Regency Romance (A Dickens of a Christmas Book 2) by L. G. Rollins

Author:L. G. Rollins [Rollins, L. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2020-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Helena moved through the grand doors and into a ballroom as beautifully decorated as any she’d ever seen.

Lord Forbes, standing beside her, let out a low whistle even as his walking stick clicked lightly against the floor.

“It is quite grand, isn’t it?” she agreed in a low whisper. Ribbons hung in lovely curls down table legs and in the gathers of the tablecloths. The entire ceiling was draped in sheer tulle, making the many candelabras which burned above them appear to be shimmering, light-giving clouds. Flowers—nearly an entire hothouse’s worth—filled corners and tables and surrounded the orchestra at one side of the room.

“I’d heard Lady Adley rather went all out for Christmas,” Lord Forbes said in a rare show of actual emotion, “but I had no idea.”

“I think it’s lovely,” Emma said from behind them, her hand atop Topper’s arm.

Lord Forbes led Helena further into the room. “Lord Adley must love his wife quite a lot to let her spend so much of his blunt on a Christmas ball.”

Helena’s forehead dropped a bit at his comment. Lord Forbes’s statement had been straightforward enough, but something about it had given her pause. No doubt she would have dismissed it out of hand had she not been thinking all evening if he might not be the answer to her problems.

Did Lord Forbes not think a ball a good reason to decorate? Or that a man only gave a woman he loved money to see her wishes fulfilled? Or, perhaps, his tastes were simply more reserved, and he perceived the room they stood in as unnecessarily extravagant?

Lord Chapman entered the room, Christina on his right arm and Eleanor on his left. Helena watched his eyes grow big as he took in the space. Then his gaze found hers and he mouthed, “Extraordinary.” She smiled back at him and nodded her agreement. Lady Adley, whom Helena was determined she ought to meet tonight, had certainly a fine talent for seeing a ballroom merrily decorated.

Moreover, she was not here to tease out a single, insignificant sentence from Lord Forbes. She was here to enjoy herself, to meet people, and possibly to further her connection with a gentleman or two. What Lord Forbes might have meant was of little concern. Helena could feel her spirits rising the more she soaked in the jolly atmosphere of the ballroom.

When Lord Forbes asked her to dance not five minutes later, Helena readily agreed. Dancing, she learned, was ever so much more fun when the room was filled with red and green decorations and the orchestra played lively and heartily. After the dance ended, and Lord Forbes excused himself, Helena spoke with Emma and a couple of her friends whom she hadn’t yet met. Then she danced with Topper, and afterward, he brought her some punch. As the evening wore on, Helena found herself in such a fine mood, she even agreed to dance with Lord Ellis when he asked her. More still, she hardly cared when he spent more time looking at the women beside her than he did at her.

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