Husband Wanted (HC #1)

14: A Ball to Remember

With the exception of that unhelpful insight, Beth thoroughly enjoyed her morning chatting with Greer. The younger girl wasn't loud or overbearing, but she was also far from shy and retiring. An excellent balance for a new friend. A new friend Beth would be seeing within the next hour at the ball. The Thorne ball.

Her stomach flipped nervously.

Pressing a gloved hand to her abdomen, Beth assessed her reflection and tried to ignore the significance of the party she was preparing for. Her gown was a shade shy of crimson, with tight sleeves that sat just off the shoulder yet met at the centre of her chest for suitably conservative decolletage. Her gloves, like the ribbon that was laced through her hair, were white. Beth's eyebrow quirked slightly, almost impressed with herself. Almost.

There was a knock at the door, and her lady's maid popped her head in to warn her that the carriages had been readied and that 'Lord Matthew' was already threatening to leave her behind.

Beth scowled. "I'd like to see him try!" she grumbled under her breath, gathering the front of her skirt in both hands and moving towards the door. She tried her best not to stomp.

Despite her growls, she did move quickly, not wanting to make anyone wait too long. She descended the stairs as quickly as she could without stepping on a hem. Just before the last step she glanced up, hoping to see their carriage still waiting on the front drive, but instead she came face to face with John.

She squeaked and lost her balance on the step, reaching out to brace herself on the nearest object, which just happened to be John himself. With one hand he gripped the crutch, keeping them both upright, and with the other he caught her around the waist. When all stood still, they were pressed chest to chest, the tips of Beth's slippers just grazing the step as they both breathed heavily.

Beth hadn't noticed before, but John's eyes were a lovely shade of grey-green. The swelling and bruising had long faded, leaving just a healing cut across his brow and a few spots of red throughout the whites of his eye. For a moment he teetered closer.

Then, gently but abruptly, Beth was lowered to the floor. She let out another gasp of surprise, but John kept a hand on her upper arm so that she didn't tip over.

"I'm so sorry I was..."

John cut her off with a shake of his head. "Please, the mistake was mine. I was... distracted." His eyes flicked away from her face for the briefest of moments, taking the whole of her in from head to toe. He swallowed heavily.

Beth felt her cheeks redden, and she looked anywhere but his face. Which presented her with the opportunity to be surprised by his clothing.

"Oh!" she gasped, her hand absently drifted up to the fabric at his sleeve. His coat was a rusty colour, set over a matching vest and a white shirt with fewer ruffles than was currently fashionable.

He glanced down at himself as well. "Your brothers were kind enough to lend me something to wear."

Glancing down at her own sleeve, Beth noted with a frown that their wardrobes clashed this evening. Not that it mattered of course.

"It looks very well on you," she said quickly to distract herself.

She didn't see his cheeks colour slightly. He cleared his throat. "You look-"

He was interrupted by a groan from the door, and both their heads whipped around to look at Matthew. John leaned away from Beth, though he kept his hand on her arm just in case.

Her brother was leaning dramatically against the door frame. "Please, I beg you both, may we leave?"

Beth shook her head at him, but drew back from John to pull up her skirts. "Why are you so anxious to be there on time?" she asked.