A Fiery Dalliance

XX

"And what about the lovers who spend hours staring into each other's eyes? Is it a display of trust? I will let you in close and trust you not to hurt me while I'm in this vulnerable position. And if trust is one of the foundations of love, perhaps the staring is a way to build or reinforce it. Or maybe it's simpler than that.
A simple search for connection.
To see.
To be seen." Nicola Yoon, The Sun is Also a Star

---- 

XX.

Perrie focussed solely on breathing. That she was good at. She suddenly longed for Mrs Liscombe and her inordinate number of classes that were meant to prepare young ladies for occasions such as there. Perrie, of course, had learned to dance and how to flutter her fan but she felt entirely out of her depth in this ballroom.

And this was not even her proper launch into society. She still had that to look forward to next April.

Perrie knew that she was dressed beautifully. She did adore the gown that Belle had sent from London. But it was still such a change from the dresses that she was used to. Never before had she worn a floor length gown, nor had she ever worn her hair up in such an intricate style. She suddenly felt every one of her seventeen-and-a-half years.

Her grandmother, on the other hand, had never been prouder. Perrie did not think that she had ever seen her grandmother smile so much. But despite Cecily determination that Perrie be launched properly and introduced to every one of the eligible gentlemen in attendance, her father had properly put his foot down. Never had Perrie been more glad to oblige her father's ruling.

Perrie had not been introduced to a single gentleman despite the fact that she could feel them all staring at her. She was certain that they were not bewitched by her glittering eyes or shining tendrils. They simply were well aware that come the following season, she would carry a dowry that would be a mighty prize.

Despite not being permitted to introduce her to any gentlemen, Cecily enjoyed parading Perrie about to the onlookers. She felt like a right milk cow about to go up for auction.

Mr Parish, Ed, had asked for her first two dances shortly after she had entered the ballroom, and she was sure that he would be her only two dances for the evening seeing as no other gentleman would be able to ask her. Perrie then supposed that Joe could be another gentleman seeing as they were well acquainted, but then she knew that he would never ask her to dance.

Joe might have asked Perrie to choke on a walnut, but not to dance.

After making a loop around the ballroom, Perrie returned to the safety of her father's side, and there she wanted to remain. Adam placed a hand securely in the middle of Perrie's back while continuing his conversation. He and her mother were talking to a woman whom they both seemed to know.

Perrie had a vague recollection of her being introduced alongside her daughter as the Marchioness of somewhere. Her mother then called the woman, 'Sarah' with some familiarity.

"Look over there, Perrie," her grandmother uttered as she came up beside her. "It is Lucinda Strachan, the bearer of that unfortunate Habsburg chin."

Perrie looked over to see Lady Lucinda walking with the same woman that she and Cecily had encountered in Belle's dress shop, her mother. Perrie's heart softened as she laid eyes upon a young woman with the slightest of pronounced jawbones. She was dressed very nicely and was being paraded about the ballroom by her mother, just as Cecily had been doing with Perrie.

"Grandmamma, you should not say such things," Perrie chastised.

"I wish I could say such things as, 'may I introduce my granddaughter, Lady Perrie Beresford', but alas, your father is determined to be cruel," Cecily said snidely.