The Dances
After the Queen has left, a bunch of ladies and gentlemen from the ton had started to flock around the Featheringtons. They were all curious to see Penelope closely, to see the beauty that charmed the Queen herself, and to admire the sparkling exquisite piece hanging on her neck. There were also a lot of gentlemen who had asked her for a dance, mostly new faces that had just introduced themselves to the red-haired girl.
Amidst the crowd, there stood Colin Bridgerton who had been long observing Penelope since the Featheringtons' arrival. Penelope felt her insides stiffen as she saw the face of her childhood friend. It has been a long while since they last saw each other. Through these last months, Colin had lost the baby fats on his face but still remained as charming and handsome as he is. No matter how much she missed him, the only thing that entered her mind were the words Colin had proudly said to his friends.
"Pen." The third Bridgerton son greets her.
"Are you mad? I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington. Not in your wildest fantasies Fife." Those words echoed pain on Penelope's ears. But despite being hurt and angry at the man in front of her, and as a lady with proper etiquette manners, she greeted back the Bridgerton boy.
"Good evening, Mister Bridgerton." She said coldly as she bows her head.
"Good evening, Pen. Are you well? I did not see you the other night." Colin says.
"As you can see, I am well to attend this ball Mister Bridgerton." Penelope's icy words continues to hunt the unknowing Colin.
"Mister Bridgerton? Are we not calling on our Christian names anymore?" Colin asked as he was not used to hearing his friend call him by his family name. A question he regrets to have brought up as a couple set of eyes turned toward him, including that of the dowager Baroness, Lady Featherington. He then remembered his mother's warning. He decided to be careful with his words not to attract unwanted attention to them.
Penelope has been trying to get suitors this season, and if word comes around that she is acting so familiar with a gentleman like him, might cause some rumors that will affect his friend's prospects.
"Well, may I ask for a dance Miss Featherington?" He casually asks just to change the topic. He knew it would be better to converse with the red-haired lady during the dance so that less bystanders would be able to hear their words.
As much as she would like to decline, Penelope hesitantly raises up her wrist for Colin to write his name on the card. It was set on rules that if a lady is to decline a man asking for a dance, then she will have to sit out all the dances for the remainder of the evening. A consequence Penelope could not afford to give up. It took her this much to have her dance card full of names and she will not let this chance slip away just because of Colin Bridgerton. She is determined to have a suitor and if she needed to endure faking a smile and conversing to the man she hates right now, she will dutifully do so. Just to secure her chances of finding a husband from the ton.
Colin smiles at her as he finished writing his name on the piece of paper hanging on her wrist. He wrote his name on the country dance making her card missing just one final dance.
"I will pick you up once our song starts." Colin happily left her as he goes along to look for his sisters. The man innocently thinks that sharing a dance with Penelope will make his night better.
After getting introduced to a few of the eligible bachelors, Penelope Featherington had excused herself from her mother and sister to proceed to the refreshments table. She badly needed a drink as she felt her throat and lips dry after all the smiling and exchange of words with different people at the crowd.
She took a glass of lemonade and drank almost half of it, before letting out a sound of relief for quenching her thirst.
"Was the lemonade that good my lady?"
Penelope was startled and almost coughed to herself as she heard a manly voice commenting on her drink. She turned towards the direction where the voice came from and saw a tall handsome man standing just at the edge of the table.
"It was, Sir. Its sweetness is fitting at the time of the night." Penelope courteously answers as she composes herself.
The man stepped closer to her leaving an arm's length between them, just what is allowed within proper decorum. He puts his arm on his chest and bows his head to the Featherington miss as he introduces himself.
"Thomas Debling, at your service my lady. May I have the honor of knowing your name?"
Penelope was surprised to hear the name from the man's introduction. She then noticed the distinct golden hair and his beard that covers around his mouth. This was the Lord Debling her mother and sister was talking about. She quickly scans the man's appearance and could not agree more that he is truly a fine man as what have been said. Debling is a tall man, his height reaching almost six feet, his eyes are of blue like the ocean waves, and his posture shows off his masculinity even when being covered by high quality garments. Such a beautiful man to behold.
"Oh. Forgive me my lord. I should have known to address you properly. My name is Penelope Featherington" Penelope apologizing as she called him Sir the first time instead of a lord.
"Nothing to apologize for." Debling smiles as he looks at Penelope. He quickly averts his eyes for a second as it was improper to stare at a woman for too long. "Penelope.. that sounds a good name. You must be Lady Featherington's youngest?"
"Yes, my lord. Have you met my mama?"
"Ah yes. I was introduced to her the other night. At the Cowpers."
"And so, I was told." Penelope could not think of any other thing to say. She had been looking forward to meeting this man and to get to know him as she heard so many good words about the gentleman. But now that she is in front of the man himself, she could not find the ways to prolong their conversation.
"What do you think of this ball, Miss Featherington?"
Debling's query surprised Penelope. Normally it was her who should have been trying to come up with questions to ask for any gentleman who comes her way. But this time it was the other way around. And the kind of inquiries Lord Debling poses is much different to what the normal topics of discussions are.
"Well, I could not say that this is the best yet as this is the first I have attended so far, my lord."
Penelope's answer brought amazement to the Earl. Though he had tried talking with different ladies from the ton since his re-enter in the society, he has never met one with such eloquence and intelligence when it comes to words. Thomas Debling could not help but smile as he enjoys starting a conversation with the young lady. There was no bias on her answer and she has stated truth in a most elegant way.
"That is rather a very interesting response, my lady." Penelope blushes at the mere sound of him calling her as my lady.
"Why would you think so my lord? Is it not the answer you are expecting?"
"Hmm. Truth is, I have tried asking the same query to other people around, but all I get is how they are eager to get a match this season."
Penelope Featherington then remembered the observation her mother and sister had about the man. The thought of Debling being a picky man as he did not ask any lady's hand for a dance last ball.
"Everyone would say the same as the only way for one to get a husband and wife is through attending the balls for the social season." Penelope defends the general idea that surrounds the ton.
"But yours are different. You rather described the ball itself." She saw Debling's smile as he compared her answer from everyone else.
Thomas looked at the piece of card hanging around her wrist and noticed a small space left for writing.
"May I ask for a dance, my lady?"
"Oh." Penelope quickly looked at her dance card and realized that there is no name yet written for the final waltz. "It would be my pleasure, Lord Debling."
After granted the permission, Thomas Debling neatly wrote his name down. "No, the pleasure would be mine."
The both of them continued to converse about different topics. Though it was not preferred to discuss politics and business between a man and a woman, Debling, however, had enjoyed and warmly welcomed the ideas shared by Penelope. Immersed on their exchange of words, the two have not noticed that time had quickly passed as they remained standing at the refreshments table.
It was only the sound of music that interrupted their conversation. As the orchestra plays the music for the quadrille, a young gentleman comes to pick up Penelope's hand.
The latter politely excused herself from Lord Debling as the first dance of the night started.
"May you enjoy the dances, my lady." Thomas Debling bids the young Featherington a farewell for now.
As Penelope Featherington gets swayed by the steps of the song, she could not help but smile as the voice of Lord Debling calling her as "my lady" echoes through her mind.