Holly and Lindsay were looking out the carriage window as the scenery passed by. They were excited about going to their first ball since coming out in the fall of the year. The air had a chill and it looked like it could snow at any given moment, but they were excited none the less.
Holly could feel the butterflies flapping their wings in her stomach, she was so nervous. Lindsay felt the same and so they squeezed each other's hands when the carriage rolled to a stop. Lady Campton and Holly were the first to exit the carriage. Then the Duchess and Lindsay followed behind, the two girls were so excited about dancing every dance with a gentlemen. They could hear the orchestra play a delightful tune. Their feet was itching to hit the dance floor, they walked in the doors and was waiting to be announced.
" Her Grace, the Duchess of Lancaster and her daughter Lindsay!"
They descended the stairs with perfect ease, Holly watched as people stopped to watch Lindsay and her mother make their way down the stairs. Her mother gently grabbed her hand and waited for their turn to be announced.
" Her Ladyship Viscountess Campton and her daughter Holly!"
They made their way to the top of the stairs and were about to make their way down, when the crowd hushed. They were all staring at Holly, and of course she felt her face flush in surprise at all the people. They descended down the stairs, as the crowd of people parted for them to pass through to stand with the Duchess.
It was amazing at how everyone stopped dancing just to look at her, apparently they hadn't seen a face like her's in a long time. Holly was very nervous at all the attention she was getting, she didn't know if she liked it or not. Lindsay was smiling at her as she approached to stand next to her. Holly turned to stand right next to Lindsay and the Duchess. The Duchess smiled at her" you my dear have made an impression, you are sure to be the talk of the town."
" Thank you Duchess, I am sure that it was Lindsay who will be the talk of the town."
She laughed out loud" Holly dear, you are one in a million we wouldn't want to change you for the world."
They were talking amongst themselves when gentlemen started to come over in groups to introduce themselves. Holly and Lindsay were surrounded, they hadn't ever seen this many gentlemen in one place. Holly was blushing at how they were arguing over who would be the first to dance with her.
Lindsay was eating up all the attention that they all paid her, and Holly just blushed at their compliments. They were surrounded by all the gentlemen who decided that they were going to fight over who was going to get the first dance. Holly and Lindsay slightly giggled at everyone of them, and shrugged their shoulders at them.
Some of the gentlemen were going to start fisticuffs over who would get the first dance. Lindsay started to frown and get worried that it was actually getting out of hand. The Duchess saw this and tried to get their attention, but to no avail. Lady Campton started to wring her hands together at such a ruckus.
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On the other side William was standing with Clarissa and was watching the whole debacle. He was watching as the men were getting a little to rough over his sister. He had arrived late and missed her entrance. What he heard about it was that she looked like an angel. Then he didn't hear nothing about Ms. Campton's entrance but complaints. How all the gentlemen had immediately went over to his sister. He watched as Clarissa had described the part of the evening he had missed. He was surprised that it was his sister who was drawling all the attention. He excused himself to go and bail his sister out of the middle of all those gentlemen. As he approached he heard a voice that sent shivers down his spine.
" Gentlemen, we would love to dance with all of you, but if you proceed in fighting over us then we shall have to excuse ourselves from such company."
They all stopped and turned their heads towards Holly, she continued" Lindsay and I came to dance the night away and refuse to be treated in this manner."
William watched as Holly had all of those gentlemen doing her bidding, they had actually stopped arguing. He couldn't get a good look at her since all of those gentlemen towered over her. He just wanted to get a sneak peek at her.
" Now gentlemen, it seems that there are other ladies available to dance and we can only dance with one at a time. Wouldn't it be nice to dance with all the ladies here until we have a dance free?"
William was surprised that Holly was taking on such authority, only someone of important rank could get away with speaking to a Lord that way. He continued to stand there listening to the exchange. Then the orchestra started to warm up their instruments to let the couples know it was time to dance. As the gentlemen started to walk and grab a partner for the dance, he caught a sight of his sister. She was very beautiful, he was so proud of her. Then more gentlemen walked away and he caught sight of Holly.
He was blown away, she was even more beautiful than before. All he could do was stand there and stare at her. She was breath takening, no wonder Clarissa complained, she saw her as competition. He watched as Lord Dashford claimed her hand for the first dance. He felt a pang of jealousy, he should be the one dancing with her not another gentleman. He didn't realize just exactly how long he had been standing there. Clarissa came over and placed her hand on his arm, he jerked back out of his trance. They went out to join the dancers on the floor, he watched as Holly was being waltzed around the floor.
The Duchess watched as her son was watching Holly, she could see that he was getting jealous. That was until that title hunting spoiled brat came up and ruined it all. She knew that she was never going to allow her to be a daughter in law. She would press for William to disinherit before she would let her in . Everyone knew that Lady Clarissa was out for the highest title she could get her hands on. Of course her son was so blind to that fact, he was to busy trying to stay away from the one he wanted.
Anna and Martha watched as their daughters danced every dance and every dance was with a different gentlemen all evening. They had made a splash in society and the invitations were going to start piling up. This was going to be a very busy season, but it was worth it especially if her son would just wake up and smell the roses.
The evening went by so fast, before they knew it they were all waiting for their carriages to come around to pick them up. William made his way with Clarissa on his arm over to his mother and sister. Holly and her mother were there also, he wanted to let them know that they looked lovely tonight. He knew that it was late and he should have done that earlier. But Clarissa wouldn't let him out of her sight, it was like she was jealous of his family.
" Lindsay!, you look wonderful tonight."
" Thanks big brother, we danced every dance tonight we are so tired."
" I bet you are, Lindsay this is Clarissa."
Lindsay nodded" how do you do Lady Clarissa?"
The tension in the room was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Clarissa curtsied and then glared at Holly, she was just jealous William thought. It was actually cute, he never had a lady get jealous over him. He smiled at Holly" Ms. Campton, you look very lovely tonight."
" Thank you, your Grace."
" So you two were swarmed with every gentlemen in attendance huh?"
Lindsay smiled" oh yes, at one point they were going to fight over us."
Clarissa snorted" I think that is wonderful at how you two were so received so well especially you Ms. Campton."
Holly didn't understand what she was getting at and now wasn't the time to ask those questions. She just let it go but Lindsay of course had to put in" I think that Holly is going to be the first one married since all the gentlemen were after her tonight."
The Duchess smiled " I think that both of you did very well in handling those gentlemen."
Lindsay smiled" I know if it wasn't for Holly getting them to calm down, we would have had to end our night early."
Holly blushed" well I really wanted to dance and they were going to make me mad if they started to fight over who was going to dance with us first."
Lady Campton shook her head" Holly dear, you are amazing."
The Duchess smiled" she acted like a true aristocrat, she is meant to be at the top of the list."
Clarissa was turning red in the face with anger, she turned and faced away so no one could see her agitation with the whole conversation. She had to be the one that William married, she wanted to be the next Duchess. No one was going to take that away from her, not even a Ms. Holly Campton. She would some how figure out how to get her out of the picture one way or the other. She smiled to herself as she laughed on the inside at her cleverness and try to come up with a plan on ruining Holly for good.
By the time she was done with her, no one would want her even though she had that pretty face. Clarissa needed to be rid of her, or she was going to ruin her plans to be come the next Duchess. Everyone was finally in their carriages heading to their warm beds and out of this cold night. Tomorrow would be Clarissa's plan to find a way to be rid of Holly Campton for good.