Lady Eugenia's Holiday Read Online Free PDF Page B

shall do all I can to persuade
her that she must be present, Your Grace.”
    “Excellent!” Mr. Hamby remarked, quite happy with
Penelope’s answer.
    Rothford then replied, “Perhaps we shall see you
two lovely ladies there.”
    The gentlemen made their farewells and left.
    “Of course he wants to meet you there,” Penelope
said with complete confidence.
    Eugenia wasn’t so certain. She thought he behaved
exactly how a well-mannered man would, nothing more.
    “A gentleman in his position cannot show partiality,”
Penelope stated. “He cannot appear anxious for your next meeting, even though
he might have feelings to the contrary. I’m sure it must be as apparent to you
as it is to me that he is more than overwhelmed at the thought of seeing you
again.” She showed more far more delight than the duke had. “It is so beyond …
anything! He is a duke, Genie!”
    “I am aware of that.” Simply holding the position
of duke did not secure her affection.
    “How can you not be thrilled?”
    “It’s just that I find his reaction to me lacking.”
How Penelope could imagine that he showed any type of enthusiasm regarding
Eugenia was beyond her.
    “Do you not see that he must show some semblance of
discretion?”
    Was Eugenia to presume his less-than-stellar
response was due to decorum and was only a pretense?
    “You shall see,” Penelope remarked with a nod. “We
will just have to show some patience and wait to see how matters between the
two of you progress.”
    We? Was not Eugenia the one, not Penelope, being
pursued by His Grace?
    Eugenia and Penelope were again beseeched to stand
up with several gentlemen. They did the pretty. As Penelope reminded Eugenia, “We
can hardly disappoint them, can we?”
    After the first dance set, Herr Mueller made his
appearance in the ballroom. Eugenia was pleased to see him. Penelope made sure
they did not cross paths.
    “Is he not très gauche?”
Penelope whispered confidentially to Eugenia. “It is one thing to share a few
words with him at the library or to even sit next to him at a small dinner
party, but to be seen at a large public assembly … We must think of our reputations.”
    Eugenia was less concerned about being seen with
Franz and wondered how tarnished her reputation would be by keeping company
with Penelope.
    “He is so … out-of-date. At least one hundred years!”
Penelope wrinkled her nose as if she had detected some unpleasant odor.
    “I really do not think he is all that old.” Eugenia
suspected he was no more than five years her senior. She had to admit it was
difficult to see the true nature of the man behind the brocade, powder, and
rouge.
    “That wig makes him look positively ancient! I
cannot imagine how—”
    As luck would have it, Aunt Rose took this most
opportune time to interrupt. “It is time, Genie.” Aunt Rose held out her hand
for Eugenia.
    This fortunate action spared Eugenia from being
subjected to Penelope’s never-ending list of the talented Austrian’s failings
on a personal level.
    “Perhaps it is best you leave. You should thank
your aunt for her early departure. I would.” Penelope glanced at Cynthia and
Franz who were heading in their direction. “It will save you from that horrid
little man’s uninteresting and endless discourse.”
    That night Eugenia had the most wonderful dream.
She danced all night in Rothford’s arms. Alone in the ballroom, on the deserted
dance floor, the well-mannered duke abandoned the formal behavior he had
displayed when they finally met.
    She could feel the strength of his arm and the
warmth of his hand on her back, holding her against him.
    He wore the same mask. It hid the upper half of his
face. Only the dark, sculpted curls atop his head and his lips were exposed.
She reached up and stripped the mask away, only to find another in its place.
    She all but exhausted herself making repeated
attempts at unmasking him, only to fail. It felt heavenly to be in his arms,
except she could not