Miss Cresswell's London Triumph Read Online Free PDF Page B

raised a quizzical eyebrow and handed him the last remaining crumpet.
    "I shall certainly do my utmost, love. But on to more immediate and pressing matters. I see a stack of invitations in your lap and I have the foreboding feeling that I am to be called upon to help ensure that Cassie is successfully launched toward the dubious pleasure of taking the ton by storm." He grimaced in the mirror at his sister-in-law. Having seen Lady Frances blossom during a Season from one who disdained and avoided the fashionable world to one who could charm it at will, he felt confident that Cassie would do the same, but he understood and sympathized with her reluctance.
    "How fortunate you should mention it, my dear. Lady Delamere holds a rout tomorrow evening. It's sure to prove a dreadful squeeze, but we should attend it," his wife replied, eyeing him hopefully.
    "Ecod, catched already. Well, you may count on me to escort you both and to defend you from dandies, fribbles, court cards, overeager young men, and all the other bores that plague these affairs. Furthermore, I shall order Bertie to join us and lend us eclat."
    "That would be famous," Cassie thanked him, visibly relieved at the prospect of this support. Bertie Montgomery, longtime family friend of the Cresswells, had been at school with Lord Mainwaring. A perpetual bachelor, possessed of the most discriminating taste and a kind heart, he was an escort to ease the mind of the most nervous of damsels encountering the ton for the first time. An exquisite dancer, up on all the latest on-dits, he could be counted on to smooth the most difficult of social encounters and win the hearts of the ton's most demanding dowagers.
    "That's settled then," Frances remarked, propping the invitation up on the mantel. "We shall make our first appearance this Season tomorrow night. I must send a note to Elizabeth to ensure her presence and Nigel's." Frances, knowing the perceptive and kindhearted nature of Julian's favorite cousin, Lady Streatham, felt sure that the matron, well aware of the pitfalls awaiting a young woman entering society, would make certain that her son attended and brought along some of his brother officers from the Guards.
    So it was that Cassie, mounting the curving staircase at Lady Delamere's imposing residence in Portman Square, was well protected in her first engagement with polite society. His sister and brother-in-law preceded her up the stairway and Bertie Montgomery, resplendent in an exquisitely cut swallowtail coat and satin knee breeches, lent a supporting arm. Surrounded as she was by family and friends, Cassie was not particularly nervous, but as she surveyed the glittering throng she could not identify one among the turbaned dowagers, the overanxious young women, the self- important tulips of the ton whom she would not find a dead bore within no time at all. Sighing inwardly, she made her curtsy to her host and hostess and allowed Bertie to lead her into the set that was forming for the quadrille.
    "Don't look so Friday-faced, Cassie. Know you don't like this above half, but it ain't all that bad, you know," admonished Bertie, who, correctly interpreting her thoughts, strove to reassure her. "Most of 'em haven't a thought in their cock lofts beyond cutting a dash or getting leg-shackled, but there's nothing to say you have to join their ranks, and there's nothing to say you can't be amused by it all instead of upset."
    A faint smile lit Cassie's features. "You're in the right of it, Bertie," she agreed. "What a gudgeon I am. After all, Frances contrives to keep herself tolerably amused. It's just..." Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of Arabella Taylor, who, surrounded by a group of young bucks, was laughing delightedly and flirting behind her fan.
    Bertie's eyes followed hers. "That girl may think she's an out-and-outer, but mark my words, none of 'em will come up to scratch," he observed, nodding sagely. "Kirkby will never get caught in the parson's