A Chance to Kiss the Marquess (Charmed By Chance #3)

Chapter 14

14

W ith a triumphant grin, Meg swept into the parlor of Felicity’s great uncle’s home and announced, “I am hosting my first ball!”

Meg stopped short in front of Ann, ignoring Jane and Felicity who were seated across from her. She planted her hands on her hips and beamed at Ann, “And I’m hosting it for you. ”

“What?” Felicity leapt up.

Jane clapped a hand over her mouth as she gasped.

But Ann could only blink up at the oh-so-triumphant looking Meg. “I b-beg your p-pardon?” Oh drat. But really, this was a shocking statement to be confronted with.

Meg fell onto the settee beside Ann and clasped her hands. She radiated glee as she informed Ann and the others of what had transpired. “It’s for you, Ann. Your Lord Kalvin?—”

“He’s not my anything,” Ann interrupted.

Meg ignored her. “He asked Carver to host yet another event just so he’d have the opportunity to get close to you.”

“He did what?” Felicity squawked.

“How romantic,” Jane sighed.

Meg nodded eagerly and turned to the others. “That dinner party that ended so badly for poor Ann? It seems that had been Lord Kalvin’s idea! He’d asked Carver to host it, and Carver didn’t tell me. But now…” She turned to Ann. “Now he’s asked Carver to host a ball just for you.”

“B-but…” Ann gaped at her friend. “Surely not for me.”

Meg nodded eagerly, but Felicity interjected. “But why? I’d heard his mother was already planning a ball in honor of Lady Olivia and her family. That’s only a fortnight from now, I believe.”

“It is,” Jane added. “We’ve already received our invitation.”

Meg bounced on the settee, her smile so wide it looked to Ann like it must be painful. “Indeed, his mother is throwing a ball. And for Lady Olivia and her family. But the Marquess made it clear to Carver that he could not wait that long for a chance…” She stopped here to squeal, her voice high-pitched with girlish excitement as she finished. “He couldn’t wait for the chance to dance with you, Ann. He told Carver he is—and I quote—desperate to hold you in his arms.”

Ann was certain something had been lost in translation there. She couldn’t imagine Kal desperate for anything, let alone saying so to his cousin. And it was this thought she focused on, because the rest of Meg’s statement was too overwhelming to comprehend.

And her friends seemed to feel the same.

Meg let go of Ann’s hands, clutched her chest, and fell back in her seat with a dramatic sigh. “If I were the sort to swoon, I would surely swoon over this.”

“As would I,” Jane giggled.

Felicity shook her head, her lips parted in awe. It might be the first time Ann had ever seen Felicity struck speechless. As for Ann, she was fairly certain she’d left her body. Her shock was so great, she felt as though she was watching this entire conversation from far above.

“Why…” she started. She cleared her throat and turned to Meg. “Why would he do this?”

Meg’s smile grew smug. “It seems word reached Lord Kalvin about your walk in the park with Lord Albright and he was…distraught.”

Ann stared at her friend with wide eyes as this registered.

Felicity seemed to understand that she needed a moment. “Just to be clear, our dear Ann now has two gentlemen fighting for her hand.” Her amusement was contagious, and Meg and Jane both started to giggle. “Is that correct?”

“It would appear so,” Meg confirmed.

“Well,” Felicity clapped her hands together. “Two engagements and now this. Who knew our little table of wallflowers would be such a success this season?”

“And you’re next,” Meg said.

Felicity wrinkled her nose, which again made the other two laugh. But Ann couldn’t bring herself to smile let alone laugh. Her insides were a messy jumble as she sorted through all of Meg’s pronouncements.

In the end, she didn’t feel like laughing or swooning, for that matter. Her lungs were tight with concern and this overwhelming need to see Kal. To talk to him again. Their last interaction had felt all too brief.

To Meg, she asked quietly. “Was he really distraught?”

Meg’s smile faded to one of gentle sympathy. She reached for Ann’s hand. “He was. Carver believes his feelings for you are strong and true.”

When Ann didn’t immediately reply—and how could she when her heart was so firmly lodged in her throat?—Meg squeezed her hand. “But that does not mean you ought to feel pressure to reciprocate those feelings.”

Ann nodded. She knew what Meg meant. She wouldn’t be guilted into agreeing to a courtship. But while she did feel a nagging guilt at having made Kal worry, it wasn’t because she felt some sort of obligation toward him.

No, it was because…

She swallowed hard. The thought of Kal distraught did not sit right. And she hadn’t doubted for a second that his feelings for her were strong and true—not after the way he’d confessed to her in the garden.

Not with flowery words but in that peculiarly direct way that was purely Kal.

Her lips twitched a bit then as she could well imagine how he’d asked Carver to host a ball. He’d said he’d fight for her and he was doing just that. Tears stung her eyes even as a smile curved her lips.

How very Kal. And how very…sweet. A watery laugh bubbled up and she swiped at her eyes.

“Oh dear,” Jane whispered as she joined Ann on the couch.

“Are you all right, Ann?” Felicity asked, her brows creased in concern.

Meg didn’t say anything but her expression was one of sympathy and understanding.

“I-I d-don’t know what to do,” she managed.

Felicity knelt before her so now Ann was surrounded completely by her friends. “You don’t have to do anything at the moment. He cannot force you to choose. And you know your parents will not pressure you to make a quick decision either.”

Ann swallowed and nodded. She was grateful for that, of course.

“And Albright has made it clear he’s in no hurry,” Jane added softly. “You can take your time and weigh your choices.”

Weigh her choices. The phrase ran through her mind in a loop. She imagined a scale, the sort she’d seen the Greek goddess of justice hold in statues.

On the one side there was Albright. A perfectly logical choice. A safe choice. It took no effort at all to imagine the life she’d have if she accepted his offer. It would be a pleasant life. She’d never be the center of attention or have to learn how to be a charming hostess. She’d never fear that she was a burden or a detriment.

And on the other side of the scale there was Kal. Her heart gave a sharp kick before racing off at a gallop. But Kal was also Lord Kalvin, and she’d be a fool not to consider all that meant. She tried to imagine a future with Kal and it was…

Well, it was difficult to imagine. It wouldn’t be the safe, quiet life she’d planned. It would be full of challenges, and fraught with uncertainty. She would be a marchioness and there was every chance she’d fail at that. But even as her belly twisted with nerves, her heart squeezed painfully at the memory of Kal hiding in the garden, of the way his eyes darkened just before he kissed her, of the list of questions he’d sent her to prepare for their next conversation. What makes you happy, Ann?

She liked Kal. She could admit that. She liked him very much.

Her heart weighed in with a loud thud as if to call her out on the understatement.

Yes, he made her feel alive. He made her… happy . But would she do the same for him? Or would he one day wake up to realize he’d been impulsive and had made the wrong choice?

Meg’s voice cut into her thoughts. “It is a weighty decision, is it not? Choosing to follow your heart or your mind when your future is at stake?”

Ann nodded. Yes, that was it precisely.

But as much as her friends and Franny kept insisting that there was no rush to make such a life-altering decision, Ann knew this was not entirely true. Because the ball was organized with awe-inspiring haste, and the days, minutes, and seconds leading up to it seemed to fly by far too fast.

Before she knew it, it seemed, Ann was standing in the doorway, following her parents as they greeted Carver and Meg. She was grateful to spot Felicity shortly after she entered, and soon enough her friend was at her side.

“The lady of the hour has arrived,” Felicity teased under her breath.

Despite the fact that all of her friends understood the reason for tonight’s impromptu soiree, Meg had assured Ann that Kal and Carver had not spoken a word of his intentions to anyone else. Not even her parents were aware that the entire purpose of tonight’s event was for a marquess to woo their wallflower daughter.

He would not force her hand. And her parents wouldn’t either. And for one alarming moment Ann found herself wishing they would.

It was cowardly and she knew it so she banished the thought. But there was no denying that a little part of her wished the decision would be taken out of her hands.

And if it was, she knew which direction she wished fate would push her.

But she hated herself for even thinking it and so she allowed Felicity to lead her further into the crush. “Don’t look now,” Felicity murmured. “But bachelor number one is just to your left.”

Of course Ann looked, her heart leaping as she expected to find Kal there. But it was Albright whose gaze met hers. He lifted his glass with that warm, gentle smile, and Ann returned it with an easy smile and nod of her own.

“And to our right…” Felicity continued, clearly reveling in her role as this evening’s narrator.

Ann’s cheeks grew warm but she didn’t look right away. She knew Kal was there and that he was watching her just by the way her skin pricked and heated.

Only one person made her so acutely aware.

Only one set of eyes made her feel so very seen, and so very alive.

With a deep breath she turned her head and…yes. There. Kal was there and he was watching her. There was no easy smile, just that hard, cool mask he always wore.

A mask that said he was bored, at best.

At worst, he was plotting something wicked.

The thought made her lips twitch with mirth. Of course he wasn’t plotting something wicked. For all his dark looks and fierce glares, the man was—above all else—kind.

He clearly saw the hint of a smile on her lips because his eyes now glimmered with an answering amusement. And while his expression never altered, her heart soared at the newfound light in his eyes.

And her belly dipped and weaved with the realization that she’d put it there.

“Well, now,” Felicity said in a sweetly smug tone. “I suppose now the question is, which of our contenders will make the first move?”

But before she’d even finished speaking, her voice was drowned out by another. “Ah, Miss Ann. There you are.” Mr. Everson, the Earl of Marlin’s friend, was at her side. “I’m so glad you’ve arrived.”

Ann blinked up at him in surprise. She wasn’t sure she’d ever exchanged more than a few words with the man, and each of those had been stilted. But she knew he’d always been kind to Jane so a smile was easy to summon. “Mr. Everson.”

He exchanged pleasantries with Felicity before turning back to Ann. “Miss Ann, I was hoping you’d do me the honor of being my partner for the first dance.”

Ann was so startled, all she could do was hold out her dance card and hope that she murmured all of the correct responses as he wrote his name on the first line.

His smile made her belly flip with nerves as he stepped away. “Until our dance, Miss Ann.”

“Y-yes,” she whispered, for lack of anything better to say.

She and Felicity watched him walk away. A heavy silence followed before Felicity breathed, “Could it be?” She turned to Ann with laughter in her eyes. “Do we have ourselves a third contender?”

Some of Ann’s horror must have shown on her face because Felicity wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders…as she burst out in a loud laugh.