Cassandra

Chapter Ten

It was only when Cassandra had sat down to dinner, dressed to the nines, that she was informed that her brother would not be joining her and Kit at the opera.

"What, pray tell, exactly is the matter with him?" She asked Michael, the footman who was responsible for informing her of her brother's sudden absence. 

"His Grace has taken ill, milady." Matthew said awkwardly, clearly realising that he was lying to her. Cassandra had no doubt that all of this was just Nate's way of throwing her towards Christopher. He'd been teasing her incessantly these past few  days, ever since she'd made the mistake of telling him the truth of where she'd been the day she had met Kit in Hyde Park. "He also asks that you invite Lord Hawthorne and Lord and Lady Salisbury to dinner this Saturday to make up for his absence."

Cassandra sighed before dismissing Michael. She felt bad for her treatment towards him for it was not his fault her brother was a meddling buffoon who couldn't keep his scheming to himself.

She ate a solitary dinner before heading to the carriage. At least one of them would have to go so as not to seem rude. Or, that was what she convinced herself she was doing.

Ever since the picnic, she could not get Christopher Weston out of her mind. He occupied her every waking moment and, she hated to admit, even her dreams. There was a breath of him in her every thought and every action.

She thought of him in that way and she was rather sure he felt the exact same way. He was so kind to her and listened to her and complimented her looks. He noticed her, but he respected her too and she loved that.

But she was still adamant that she would not marry him or any other man. She was determined to be single, or a spinster as society would label her. Hopefully, her attraction to Kit was only a passing infatuation that would soon disappear. That, she was sure, was exactly how he felt. She was a pretty face to him, and there were a hundred other pretty faces in London.

Brushing such thoughts from her mind, she decided to focus on thoughts of the opera alone. The opera that she would be attending with him.......

She internally smacked herself across the forehead before she gave herself a coronary. She sat in the carriage and told the driver that Nate would not be accompanying them.

The half hour long carriage ride was boring. But, finally, the carriage arrived at the opera house, where she was surrounded by fine ladies and gentlemen, including Kit's sister and brother-in-law. She had not had the pleasure of being introduced to his brother-in-law, but knew his name to he Jasper, as his wife had mentioned it on the night of the Smithsons' party.

Christopher was not there yet.

Awkward as it was bound to be, she decided to join them. The driver helped her out of the carriage, and she smoothed down her lovely, purple silk gown, fan in hand, and took a deep breath.

"Oh, Lady Cassandra, there you are!" Lady Salisbury, Kit's sister, said upon catching sight of her. "Kit told me you'd be joining us."

"I hope it isn't an imposition, Lady Salisbury." She said, grateful that the darkness hid her blush. Even the mere mention of him was enough to make her cheeks flush and her pulse quicken. It truly was not fair.

"Of course not!" The other woman said instantly, adding, "I do believe we're practically, almost sisters, anyway....." Lord Salisbury shot her a quelling glance but she paid him no mind.

Meanwhile, Cassandra was left wondering what on earth she could have meant by that statement. They'd only met once and they hadn't even spoken much. She liked her, but she did not think they were anywhere near that close.