An Indecent Gambit

Chapter Eighteen: Still Waters

After the orgeat incident, James realized that he had gone astray in his quest to rid himself of Grace. He was growing attracted to her, and worse still, he suspected she was growing attracted to him. If she started to harbour feelings for him, she would never break the engagement. Besides, it was one thing to rid himself of a Grace who did not care one way or the other for him. It would be quite another to break her heart.

To preserve them both, he sought refuge in good manners and distance over the remainder of their visit at Ellen's. He spent most of his time with Mr Montague, feigning interest in Montague's horses and hounds. It seemed to have its effect: Grace's manner cooled towards him and she withdrew into Ellen's company. When James returned to his parents' house a week later, the first thing he told his father was that he did not believe Grace was in love with him yet.

"Has she forgiven you for leaving her at the ball?" Mr Redwood asked.

"I don't know that she ever held a grudge. Her feelings are very lukewarm, Father. Love and hate might both be beyond her."

"Still waters run deep," Mr Redwood warned.

"There is always time after the wedding for her to develop feelings," Mrs Redwood said. "I should not wait around on that account. The banns must be read soon. You should marry before Christmas."

James faltered. "Before... Christmas? That's sooner than I expected."

"You've been engaged over a month already. Two or three months is quite adequate, particularly when all other matters are in such agreement."

"I'm not ready for it."

"It is quite normal for a man to feel that way before his wedding," Mr Redwood said with one of his almost smiles.

"James must conquer his cowardice," Mrs Redwood said. "Grace has more reason to be nervous than he does, yet she would never say such a thing."

Mr Redwood's smile faded about the eyes. "I will have a talk with Mr Follet about reading the Banns," he said. "You maybe be right; it may be time."

James's heart fluttered unpleasantly. Mr Follet would certainly agree to the Banns being read, and it would be extremely scandalous to break the engagement after they had been. He had to get Grace to turn him down before then.

By Saturday evening, James had still not managed to escape his engagement, and the next morning the Banns were to be read in church for the first time. He was not in a state of desperation. The desperation had come and gone, and left in its wake a sort of self-pitying, crotchety despair. Grace, of course, was neither offended nor sympathetic to his bad mood, which only made it worse.

That evening, they were to attend a ball at the local assembly rooms with the Daltons. At eight, James walked to Grace's house and waited with her in the drawing room for the Daltons to arrive. Mr Follet waited with them too, in as bad a mood, it seemed, as James was. He complained that autumn balls were stupid, faddish affairs and criticized Grace for the way she had done her hair and dress.

"An unmarried woman should wear white to a ball," he said. "What on earth were you thinking, dressing in indigo?"

"It was Mother's choice. She saw something like it in a fashion plate."

"Then what on earth was she thinking?" Mr Follet scoffed. "The woman has nothing but wool in her skull."

"She was probably thinking," James said irritably, "that Grace looks excessively pretty in indigo."

That made both Mr Follet and Grace's cheeks turn pink, though for very different reasons. James cursed himself for saying it and did his best to convert the compliment to Grace into one for her mother.