Free Spinster's Gambit by Gwendolynn Thomas Page B

baffled. 
    We were introduced five or six years ago, Jac thought, praying the man remembered. He blinked at her, and looked back at his fiancée as if for explanation.
    This is why you never got proposed to, Jac thought, wincing. Eleanor beamed at her, dimpling prettily, her skin clear and unblemished as if she’d never heard of disease or sunspots. Jac smiled back quietly, feeling distinctly unwelcome in the conversation. 
    “Excuse me,” she muttered, moving to escape. 
    “Lady Eleanor, Your Grace, it is lovely to see you again,” Aspen’s voice sounded behind her. Jac turned to see Daniel, Mr. Henry Charington, and the Duke of Aspen standing behind them, apparently ignoring the crowd of people stuck on the stairs behind them. Jac straightened, grateful that the two dukes were now to blame for blocking the stair landing. No one would think to mention that as impolite, surely. Indeed, she saw the Countess of Blancard turn to the gaggle of young girls behind her, as if content to continue their conversation in the Marchioness’s stairwell. 
    “My word, man, I have not seen you in an age,” the Duke of Mariton greeted Aspen, holding out a hand. Aspen shook it and led the Duke and Mr. Charington into the ball, leaving Jac with Daniel, Lady Eleanor, and the pumpkin. Jac smiled awkwardly, unsure what to say. She did not believe Lady Eleanor Plainsworth and she ever had been introduced. 
    “It is a squash,” Jac said, pointing to the pumpkin. Daniel made an uncomfortable noise, something between a whine and a groan. 
    I have nothing to lose, Jac reminded herself, glancing around the cramped staircase landing. Her reputation was meaningless. Surely that did not only apply to adventures in fencing and billiards. She could finally relax at these horrid balls.
    “I’ll be with their graces. I shall see you inside, I hope,” Daniel commented, bowing to them both and moving past them with the rest of the crowd. He did not know Lady Eleanor Plainsworth either then, Jac thought, blushing. 
    “Can one say, ‘their graces’?” Lady Eleanor asked, tilting her head as she watched Daniel walk inside. Jac bit her lip, smothering a smile, and the woman turned back to face her, still blocking the landing. “Miss Jacoline Holcombe, yes?” Lady Eleanor asked.  
    “Er.. Yes, though I admit I’m surprised you remember it,” Jac said honestly, moving with the crowd into the beautifully lit ballroom. 
    “Oh, no, Miss Holcombe, I assure you. I admire you a great deal,” the woman answered quickly, taking her arm. Jac blinked, glancing down at her outdated gown, now slightly dusty about the knees. It was a deep blue and silver gown decorated with a diamond and sapphire pin by her hip. It had faded but it fit well and she’d never seen any reason to go to the modiste for an almost identical replacement. She rather regretted that now. She had to be five years older than this woman, a great deal less handsome, wealthy, or well-liked, and she was quickly approaching the unaltering life of a spinster. There was little for Lady Eleanor Plainsworth to admire about her. She glanced up to see Lady Eleanor smiling gently, as if guessing her thoughts. 
    She is indeed a pleasant woman , Jac thought, liking her despite an odd desire not to, if only because Lady Eleanor was gorgeous and highly regarded. Lady Eleanor led her around the edge of the ball, out of the way of the small group of early dancers.
    “It takes a great deal of effort to hide even a mediocre level of understanding, Miss Holcombe. You instead choose to reveal it to all who speak to you,” the woman explained, raising her eyebrows as if daring Jac to disagree. Jac frowned, wondering if she’d mistaken something. She did not think Lady Eleanor was insulting her but she could not quite make it out. She could hardly hold back a groan thinking about the years after her coming out, when she’d tried to turn her more caustic sense of humor on the men who’d flirted