Free Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) by Catherine Gayle Page A

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on about anything. After all, she had proven herself far from
loquacious upon their first meeting at Lady Kirkaldy’s musicale.
Their second meeting the following evening at Lord and Lady
Rippington’s ball yet again displayed a distinct lack of garrulous
behavior.
    Why should she be any different when
they were away from the prying eyes of anyone save her lady’s maid
and his driver?
    Still, as a gentleman, he ought to
make more of an effort. Even if the last four attempts at a
discussion had been initiated by him. “Have you been enjoying your
first Season, Lady Cressica?”
    “ Yes, it has been
lovely.”
    Then silence.
    Lovely is not a word he’d typically associate with London. Noisy.
Crowded. Filthy. Smelly. But lovely? And still, she did not engage
him further. Noah stifled a sigh. “I imagine things are very
different here from your normal life. London is certainly a change
of pace for me from life in Cumberland. Much more hustle and
bustle. I find I rarely have a moment’s thought to
myself.”
    “ Indeed,” she replied. She
turned her listless stare and plastered smile to the Serpentine,
carefully twining the fingers of her gloved hands and returning
them to her lap.
    Silence reigned again.
    Noah caught the maid’s gaze and
imploringly raised an eyebrow. She jerked her head toward Lady
Cressica almost imperceptibly and lifted an eyebrow of her
own.
    How terribly helpful. If ever Noah
married Lady Cressica (he cringed at the thought), he’d have to
hire the girl a new maid—one who could provide as much assistance
to him in terms of understanding his wife as she would provide to
her primary charge. “And where does your family live the rest of
the year? I don’t believe you’ve mentioned that.”
    Lady Cressica didn’t even turn to face
him. “Have I not?” she asked, though surely she knew she hadn’t. He
could probably count all the words she’d uttered in his presence
over three meetings on his fingers and toes. “Mother and I winter
in Southampton.”
    He should have called on Miss Jennings
today. She, at least, could hold up her end of an exchange. But the
thought of paying court to her did not create any sense of
excitement within him. She was enjoyable enough to spend time with,
certainly, and easy enough to look upon. Truly, she had no real
faults.
    Except, when he did spend time with
her, inevitably, his thoughts drifted to someone else. Someone
whose curves spoke to him at night, waking him from fitful dreams
to lie awake for a fitful night. Someone with eyes of sparkling
silver when she laughed, burning coal when she was in a temper, and
cool grey clouds the rest of the time. Someone whom he had no
business thinking of, when he ought to be entertaining his current
companion, particularly since that precise someone had not exactly
encouraged his attentions.
    Better not to think about
her at all. He was supposed to be trying to find someone else suitable to be his
bride. Someone like Lady Cressica.
    A curricle passed by them traveling
the opposite direction, and its occupants called out a greeting.
Noah smiled and waved, but Lady Cressica did not even make an
effort at greeting them. Good gracious, could she not make herself
presentable to anyone? Was it all too much of a bother?
“Southampton? It must be lovely to live by the sea. I imagine it is
similar to living in the Lake District, though much more vast. Tell
me, have you ever gone for a swim in the ocean?”
    Finally, she turned to him. Her eyes
looked ready to pop free from their sockets, she held them so wide.
“No,” she breathed. “Of course not.” Then her gaze regained its
limp quality and she turned it aside from him, yet again fidgeting
with her hands and repositioning them in precisely the same manner
in her lap as they had been since she first climbed into his
barouche.
    Of course she would never swim in the
sea. Lady Cressica Frost would never exclaim in delight over a
puppy either, or string together more