A Love Worthy

Chapter Ten

The banquet was being held in the grand hall by the Duke of Hadley. Ginelle knew very little of the man except that he and his wife, the Duchess of Hadley were members of English nobility and highly admired among the ton. During the following weeks before the banquet, she had learned that Edmund Wilkinson was a prominent diplomat and before his title as a duke, an armed mercenary.

Ellison Wilkinson, the Duchess of Hadley was rumored to be quite striking in beauty and profoundly refined in etiquette. According to Lucile, the Duchess was the epitome of perfection when it came to nobility standards.

Ginelle found herself in a chaos of frantic maids and an assortment of accessories and extravagant gowns. She was keen to notice that Ingrid was absent from the circle of maids crowding her. She had not given much thought to the girl since that day she returned to Ashford and received the news that Ingrid had been the one to plant the jewelry in her bureau. She later learned the maid no longer resided at Ashford, but at a neighboring plantation.

Despite the continuous somersaulting of her stomach and jittery nerves, she couldn't but laugh as Lucile hastened about the room in a distressed manner. She had never witnessed the maid so frenzied.

"You must look your very best this evening." Lucile stated as she gathered a few gowns from the bureau.

Ginelle managed a peak from beneath the mass of curls atop her head as Belle poked and prodded with pins to sort the tedious tresses.

After nearly an hour of Lucile's indecisive study of gowns, they decided on a gorgeous dress of satin maize with elbow-length sleeves adorned with falling ruffles. The neckline and hem was trimmed in a white lace with an embroidered bodice. The tiered skirt had been intricately stitched with moderate care with full, flowing skirts to accentuate the fitted gown.

Once fully dressed, Ginelle took a moment to admire the reflection staring back at her in the mirror. For a moment, she almost fooled herself into believing that she belonged in such a magnificent gown and the woman staring back at her was Lady Ginelle Pattinson and not Ginelle Hayes, impoverished orphan.

How did she get here? How could she have allowed this nonsense to continue? And now she was to attend a banquet for her coming out, hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Hadley?

She turned from the mirror, suddenly dispirited. Lucile approached and handed her a pair of lovely white slippers. Ginelle slipped them on her feet and waited as Lucile accessed her appearance.

"You are going to have every man swooning at your feet!" exclaimed Belle.

"Belle!"

Belle straightened and flattened her palms on her apron. "Well, you will." She stated with a sheepish grin.

"I do not wish to speak of men swooning at my feet."

Lucile clasped her hands together to gain their attention. "We've prolonged the evening long enough." She turned to look at Fannie, another maid who had assisted in getting Ginelle ready for the evening. "Fannie, please go and fetch Ginelle's cloak and inform Master Dorian that we shall be down shortly."

At the mention of Dorian, Ginelle's heart pitched whether from excitement or dread, she knew not. She could not say that she had forgotten that Dorian would be escorting her for the evening for he had rarely left her thoughts since that night in the forest. She felt a blush stain her cheeks as she recalled vividly how he had touched her, claimed her with his lips.