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At the age of six and twenty, Miss Louise Belcher found herself a spinster. Her debut season trickled by without any legitimate prospects or suitors. She sat in the shadows and watched as her eldest sister, Tina, got swept up in a whirlwind romance, finding a true love match. Even her older brother, Gene, who had once been considered a free spirit, eventually settled down with a charming young woman.
All the meanwhile, Louise remained on her own without any suitor at her side. In fact, this would be her last season with the ton before packing up and moving to her sister’s home in the countryside to help out with her newborn nephew. Tina’s husband, the Earl of Hastings, so kindly offered to have a home constructed next to their own so that Louise would have her own space yet still be nearby.
Tonight was the first ball of the last season before Louise would be resigned to a life of solitude in the countryside. She stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the magnificent home, lights gleaming and music humming as dancing began. For the first time since her debut, Miss Louise Belcher grinned while she entered the ballroom.
Everything was going according to plan. All she had to do was last one more season, and she would finally be free.
She took her place near the refreshments, tucked in a corner with the other spinsters and wallflowers. A few stared mournfully out at the swaying couples that danced along to the soft music, but Louise found one of her closest friends quickly and began their nightly gossip.
“I was almost worried you wouldn’t make it,” Miss Jessica Howard said in greeting, lifting a cup of lemonade to her lips. “Fashionably late as always.”
Louise snorted a very unladylike laugh. “Blame that on my mother. She couldn’t stop crying over my last season finally starting.”
Jessica didn’t bother to mask the sadness in her tone, despite usually being sardonic. “So this will truly be your last season, then?”
“Thankfully, yes. Lord Hastings has already commissioned a house to be built for me, and it should be done in a few months. Perfect timing for my escape from the ton .”
Her friend sighed, peering out at the crowd. “Who is supposed to entertain me from now on at these wretched events? Mama makes me attend each ball, as if somehow a suitor will appear out of nowhere one of these days.”
“Tough luck, Jess.”
Louise’s own mother, Lady Linda Belcher, had tried so hard to get her youngest daughter into a courtship. After the second season, however, she quickly gave up. Louise couldn’t be more grateful for her accepting parents. They never once shamed her the way society did for ending up without a husband. In fact, they were thrilled that she would start off on her own path in a few months. Louise had tried convincing them to let her quit this last season and move to Hastings instead, but since the home for her wasn’t quite ready, she reluctantly agreed to stay for one last chance.
As if she would put in any effort into finding a husband.
“How are all the debutantes this year?” Louise pried. “Any crazies?”
Jessica’s eyes widened gleefully. “Oh, you haven’t heard? There’s a prized eligible suitor that’s returned to the ton for the season. All the mamas and a few debutantes themselves have been throwing themselves at him already.”
“What man could possibly make a woman beg to marry him?”
“A rich man. A viscount. ”
A pit settled in Louise’s stomach. No, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t possibly be that numbskull viscount who taunted her childhood memories. There weren’t many eligible viscounts, but that didn’t mean it would be him. He was a well-known rake who would never settle down until it was time for him to sire an heir.
She glanced up and began scanning the room quickly, her gaze landing on each individual face before ruling them out and moving on to the next. Her mother would have warned her if he was going to be attending the ball tonight, right? Or that he had even returned to the ton ? Last Louise heard, he had been gallivanting all over Greece and France, doing what rakes do.
To this day, Louise had never understood why he’d even earned the title of rake. Were all the women he courted blind? And deaf? Or paid to spend time in his company?
“Don’t tell me it’s him, ” she muttered with disgust.
Jessica, in all her disloyalty, laughed at Louise’s discomfort. “Sorry, Louise, but it is.”
Then, almost serendipitously, her eyes landed on the last person she ever wanted to see again: Lord Logan Bush. And he was already staring back at her, a stupid smirk on his stupid face.
Louise had two choices. She could embrace her mature age and let bygones be bygones. Or, she could find a way to put Logan Bush in his place before the season was over. The latter appeared to be much more fun.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Louise grumbled to her friend before stepping into the crowd and braving the ballroom. She had hardly taken two steps before she spotted Bush doing the exact same thing, though he had to politely dodge waves of mamas and debutantes eagerly attempting to get on his good side.
As if he actually had a good side. Those poor young girls had no clue who they might be getting involved with.
Louise marched forward, weaving through the stuffy tapestry of people. Heads turned and caught onto her path, brazen whispers building up like walls, but it did not matter. Her focus was too sharp to deviate. Louise continued until she stood face to face with her longtime enemy. She crossed her arms and tilted her chin to meet his gaze head on.
Well. Bush was very different since the last time they ran across each other. As kids, he had been a lanky young boy with awkwardly long limbs, yet while he was away, somehow he had filled out his shape. His shoulders broadened and even his arms appeared thicker, likely from fencing or boxing at men’s clubs. His sharp blonde hair had darkened with age, though its messy nature somehow seemed styled.
Damn it all, he looked good.
Logan Bush sneered down at her, like the haughty viscount he was. “Well, well, well, Miss Smelcher. I didn’t think you still attended these things. Do you come here to impart your elderly wisdom on all the eligible debutantes?”
“Funny, I was going to say the same about you. It appears that the local men’s club is missing its most loyal customer,” Louise shot back. The sharp glances turning their way did not allude her, though that was the thing about being an almost-spinster: she did not need to appease the ton to find a husband anymore.
Of course, her mother would not agree with that--given their arrangement regarding Louise’s last season--but Lady Belcher was not in attendance at the moment.
“I decided to take a break tonight and grace you all with my appearance,” Logan responded, awfully smug about the effect he had on all the swooning women in the ball. He tucked his hands behind his back and leaned forward, emphasizing their drastic height difference.
“I fear you are not appropriate for an event such as this. It would be best for you to get along and return to your sordid club before it’s too late, my lord.”
“I fear you are not appropriate for this event, Miss Belcher.”
“Your face isn’t appropriate for this event!”
“YOUR face isn’t appropriate for--”
A loud chord struck as the orchestra readied for another waltz, startling Bush mid sentence. Louise glanced to the side to find several spectators gaping at their little, ah, debate. She glared at them until all the staring onlookers wandered away.
The viscount blinked, straightening his back a bit, and resumed his annoying and arrogant smile. “This will be a fun season, Smelcher. I’ve been asked by a beautiful young woman to accompany her during this dance, but don’t worry, I’ll make time for you later.”
Louise curstied with as much mockery as she could muster. “I eagerly look forward to thwarting your season, Lord Dingleberry.”
Despite her threat and insulting nickname, Bush’s grin only widened. “Until then.”
As he disappeared through the swaying crowd, all the initial dread upon seeing Bush once again melted away. It was quickly replaced with a thrill that Louise hadn’t felt in ages. It seemed like her last season would be quite an exciting one. She already had a plethora of pranks and tricks to play on her enemy swirling through her mind.
Until then, indeed.