Chapter Three - The Danbury Ball

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Lady Whistledown's

SOCIETY PAPERS

The season's opening ball at Danbury House is a most highly sought-after invitation, indeed, for every darling debutante from Park Lane to Regent Street will be on display.

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"Oh, mama! Look at this!"

"I see it, darling," Mama says, chuckling as she walks beside us inside.

"Huntingdon!"

Henry, mama, and I all turn at the sound of our name and smile when we see Lady Bridgerton, Anthony, and Daphne making their way over toward us.

"How have you been?" Anthony pulls Henry in for a side hug as they smile at each other, "it's been too long since we last saw each other!"

"I'd say it has only been a few days," Henry chuckles, grinning at his old friend.

"Exactly," Anthony nods his head in agreement as we all continue to walk inside. "A few days too long."

As we enter the ballroom, every eligible man's gaze turns towards Daphne and I.

"They're all staring, Mother," Anthony says, glaring back at the sea of men who dared to so much as glance at his sister.

"That would seem to happen when the Queen herself compliments a debutante," mama hums, smiling over at me and gently patting my arm.

"Allow them to come to you, dearest," Lady Bridgerton says, leaning towards her daughter as she continues to look out at the large group of men with an excited gaze.

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Titled, chaste, and innocent, this is what they have been raised and trained for since birth.

Tonight, we shall discover which young ladies might succeed at securing a match, thereby avoiding the dreadful, dismal condition known as 'the spinster.'

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"Oh, mama! I must go see Cressida!" I say, turning to look at mama with pleading eyes she purses her lips but sighs and nods her head.

"Fine... but Henry will stay with you," she says, quickly taking a flute of champagne and looking around the room. "I must find Portia or Araminta..."

She wanders into the crowd in hope of finding her friends, leaving Henry and I alone with the remaining Bridgertons.

I grab Henry's hand and begin to pull him toward where I had last seen Cressida. "Come along, brother."

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"Oh, Flore! Did you see how Lord Ambrose looked at me!" Cressida turned towards me with an excited grin, "quick, is he coming over here?"

I peer over her shoulder to see before looking back at her, "no... but he is continuing to look. Perhaps Lord Bridgerton scared him away from asking anyone to dance tonight?"

"Oh, yes! Did you see him... scaring away every eligible suitor that Daphne had... at this rate, it would be a wonder if she even got to touch the dance floor tonight." Cressida grinned as she turned her attention towards Daphne and her brother, who were now talking rather heatedly by the windows.

"I'm rather parched," I say, turning back towards Cressida with a raised brow, "I'm going to get some lemonade... would you like to go with me?"

She shook her head but offered me a smile, "no... I'd rather think that Lord Wearth is coming over here!"

I giggle and wave my hand at her, "have fun, Cress!"

As Henry and I walked along the outskirts of the ballroom, I was suddenly cut off from my journey to the drink table by a crowd of mamas and their equally frantic-looking daughters.

"Oh my!"

Henry pulled my back just as one mama in particular raced past, dragging along her two dreary-looking daughters.

I looked around the room to try and see what the fuss was about, but was unable to due to the number of mothers and daughters that were crowded around. "What is going on?"

Henry peered above the crowd and sighed irritably when he too couldn't see. "I have no idea... come along, sister. We'll just have to go the other way for your lemonade."

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Standing next to the refreshment table, I quickly pulled Henry into a conversation having grown bored by the conversations that were being brought up by others.

"So..." Henry looked around the room with a confused glance, "have you seen anyone that has caught your attention?"

"Not yet..." I sigh and take another sip of my lemonade, perking up slightly when I see Daphne draw nearer to the table. "Oh, Daphne! You look wonderful!"

"Florence!" Daphne pulled me into a quick hug before pulling away with a beaming smile. "You look breathtaking as always. Lord Huntingdon, it is nice to see you."

"You as well, Miss Bridgerton," Henry replies politely.

"Did you see that crowd, Daph?" I motion towards the still overbearing crowd of mamas.

"Oh, I hadn't... they must've formed when I was walking over here." Daphne shrugged and picked up a glass of lemonade.

"Where is your brother, Daphne? I'm quite sure that he wouldn't let you out of his sight..." Henry looked around the room and smiled when he saw Anthony standing to the side. "Ah! There he is!"

"I do rather think that Henry has an infatuation with your brother, Daph," I joke quietly.

Daphne lets out a little laugh and nods her head. "I think that Anthony would certainly reciprocate his feelings... he was over the moon when he heard that your brother was attending tonight's ball."

"Renny, shall we go see Anthony?" Henry glanced over at me with a raised brow.

"I'll meet you over there. I want to talk to Daphne for a few more minutes..."

Henry paused, glancing between Anthony and I for a moment before nodding his head, "only a few minutes..."

"Of course, brother," I watched as he walked away

"Small glasses."

We both immediately halt our giggling and stand up straight, bowing our heads slightly when we see who stopped in front of us.

"Lord Berbrooke," we mutter, bowing our heads slightly at the sight of the man.

"Tiny little things, are they not?" Berbrooke continues.

"The glasses?" I ask, looking at the man ridiculously.

"I suppose," Daphne says quickly, shooting me a look when Berbrooke wasn't looking.

"Then the matter is settled," Berbrooke says, smiling towards us both, showing off his slowly yellowing teeth.

"I'm not entirely sure the matter in which we discuss, my lord," Daphne says, chuckling awkwardly as she looks at him.

"You've always amused me, Miss Bridgerton..." Berbrooke took a few steps closer towards us, still smiling towards Daphne, though his gaze did flicker over to me every once in a while. "Ever since I was a schoolboy and you were..."

"All but... five, yes?" I say, butting in and sending Berbrooke a condescending smile.

Berbrooke turns his attention towards me and smiles, slurping his drink loudly before starting. "And Miss Huntingdon... I've always been astonished by your beauty..."

"Please don't be," I say, turning towards Daphne and smiling, "I think that our brothers are calling for us."

"Ah, yes. I do hear them," Daphne says, quickly nodding her head toward Berbrooke. "Adieu."

I drag her behind me as we scrambled through the dense crowd, our hands gripped together in an attempt to not get separated within the dense crowd. As we get closer to the center of the crowd, it seems, it was harder to keep our grips. One overly excited mama rushed forwards, pulling Daphne and I's hands apart from each other.

"Daphne?" I turn on my heels and begin to look for her in the crowd, "Daphne!"

Right as I am going to start elbowing some mamas out of my way to find Daphne, someone grabs my arm and forces me to stop. "Are you alright, Miss?"

I, once again, spin on my heels to look at whoever had just grabbed my arm.

He was handsome... that was easy enough to say. He was taller than me too... standing at roughly Henry's height, with dark brown hair that was perfectly styled back out of his face. A kind smile adorned that face, despite how his light blue eyes shined his worry.

Almost immediately I could feel a blush appear across my face as I continued to openly stare at his face. In my defense, however, it was a rather beautiful face. He had a short stubble of a beard across his face and his face was pulled into a kind, but worried smile, which caused his light blue eyes to crinkle slightly in the corner. When he stood up straight, I could see just how tall he was, easily towering over me. Not only that, but his clothes made him stand out in the crowd of eligible and mostly wealthy suitors. The craftsmanship was clear as day, which made me assume that he had more wealth than most- if not all- of the men in the room.

"I'm fine, Mr..."

"Frederick!" Henry made his way through the crowd and patted the man on the back, a huge smile appearing on his face. "Is that really you, Frederick?"

"In the flesh... look at you, Huntingdon! You haven't changed at all since I last saw you years ago!" Frederick chuckled.

"I don't know, I'm getting a few grey hairs already... all thanks to this one," Henry nudged my side and smile playfully at me.

"Your..."

"Sister," Henry explained, "I forgot... you never met my family."

"Sister," Fredrick's eyes moved over towards me once more, "Miss?"

"Florence... Florence Huntingdon," I say.

"Renny, this is my old friend, Fredrick- although now you're better known as the Duke of Windsor, right?" Henry chuckle and smiled at Fredrick.

"Yes... mother decided it would be best for to me have a proper title... especially with her pushing marriage already..." Frederick grumbled. "That's no matter though... have you seen Basset yet?"

"Basset is here too?" Henry exclaimed, "where!"

Frederick guided us both toward where Anthony and Daphne stood. As soon as I saw her, I rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"Daphne! I'm so glad that you're okay!" I pulled back and look at her nervously, "you are alright, right?"

"I'm alright, Florence," Daphne said, "did you know that our brothers knew-"

"The Duke of Windsor?" I ask, motioning towards Fredrick, who was now getting Anthony, while Henry was energetically greeting Basset.

"Um, no... I was talking about the Duke of Hastings..." Daphne motioned towards the other man, "apparently they all went to Oxford together."

"That would make sense," I say, watching as they continue to talk eagerly with each other.

"I expect to see you all at our club then," Anthony said, looking at the three men.

"Of course," Henry said immediately, nodding his head along with the idea. The other two men merely shared a glance before nodding their heads as well.

"Indeed," Basset said, nodding his head in both our brother's directions. "Evening Bridgerton, Huntingdon."

"It was lovely to meet you, Miss Huntingdon," Fredrick said, offering me a kind smile before nodding his head at my brother once more and rushing off after his friend.

"Well that was unexpected," I say, looping my arm with Henry's and beginning to walk around the ballroom once more.

"Frederick seemed to take an interest," Henry mused, glancing over at me, "what do you think, dear sister?"

I pause, falling silent for a moment before sighing. "He seems nice enough... although if he is anything like his friend, the Duke of Hastings, then I am sure he is not intending to be wed-"

"Trust me," Harry glances over at me as we continue to weave our way through the crowds. "Despite their similar titles, they are vastly different..."

"Well, I'm sure that he will have plenty more- I'm sure that he will be looking everyone for a good option to be his wife..." I say slowly.

"You do not know Frederick the way I do, sister," Henry replied mysteriously.

Before I have a chance to answer, I am quickly whisked away by Mr. Finley for a dance, leaving me to ponder over what Henry had said.

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-T