“I’m sorry I wasn’t much help in there,” Kelly said, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
“On the contrary, you were invaluable,” Meg assured her. “I never would’ve had the courage to say what I did if it weren’t for you speaking your mind first.”
“I’m afraid I just riled things up,” Kelly muttered.
“Not at all.”
“Do I even want to know?” Charlie asked, looking from one lady to the other.
“No,” they both said at the same time. Then, Meg added, “I shall let you know shortly.”
“Are we having a party tomorrow?” Ruth asked.
“Grownups are having a party tomorrow,” Kelly corrected. “Little girls are having a sleep over at Mrs. Wagner’s house down the hall from our place.”
“Awww!” Ruth moaned, her shoulders falling.
“When you’re a bit bigger, you can come,” Meg reminded her, kissing her on the top of her head and setting her down on the ground.
Carrie was back. “Mr. Bix is ready when you are, Mrs. O’Connell.”
Kelly looked around. “Is my mother-in-law in the room?” she sniggered. “I’m not used to bein’ Mrs. O’Connell.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Meg said, but as she turned to go, Carrie chimed in.
“Actually, miss, Mrs. Buckner says they are ready to measure you, if you’d like to return to the parlor.”
“Oh,” Meg said with a sigh.
“I’ll happily walk your guests out,” Carrie added, and Meg noticed she was careful not to use Kelly’s surname again, as if she was embarrassed by Kelly’s comments.
“Very well then,” Meg said. Turning to Kelly, she said, “I will see you tomorrow.” Her voice was as threatening as she could muster; she couldn’t attend this lavish event without her best friend by her side.
“I’ll be here. In my best dress.” She glanced down. “This is it!”
Meg couldn’t help but laugh. “I will make sure you have an appropriate gown.” She hugged Kelly and kissed her cheek, careful not to squish Lizzie, who also got a kiss. “Goodbye, Ruthie, darling,” she said, stooping to kiss her favorite little girl.
“Goodbye, Aunty Meg. I want to see you and Uncle Charlie again soon, too.”
“You shall,” Charlie assured her, pulling her into his arms before he hauled himself slowly to his feet and kissed Kelly and Lizzie goodbye. He walked with them as far as the library door, and then Carrie escorted them out.
Once they were gone, Meg let go a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “It really didn’t go well, then, did it?” Charlie asked.
“Let’s just say, if your sister hated me before, she hates me even more now--if that’s even possible.”
He managed a crooked smile. “She doesn’t hate you.”
“Loathe. Despise. Detest.”
Charlie laughed. “Possibly.”
Meg sighed, and he wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t suppose I can blame her.”
“Oh, no, you can,” he said into her hair. “She has no reason to do so.”
“Doesn’t she, though? Wouldn’t you if you were in her position? She honestly doesn’t have enough information to forgive me the way that you have.”
Charlie shrugged. “I don’t know. But the fact that I love you should be enough to make her stop this nonsense.”
“I don’t even want to go back in there,” Meg admitted.
“Come along. I’ll go with you,” Charlie replied, taking her by the arm.
“Oh, no, I can’t ask you to do that,” Meg said, but he was already headed in the appropriate direction, and Meg went along, having little choice.
“My sister decided she didn’t like you way back when you didn’t even know I was writing to you,” he explained. “She had a few friends she thought would make perfect sisters-in-law. And when I didn’t see things the same way, she decided to hold it against you.”
“I can hardly blame her for being overly protective of her younger brother. If I had a little brother, I’m sure I’d feel the same way.” The parlor door loomed ahead, and Meg’s stomach became a clenched fist.
“This has much more to do with her getting her way than it has to do with her feelings for me, I assure you,” he replied. “In fact, I would wager she’ll try to send me out of the room so that she can better control something as simple as a dressmaker taking your measurements.”
Meg swallowed hard, not particularly excited about the idea that some strange man she did not know would be measuring her or Grace’s potential attempt to throw Charlie out of his own parlor.
“It’ll be fine, I promise,” Charlie said, standing in front of the parlor door. “Meg, as long as we are together, we can get through anything. Surely, you know that by now.”
She gave him a small smile. There were not too many things in this world she was sure of, but the fact that his words were the gospel truth was one of them. With a deep breath, she went back into the frying pan, hoping things would go more smoothly now that Charlie was with her. Perhaps, compared to this, the actual party would be a piece of cake.
* * *
“Cake, my lady?”
Meg turned to find a servant she did not recognize offering her a dainty pastry barely the size of a postage stamp, and she wondered how it could possibly be described as cake. She shook her head and mumbled a polite, “No, thank you,” watching him scuttle off to the next crowd of people.
The rules had certainly changed over the years. Meg remembered when she first started attending social events how she had to wait for a gentleman to offer to escort her to the refreshment table, and then she’d been scoffed at for actually eating. Though this wasn’t a ball exactly, as that had been, times had certainly changed, and she marveled at the young ladies who crossed the room without an escort, wondering how it had ever been a travesty before.
“You look lovely.”
She spun around to see Charlie had somehow managed to sneak up on her. She’d seen him only briefly when the party had first begun, and after that, he’d been swept away by one guest or another. While it was customary for couples not to spend too much time with each other at a ball, she kept reminding herself this was something else altogether, and she was happy to see him.