Sweet Saturday: Love's Refrain #4

Welcome back! I've got yet another excerpt from Love's Refrain, which is currently in edits and will hopefully be released soon!

Laura and Juliet handed their shawls to the young servant tending the door and entered the brightly lit ballroom as their names were announced. They greeted their hosts and then separated when Juliet spied a group of friends. Making her way to the group of chaperones seated in the corner, Laura took a pastry from a passing waiter’s tray. She’d eventually have to make her way to the buffet since her own dinner had been quite sparse. True to form, Juliet had at the last moment decreed her dress unfit to wear, and the entire household had been turned upside down searching for a solution to her wardrobe difficulty.

Juliet looked lovely in her pale yellow gown, and the garland of flowers the maid had fashioned set off her dark hair perfectly. Already heads turned among the young men congregating on the other side. As she settled in her seat, Laura’s thoughts went back ten years to her own season. She’d been so young and naive then, full of hopes, dreams, and romantic notions.

There was one who figured prominently in her memories. One gentleman had stood out among all the others — a tall, handsome, elegant young man. He had been stylish yet not vain. His hazel eyes shone with intelligence, but he listened politely to what others had to say, those expressive eyes indicating genuine interest. Through experience, she knew he was a graceful dancer, yet he seemed content to spend time discussing the weather with the chaperones. There had been no one else like him.

And then, as if she had magically recalled him from her memory, he was there. Andrew Bradford had considerately brought a plate of treats for his mother, the dowager Countess Covington, whose regal presence held court in a seat to Laura's right. The man was as handsome as she remembered. His voice as sonorous and soothing as it had been when he'd held her in his arms for one magical dance. Ten years ago, she'd fallen in love with Andrew, but he'd fallen in love with her friend, Lady Priscilla. And so she'd had to watch as he'd courted and then wed another.

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