His Obsession Read Free

of
the season. Every noble and wealthy family for miles around
attended the party. The house was brilliantly lit with the warm
glow of hundreds of candles and the cacophony of voices at the
entrance was nearly deafening.
    Edgar and Penelope flanked their older
daughters as the family entered the ornate house. Kate followed
along behind them almost like a servant, nearly losing sight of
them in the crush of people at the head of the receiving line.
    “Lord Faversham! Lady Faversham! What a
delight!” Penelope gushed, her face flushing with excitement.
    “Lady Overton,” Lady Faversham calmly
acknowledged.
    “May I present my daughters, Dorothea and
Helen?”
    The two girls curtsied awkwardly to the older
woman, but Lady Faversham seemed not to notice their lack of
polish.
    “Doing a bit of hunting tomorrow, Edgar,”
Lord Faversham noted, soundly clapping Edgar on the back. “I trust
you’ll be able to come?”
    Kate’s father positively glowed at the
invitation.
    “Of course, Herbert!” Edgar eagerly agreed.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
    “Good, good! I’ll expect you tomorrow then,”
Herbert replied.
    Delighted by their apparently swift
acceptance into the Favershams’ intimate circle, Kate’s family
moved on, leaving their youngest daughter to fend for herself. Kate
met Lady Faversham’s gaze for only a moment before quickly lowering
her eyes. Kate then sank into a deep curtsy, the skirt of her
silver satin gown pooling around her in a lustrous cloud of flowing
material. The older woman cocked her eyebrow with interest.
    “You may rise, child,” Lady Faversham kindly
acknowledged. “These old bones don’t bend very well any more. What
is your name, dear?”
    “I – I am Kate, the Overton’s youngest
daughter, my lady,” Kate softly explained.
    Lady Faversham glanced at the backs of her
departing guests.
    “So, they left you, did they?” the older
woman queried, shaking her head.
    Kate blushed, but wisely held her tongue.
Lady Faversham nodded with approval.
    “You have good manners, I’ll grant you that,”
the older woman noted. “Come here, child. Stand beside me.”
    Kate’s eyes widened as she realized the scope
of the honor Lady Faversham had just bestowed upon her.
    “We’ll show them, won’t we? Herbert, step
aside a little. Lady Overton is joining us,” Lady Faversham
directed.
    “Eh? Oh, very good, Winny,” Lord Faversham
acknowledged.
    Kate allowed herself to be drawn between the
older couple. She couldn’t help but blink in shocked surprise as
Lady Faversham proceeded to introduce her to her other guests as
her “dear friend, Lady Overton”. The rest of Kate’s family stared
at her with envy. They couldn’t understand what Kate had done to
achieve her coveted place in Lady Faversham’s receiving line.
    Kate curtsied and nodded her head politely to
the new arrivals and after a while, she began to relax. For some
unknown reason, Lady Faversham genuinely seemed to like her,
chatting amicably with her young companion in between the arrival
of each guest. It was nice to allow herself a few moments to bask
in the powerful lady’s glow of approval.
    Kate was introduced to dozens of noble ladies
and gentlemen as they proceeded through the receiving line.
Unfortunately, one gentleman unnerved her a little. His name was
Lord Charles Lawton. The nobleman was only a little older than Kate
and he had a pleasant enough face and manner, but for some reason,
just being near him made her skin crawl.
    “Lady Overton,” Charles acknowledged with a
smile, lifting Kate’s gloved hand to his lips.
    “Lord Lawton,” Kate breathed. “I’m pleased to
make your acquaintance.”
    Kate quickly withdrew her hand and stepped
back a pace. There was something about the man’s beady little eyes
that she did not like, something strange and dark.
    “I’m glad to see that Lady Faversham is
introducing a few new faces into her little group,” Charles noted.
“I think it makes the dancing so much